Looks like there was still another present sitting under the tree in a pool of blood this year, the outstanding Christmas slasher The Naughty List Of Mr. Scrooge, written and directed by the newly crowned slash master Jake Helgren. Franny (Coel Mahal) arrives at her house with a gift box all in black on her doorstep. When she opens it, she finds a top hat inside and an old piece of paper from a classmate of hers from college. Inside is a note that says her head should be chopped off.
Franny calls her college buddy Tabby (Skye Coyne) but gets voicemail. She leaves a message about the creepy gift and whether Tabby is attending the holiday college reunion that their friend Chandler (Liz Fenning) is throwing. After hanging up, Franny is confronted by an intruder dressed in Victorian fashion with a rubber Scrooge mask, who saws off her head.
“…a figure in a rubber Scrooge mask starts cutting their skin open.”
Tabby gets the voicemail but was busy photographing a sexy Santa shoot in her Los Angeles studio. One of the sexy Santa models is her new boyfriend, Jonny (Colin Koth), who is going out with her to the boonies for the reunion, even though Tabby is apprehensive about the whole thing. Out there, they are greeted by the creepy event organizer, Marty (Benedikt Sebastian), whom Chandler hired along with the cook Roma (Christina DeRosa) for the holiday party.
Franny meets up with her old best friend Kelsey (Kim Whalen), who never moved out of the sticks, as well as old classmates Tucker (Adam Bucci) and Julian (Ali Zahiri). As Chandler’s Scrooge-themed party commences, everyone is reminded about the horrendously cruel pranks she used to play on them. Then, the topic switches to Franny’s ex from college, Glen, and the circumstances of how he died back in school. Everything goes sour, but no one can leave because of the storm outside, not even when a figure in a rubber Scrooge mask starts cutting their skin open.
Writer/director Helgren knows his slashers. I mean, Helgren really knows his slashers, particularly the classics. It shows that The Naughty List Of Mr. Scrooge could hold its own against golden age slasherpieces like Hell Night or The House On Sorority Row, two of Tarantino’s favorite slashers. What is remarkable is how faithful Helgren is to the traditions of the old school.
"…a revelation as to how to really tap the dark magic of the indie slasher by going total old school."