A Christmas Horror Movie With A 0% On Rotten Tomatoes Flopped At The Box Office

A new horror comedy film has become both a rare critical disaster and a sizable box office flop. "Christmas at the Kringles" opened over Halloween weekend, though one would be forgiven for not noticing. For starters, Halloween fell on a Saturday which meant most people weren't going to the movies. For another, the weekend's new offerings were a bit lackluster, as evidenced by this newcomer from Briarcliff Entertainment.

"Christmas at the Kringles" opened to just $675,000 on 1,825 screens, giving it a terrible $369 per-screen average and landing it all the way down at number 17 on the charts. The film was directed by Kevin Lewis, the man behind the Nicolas Cage fighting killer animatronics movie "Willy's Wonderland," among others. He's not a terribly high-profile filmmaker, but this isn't going to help his case when it comes to his future.

Perhaps worse than the opening weekend number is the response from critics, as "Christmas at the Kringles" holds a rare 0% critical approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It's not that horror movies need critics on their side. The recent box office success of "Other Mommy" proved that horror is critic proof to some degree, but this is next level bad. A film like this was always going to lean on VOD and streaming, but the awful response is likely to turn away quite a few would-be viewers.

"Christmas at the Kringles" follows the Seversons as they start fresh in a quiet suburban neighborhood where their neighbors, the Kringles, celebrate Christmas year-round. But what begins as charming quickly turns unsettling, as the Seversons' concerns about their son's growing attachment to the family leads to lots of action-packed holiday chaos. The film's cast includes Ron Livingston ("Office Space"), Rachel Bilson ("The O.C."), Thomas Lennon ("Reno 911"), and Donald Faison ("Scrubs"), among others.

"Christmas at the Kringles" was a big creative swing, as Christmas horror comedy films aren't surefire slam dunks. But if this kind of thing works, it can extend well beyond the box office. To be certain, a Christmas flick can make its way into the annual rotation, meaning money indefinitely. But unless this one becomes an unlikely cult favorite, that's probably not going to pan out.

There are plenty of underrated Christmas horror movies out there. Even ones with a more comedic bend, such as "Krampus" or, most famously, "Gremlins," have found success. But this was a big swing and a bigger miss. The timing didn't help, either, as it's just a touch too early for people to get into the X-mas spirit, while movies like "Clayface" offered a better option for horror fans in theaters.

Briarcliff had reason to believe it might work out, too. "Terrifier 3" killed it at the box office in 2024, pulling in $90 million worldwide. Granted, that was after "Terrifier 2" became a surprise sensation. The "Terrifier" movies have also garnered surprising levels of critical praise, despite the hardcore gore on display.

Even last year's "Silent Night, Deadly Night" was a bloody remake with something new to offer. It wasn't a big hit, but it was received reasonably well. The larger point is that the Christmas horror genre is nothing new and has definitely led to success in recent years. On paper, this one could have worked. But in practice, it's a disaster in every way success is generally measured in Hollywood.

"Christmas at the Kringles" is in theaters now.