Hallmark and Lifetime holiday films are something cinephiles who love Christmas seem to turn to every year. But for those without their Christmas cheer, finding good horror movies to fill the gap after Halloween is sometimes difficult. 2022 has seen a good selection of Christmas-themed movies and The Mean One cast with The Terrifiers David Howard Thornton was highly anticipated here at Mother of Movies.

The Mean One wants to commit to the slasher subgenre. But this time director Steven LaMorte alongside writer Finn Kobler decided on a parody of the story of how The Grinch Stole Christmas was in order.

This isn’t the first time children’s classic movies have been reimagined in a less-than-favorable light. 2022 has seen a spate of similarly themed stories like Winnie The Pooh and even Bambi turned into horror movies. Some are less than pleased with titles like Blood and Honey alongside Bambi: The Reckoning being released. At least we can say with “The Mean One”, the Grinch has always been an angry misanthrope with revenge on his mind. Not a massive jump to turn this story’s character into a vicious killer.

“His heart is an empty hole”
The Mean One movie quote 2022

The Grinch Who Murdered Christmas

The film sets off with the well-known voice-over telling a story about Christmas night in the form of a well-known poem. Only this time the poem has been re-worked to suit its new antagonist, a green-skinned cat-faced pot-bellied creature created from the mind of Dr. Seuss.

A young girl is treated to a visit from the Grinch who was once a little nicer than the one we are shown in the future moments later. Cindy’s mother is awoken and when she finds The Grinch with her daughter downstairs, calls foul play. A fight breaks out her parents end up dead and the Grinch now thinks far less of the silly season than he once did.

Fast forward twenty years later and Cindy returns to Newville to seek out the monster that stole her Christmas spirit. The Mean One is a great concept for a Christmas horror movie. For those with a thing for all things parody and horror, this might certainly scratch that movie itch.

The special effects concerning makeup, props, and setting are fairly decent. David Howard Thornton might just have his life’s work cut out for him considering his performance in both Terrifer films can be seen as especially brilliant. Here too, Thornton’s movements in costume are on point. I can also say that this new role has him make more noise than he ever has in a feature film.

The Mean One Movie 2022

As far as the film overall though, The Mean One didn’t do all that much for me. There were a few very clever moments with Cindy building up her A-game to defeat her intended foe. Also, the end of the film was particularly awesome. I liked the revised verses about the Grinch and his personality.

On the downside, I wasn’t a big fan of the CGI blood nor was there very much suspense or tension in the lead-up to the Grinch’s many slice-and-dice kills. He generally just goes on a smashing and killing spree without much rhyme, reason, or method. Still, The Mean One will do nicely on any horror Christmas movie list.

The Mean One is rated

2.5 What happens when your heart is two sizes too small? out of 5

Mother of Movies score

THE MEAN ONE opened at Regal Cinemas nationwide in the USA on December 9th, 2022. For more information on screening this slasher horror movie with no Christmas spirit check out TheMeanOneMovie.com. The film is coming home to VOD, DVD, and Blu-Ray on October 3rd, 2023.

The Mean One movie — Courtesy of XYZ Films The Mean One cast with David Howard Thornton 2022

The Cast of The Mean One

David Howard Thornton
Krystle Martin
Chase Mullins
John Bigham
Flip Kobler
Amy Schumacher
Stephanie Bates
Robert DiTillio