BITS '19 Film Review - The Nights Before Christmas

Mr. and Mrs. Claus (Simon Phillips) who also has a writing credit for the film and (Sayla de Goede) are back resuming their roles from  2017's Once Upon A Time At Christmas. It's a year after the killings from the first movie and Courtney (Keegan Chambers) is under the watchful eye of the FBI after surviving the first massacre. At the films open her father Jim comes to visit as both of her parents are worried about her well being. After giving her some money and an agreement that Courtney will allow her parents to come and visit during Christmas he returns home encountering Santa ax in hand on a feeder highway. The FBI attends the scene to investigate and finding Naughty scrawled in blood in the snow alerting them that the Claus' are back and the killing are about to start again.

Director Paul Tanter returns to familiar ground this time to tel tell the back story of how Mr. and Mrs. Claus met in an asylum where they were known as Nicholas Conway and Michelle Weaver. The facility were treating their patients badly a recent theme in cinema thus here the audience gains a rooting interest for the supposed bad guys when they seek revenge on those that may require some form of punishment but maybe not to the extreme that the murderous couple goes.

The meat of the film is a cat and mouse battle between the Claus' and the FBI. Perhaps the best sequence in the film occurs in a church where law enforcement attempts to ensnare Nicholas and Michelle with mixed results. The events lead to part two of an institutional authority figure that definitely should be on the naughty list theme.

The film is a balanced mix of gore and narrative with a plain plot to follow a killer with a list. The Claus' are twisted and violent but those on the naughty list did have something coming. Nuggets about Nicholas' life before the asylum are revealed along with the pairs' ability to have compassion for those that did no wrong.  If thematic horror is in your lane then The Nights Before Christmas is worth the watch.

*** Out of 4.

The Nights Before Christmas | Paul Tanter | Canada | 2019 | 10. Minutes.

Tags: Christmas, Santa, Mrs. Claus, Asylum, Massacre, Naughty, Nice, FBI, Sting, Witness Protection, The List.