Why Christmas Bloody Christmas Director Joe Begos Gave Himself 'The Coolest Kill'
This article contains major spoilers for "Christmas Bloody Christmas."
Tis the season for Christmas slayings, as this year has granted us with not one, but two ho-ho-holiday beatdowns. Where "Violent Night" propped up David Harbour as a Santa Claus forced to go all John McClane on a group of mercenaries, "Christmas Bloody Christmas" goes in a much different direction. The new independent horror flick from director Joe Begos sees a robotic department store Santa (Abraham Benrubi) going on a small town killing spree after its wiring malfunctions.
The kicker is that the technology within was initially programmed by the Department of Defense, so if you're on his naughty list, he's not giving up until you're in the ground. "Christmas Bloody Christmas" is one of those cases where its brilliant premise results in a mixed bag of a slasher flick. The 16mm neon-drenched bloodbath succeeds when Benrubi lets loose, and less so when it's left up to its abrasive mumblecore characters you can only handle so much of at a time.
It plays like a festive spin on "The Terminator," for better or worse, as this Santa doesn't go down easy. He doesn't really talk either, so much as emit holiday sound bites he was installed with. In spite of the film's aimlessness, the kills of "Christmas Bloody Christmas" are pretty great, with Begos giving himself one of the standout deaths.
Robo Santa gave Begos what he axed for
The killer Santa from "Christmas Bloody Christmas" sets his sights on a target, and continues to carry out the mission, along with whoever's in his way. In this case, one of the unfortunate victims is that of Joe Begos, who runs outside to find that his car has been scratched to hell on account of Tori (Riley Dandi) and Robbie (Sam Delich) trying to escape. The three way yelling match ultimately leads to Begos getting an ax down the middle, before being tossed through the windshield.
During an interview with Digital Trends, Begos talked about how much he wanted to not only give himself a director's cameo, but keep it in the gruesome spirit of the season. "I decided to cast myself in that role because I want to give myself a little cameo. And I figured why not have the coolest kill," the director explained.
Filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino ("Django Unchained") and Peter Jackson ("The Return of the King") have had themselves killed off in their movies before, but Begos really lets this movie have a whack at him. Others join him in death through the means of Santa's axe, which was something that Begos wanted to be consistent with. "Everything had to stay pretty close to him just having the axe and using the elements around him," the director noted.
No matter what instrument Santa uses to exact his pound of holiday flesh, he's relentless once it's in his mittens. It doesn't matter whether you're a child, a promiscuous couple, or the director himself.
"Christmas Bloody Christmas" is currently streaming on Shudder.