Written and Directed by Steve Rudzinski
Stars: Seth Gontkovic, Amie Wrenn, Shawn Shelpman and Steve Rudzinski
(Online Screener Copy)
Many thanks to Mr Rudzinski for sharing another of his films with Hacked in the Head. I have seen a fun slasher from Steve followed by a campy and fun adventure horror film and this time around we have a found footage style creeper told from the killers point of view.
Said killer is Tara (a scarily natural Amie Wrenn) a happy go lucky, intelligent and coherent young woman who just happens to be a serial killer!! Tara is only active in the month of December when she seeks to kill three men until the following holiday season.
The film in its basic form plays as Taras video diary as she takes the audience through her ghoulish lifestyle; the how, the why, the when etc. Things take a decidedly darker turn after Tara bags herself another victim (after going 'Christmas shopping' as she cheerfully puts it). Seth Gontkovic plays our unfortunate victim Bill as Tara opens a vicious can of Christmas misery on him.
To not give anything else away I will add that events don't play out exactly as you might expect with a nice twist on the tale coming in following some pretty wince inducing torture scenes. I applaud this curveball very much!
While I am on the gory side of things, let me just elaborate on Tara's MO as a serial killing loony tunes. She likes a hefty dose of torture, tied to a chair style and oh man does she play with her prey. Poor Bill suffers a lot of physical and mental torture and both are sometimes hard to watch. Effects are all practical and again this should be applauded.
Red Christmas is a an engaging and well acted movie only clocking in at 55 minutes meaning it never outstays its welcome. There are some genuinely chilling moments and these are enhanced by the killer performance by Amie Wrenn and the pure bewilderment and horror conveyed by Seth Gontkovic. I'm very impressed by Red Christmas particularly since it also gives a new spin on the seasonal horror sub genre.
Thats not all - you can purchase the film yourself along with Steve's other movies right HERE which is great enough on its own BUT its also available in Blu Ray and limited edition - so go get it!
Tara is dreaming of a Red Christmas....good luck to.any poor dude on her radar!!!!
