There aren’t a whole lot of really successful horror anthology movies. Aside from the classics like the “V/H/S” franchise and a more recent “The Mortuary Collection“, horror anthology movies are often simply a way for short films to get seen. Most are a hit-and-miss affair. But you are always guaranteed to find at least a few of the collection entertaining. The Christmas Tapes is a low-budget found footage-style film.
Despite some aesthetic performances that didn’t quite hit the mark, The Christmas Tapes is an enjoyable one. Mostly a generic collection of stories centered around an evil Santa, a killer scarecrow, and a demonic Christmas decoration, the iconic casting of Greg Sestero, Vernon Wells, and Dave Sheridan brings the title a little more pizzaz than is usually afforded short stories like these.
Do You Believe in Santa?
Kicking off on Christmas Eve, a family is shown enjoying their traditional night in. They each open a present and watch a movie. Daughter Rachel is making her movie of the night’s festivities and films the evening on a handheld camera. While they laugh and get ready to eat cookies, a man knocks on the door. Holding a wrapped gift he tells Eli that his car has broken down and his phone battery is dead.
Geoff wants to use the family’s phone to call for help. Of course, no good deed goes unpunished in horror movies. This is especially true for those who let strangers into their houses. Before we know it, the family is tied up and Geoff explains that he has a collection of movies he wants to show them instead.
The Christmas Tapes are something of a prized possession for Geoff and he wants more people to watch them. As the first tape is injected into the video player, Geoff announces that they are going to love this one.
“Travel Buggies” Segment
Story one of The Christmas Tapes is called Travel Buggies. Despite its moniker, there are no bugs to be seen. Instead we a shown a couple who are traveling in a snow-covered area. They take the ubiquitous photos, make jokes about a weird scarecrow they come across, and generally have a nice time. Until that is, they decide to set up camp for the night. Dave and Jess aren’t campers, but Jess wants to show him that there is much to love about the pastime.
Her enthusiasm is quickly quashed when her plans for a campfire are merely just another silly idea she had. Dave tells her there is no way to light a fire on snow and so, after trying to make do with a small heating lamp they go to bed without dinner.
Travel Buggies was my least favorite of the horror collection however the finale does its job of finishing off why it’s never safe to go camping in a scary movie.
Following on in The Christmas Tapes, Geoff torments the family by shoving a new tape into the player. They don’t appreciate the stories nearly as much as the man who wants them to watch but I still liked the way each short film is introduced. We get a sense of the mythology that begins to creep into why these particular tapes are connected which is a point of difference between anthology horror movies like it.
“Unboxing With Santa”
Story two is called Unboxing with Santa and has a mildly contemporary feel when Dad, Dean, tells the camera his plans for Christmas. Dean intends to play into his kid’s love of watching unboxing videos by presenting himself as a present to be unboxed. Of course, no good story should go without being live streamed and Dad intends on live streaming his journey from Dad to present. Not to mention he has hired a Santa to deliver himself. It wouldn’t be a horror movie if the Santa that shows up didn’t immediately seem suspicious and this one is especially so.
Santa kidnaps Dean inside his sturdy box and takes him home where he and his wife have an advent calendar for him to open.
The story goes off with a bang and we all know the advent calendar is not going to be filled with chocolates or gifts but rather a series of weird and violent presents instead. Unboxing With Santa is particularly brutal. The special effects are low-key but still wince-inducing. The Christmas Tapes’ second story isn’t very inventive, however, Vernon Well’s performance as Santa is especially enjoyable and remained on my mind afterward.
“Paranormal Perry“
There are only three stories included in The Christmas Tapes. But as I said earlier, there is something a little bit special about this movie overall.
The final short film is called Paranormal Perry and was by far my favorite. With several scenes that will remind many of movies like “Paranormal Activity”, Paranormal Perry is about a couple who find themselves moving into a new home on Christmas Eve. A weather event prevents their moving truck from arriving on time. So they make do with what they’ve got and settle in for the night. While Ian goes out to find takeaway dinner, Devin decides to surprise him by decorating the living room with the only things they have, Christmas decorations.
Devin adorns the room with a tree and knick-knacks before discovering a box of eclectic decorations in a box in one of the cupboards. That night, when they go to sleep, Devin sleep-walks, and something strange happens in the middle of the night. When the mysterious noises and bells again repeat the following night, Devin decides they need to cleanse the house of whatever it is that’s happening. Dave Sheridan’s portrayal of Paranormal Pete brings a welcome dose of horror comedy to the proceedings and was my favorite part of The Christmas Tapes.
The Christmas Tapes Will Get You Through The Festivities
The Christmas Tapes wraps up with an explanation from Geoff as to his agenda. The end of the movie is also nicely executed. The film overall is worthy of any Christmas horror movie list.
The Christmas Tapes are rated
4 “Why did you touch it?” out of 5
The Christmas Tapes Movie Trailer
Where to Watch The Christmas Tapes Movie
Produced by Sestero Pictures and distributed by Terror Films. The Christmas Tapes anthology horror movie was released worldwide on 12th December 2022. You can watch the movie cast with Dave Sheridan (The Devil’s Rejects), Greg Sestero (THE ROOM), and Veron Wells (THE ROAD WARRIOR) digitally. For more options on where to stream The Christmas Tapes check ReelGood.com.
- The Christmas Tapes courtesy of Terror Films
- Directed and written by Robert Livings, Randy Nundlall Jr.
