Best Review: The three most recent projects of Joe Begos appeared surprisingly quickly after each other. Begos first burst onto the scene in 2013 with the film “Almost Human,” a confusing feature-length debut and first collaboration with actor Graham Skipper, who is fast becoming the director’s mascot. Since then, Begos has shown impressive growth with every subsequent film, from The Mind’s Eye right up to his main work — the sleazy, sexy and defiantly punk-rock vampire movie “Bliss”.
Christmas Bloody Christmas begins with a lot of funny fake commercials, all of which are dedicated to the holidays, from an alcoholic drink suitable for the whole family to a promotion featuring Santa Claus performing live at a concert. However, the most relevant advertisement is RoboSanta+. It’s a clever way to introduce the antagonist of the film without resorting to the help of the characters. Using his military background, the robot Santa soon wanders around the toy store in search of suitable weapons, before brutally cracking down on the unfortunate inhabitants of the store and going on the hunt for new victims
Bloody Christmas is the perfect spectacle for a Christmas party. There is no plot here, it’s just that people are being killed by a huge killer Santa Claus. Director Joe Begos maintains dialogues at a fast pace, with lots of swearing and lots of funny insider references to horror films — for example, the debate between which is better, Pet Cemetery 1 or 2.
Fog, snow or haze swirls in each frame, and all this is illuminated by a lot of colorful Christmas lights. It’s both beautiful and sinister, and you can get lost in the splendor of one frame after another. However, it is strongly not recommended to watch this tape alone and sober.
Entertainment nonsense is the best way to describe a movie. In an alternate timeline, Begos could become the evil frontman of heavy metal, and not just because he fits the image. His films are very similar to fluffy power chords and minute guitar solos – a clash of chaos and precision. Begos’ audience is not stupid. His films are not as simple as they seem at first glance. Begos’ great strength is his talent for theatrically crude murders. Severed limbs, crushed guts and crushed heads pop out of the screen with painful clarity, even despite the neon riot color scheme that Begos uses in his films. He knows what his audience is here for, and this is not a Benjamin Marr exhibition, although Begos’ sinister palette is perfectly combined with twice as sinister images of mutilated human remains.
This picture finally convinced me that Joe Begos is the king of “B” class films. Merry Christmas to all!
