CARNAGE FOR CHRISTMAS is a new Queer Holiday Slasher from Australia screening at Fantasia 2024. A no-budget movie that works perfectly. I’d rather watch this any day over a blockbuster with no heart. Read our full Carnage for Christmas movie review here!
CARNAGE FOR CHRISTMAS is a slasher movie described as a “no budget”-movie and I loved it. Sure, the lighting isn’t great, but the audio is surprisingly good, and everything from the cast to the plot works surprisingly well.
Actually, saying “surprisingly” may be unfair because why wouldn’t it be good? The lack of budget means nothing compared to the amount of heart and passion in any project. This new Queer Holiday Slasher from Australia is so much better than several huge budget productions.
Continue reading our Carnage for Christmas movie review below. Screened at Fantasia 2024 and playing at film festivals all over the world.
Returning to a smalltown from the big city
Sure, every Hallmark Christmas movie seems to feature a smalltown girl, who has gone the the big city and returns to her smalltown for Christmas. Still, this is a very different kind of story. And not just because it’s a Christmas horror movie in the form of a bonafide slasher.
Instead, it’s because many of the characters are queer. And let me start by pointing out that it is indeed very realistic that all LGBTQ+ people (and any allies) would absolutely be friends in a smalltown. Also, seeing the big city [trans-]girl return home to see positive development is cool!
MY ONE BIG CONCERN
My one wish for this and future movies: Please stop the excessive smoking. I realize I sound old and boring, but smoking is not cool and has not been for decades. Cigarettes are smoked throughout this movie and made to look cool.
It’s not, but smoking does take more lives than all the killers in the world combined!
Anyway, Carnage for Christmas is both a tribute to indie stars of underground filmmaking and an ode to classic Holiday horror movies. Including classics like Silent Night, Deadly Night, and even a big personal favorite Rare Exports.
The all-important lead role as the podcaster who tries to solve every mystery, she comes across, is played by Jeremy Moineau. She is brilliant in this role and has so much zing, and comedic timing, with coolness and toughness coming out of her pores.
Christmas slasher in the summer
As many genre film festivals do not take place during Christmas, it’s no surprise that I end up watching Carnage for Christmas during the summer. However, precisely because this is an Australian production, it makes sense in a strange way.
After all, as Australia is located in the Southern hemisphere, it’s the summer season in December. So really, watching this movie during a heatwave almost makes more sense than watching it during a snowstorm.
Also, this is a Christmas slasher, so it’s all about a killer dressed up in a sick Santa costume, who goes around killing people. As this is a no-budget movie, the special effects are practical. And yes, they are also rather impressive and work perfectly for a slasher!
Watch Carnage for Christmas whenever you can!
Alice Maio Mackay is the writer and director, and she is doing great things with horror and slasher movies. This Australian filmmaker is a full-blown powerhouse of a horror master already despite working with no real budget and being very young.
She clearly has a great crew and cast that she works with again and again, which probably explains a lot. Not unlike the filmmakers behind Talk to Me, Alice Maio Mackay proves that having passion and talent will beat out budget any day.
Having said that, I would love to see what Alice Maio Mackay can do with a nice budget and a movie out in wide release.
Until then, I will definitely be checking out some of her previous movies, which should be on Shudder. They include Satranic Panic (2023) – and no, that’s not a typo in the title – T Blockers (2023), and So Vam (2021).
Carnage for Christmas is currently screening at Fantasia 2024.
Details
Director: Alice Maio Mackay
Writers: Alice Maio Mackay, Ben Pahl Robinson
Cast: Jeremy Moineau, Zarif, Dominique Booth, Olivia Deeble, Tumelo Nthupi
Plot
When true-crime podcaster and sleuth Lola visits her hometown at Christmas for the first time since running away and transitioning, the vengeful ghost of a historical murderer and urban legend seemingly arises to kill again. Lola must solve the case before her community is slaughtered. She’s up against not only a psychotic killer, but a town haunted by secrets.
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