Film Review

I apologize for not really writing any film reviews in November. I've been watching a lot of horror movies lately and I honestly really wanted to put them off until next Spooptober. Then another movie came out recently that I was super excited for but...it's another horror film. However, it's also a Christmas movie. Here's my review of Joe Begos' Christmas Bloody Christmas.

Starring: Riley Dandy, Sam Delich, Kansas Bowling, and Graham Skipper
Written and Directed by Joe Begos

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I never realized how many negative reviews this movie had. It's probably because I didn't care. I've been a huge fan of Joe Begos since his movie The Mind's Eye. His movies are very much an acquired taste, so keep that in mind throughout this review.

Christmas Bloody Christmas might be my favorite Joe Begos film to date. I adored Riley Dandy's performance as Tori. Dora Madison is okay in Bliss, but some of the dialogue doesn't seem natural for her. Riley comes across genuinely as Tori and I loved hanging out with her during this wild ride of a film.

The practical effects are pretty good, but the cut-aways and off screen deaths of some people make me think maybe Joe didn't have the money that he needed to accomplish some of the kills. I've made movies too, Joe, I know some of the tricks.

I know I heaped praise on Riley Dandy, but Sam Delich also did a fantastic job as Robbie. Sam and Riley come across as people who have been friends for a long time, so I definitely think they accomplished their job as actors.

I see a lot of modern movies where people try to drop F-bombs casually in conversation, but it always comes across as forced and almost as written by an AI. Joe manages to work these in as your friends would during a normal conversation.

If I had to complain about something, it would definitely be the cinematography. There was a lot of handheld stuff that just didn't work for me. I'm not sure if it was because of budgetary restrictions or maybe just Joe wanted to experiment. It just didn't work for me.

As I said, Joe Begos is an acquired taste. He's one of the few indie filmmakers I absolutely love in the modern era so it was definitely a relief that he churned out another banger.