Santa's Slay is a 2005 Christmas Horror-comedy. Directed by David Steiman and starring former WCW/WWE world champion Bill Goldberg (Universal Soldier: The Return, The longest Yard), Douglas Smith and Emilie de Ravin (The Hills Have Eyes, Lost). The film was also produced by Brett Ratner (Rush Hour series)
Santa's Slay takes place during Christmas in Hell township when a particularly violent incarnation of jolly St Nick (Goldberg) rocks up on his jacked up reindeer to go on a killing spree. When local teenagers Nicolas (Smith) and Mary (De Ravin) decide to investigate the murderous happenings it is revealed, by Nicolas' grandpa, that Santa is actually the antichrist and Christmas day used to be a day of killing until Santa lost a bet on a game of curling. Ever since then Christmas day has been a day of peace and joy...until now! The has expired and it's up to the bright eyed teenagers, and crackpot Grandpa, to stop the evil Santa and save Christmas.
The main thrust of the humour in Santa's Slay is that it's a Jewish man killing Jewish people in increasingly Jewish ways all through the guise of Christmas....do you see what they did there? In all seriousness it's great fun to see a dehli owner impaled with a Menorah whilst a bagel curtain sways in the background and it isn't really something that's been done in horror-comedy before. For what it's worth Bill Goldberg does a great job as the grunting psychotic Santa whilst throwing in a few Bond-esque wisecracks to boot and it is an interesting idea to draw on the Germanic folklore roots of Santa Claus.
It must be said that the teenage protagonists turn in a suitably wooden, b-movie performance but luckily the film has an impressively high body count so we're not subjected to their performances for too long. The same can also be said for the supporting cast as none of the characters tend to stick in the mind unless dispatched in a particularly creative way. Speaking of which, the movie does employ some highly amusing weaponry for Santa to use such as exploding presents, smoke bomb baubles and what I can only describe as a radioactive candy cane?
Santa's Slay knows exactly what it's here to do...kill lots of people at Christmas time whilst riffing off a Jewish/Christian joke that is surprisingly never overstretched. You'll be hard pressed to find a great deal of Christmas-set, horror-comedies, except of course the Mighty Gremlins (1984), and for a movie as silly as Santa's slay that's not bad company to be in.
3 Stars ***
What did you think of Santa's Slay? Can you think of any other xmas-horror-comedies?
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