There's always something astonishingly humbling about being sought out to discuss a topic of interest by a respected and talented writer like Erik Piepenburg. Last month, I had the great fortune of being interviewed by Mark Lager for Rue Morgue magazine. By month's end, Erik interviewed me for a piece he was writing about whacky Santa films that would coincide with the early December release of Universal's highly anticipated Violent Night. Not only was it a ton of fun, but Erik curated a stellar list of five oddball Santa films to satisfy your hankering for seeing Ol' St. Nick as you've never seen him before. I won't spoil the fun by revealing Erik's list, but here's a prelude to the full article, which is linked at the bottom.
When Santa Slays: Holiday Genre Movies
With the release of “Violent Night,” here’s a guide to stream
Dec. 2, 2022
Genre cinema has always been a welcoming place for films about psychopaths who dress like Santa and go slashing through the snow. But in the new action comedy “Violent Night,” it’s not a make-believe Santa but the fat man himself (played by David Harbour) who goes on a slaughtering rampage. (His victims are evil hostage takers so don’t worry, he’s still the good guy.) Matthew C. DuPée, the author of the new book “A Scary Little Christmas: A History of Yuletide Horror Films, 1972-2020,” says there aren’t many movies about sinister or strange actual Santas because the man is such a benevolent figure, unlike Krampus or other punishing Christmastime creatures from European folklore.
“There’s no aspect of punishment to Santa,” DuPee said in a phone interview. “His worst character trait is that he leaves coal instead of a present. It’s in that lack of overtly dark undertones where genre jumps in to explore darker themes.”
If you’re a movie lover who thinks getting coal in your stocking is the sign of a year well lived, celebrate the holidays by streaming these outre Santa films. Mystifyingly, most of them are family-friendly, depending on your tolerance for bro humor and grossout horror...
Read the entire article here at The New York Times