As one of the most formulaic subgenres in film, the slasher movie is usually only remarkable when it innovates or radically revises the subgenre parameters. This is where many modern slashers are: stripped-down blood spillers or high-concept retrofitted beaker breakers. Not this movie. This one goes back to the old ways we used to do slashers when they ruled the box office at the dawn of the 1980s.
In fact, The Naughty List Of Mr. Scrooge is one of the first great heritage slashers, showing why those rigid rules of the killing worked over and over again. Helgren makes it all about the campfire, baby. As an audience, we got so distracted by the bloody special effects and body count that the real thrill of these movies was lost: the backstory to why everyone will die. This is usually a legend that happened years ago, but a lot of times, it is a horrible prank gone wrong that everyone keeps their involvement a secret.
One reason so many slasher sequels are dull is that the backstory has already flown in the first one. Helgren takes this key slasher appeal aspect and sends it to the stars. The backstory is developed further and further, with everything getting darker with each revelation. The results are extraordinary, engrossing, and horrifying.
Also, kudos to Helgren for his bleeding-edge approach to freshening up the holiday horror movie. Swapping out a killer Scrooge for a homicidal Santa works perfectly, especially as the Scrooge mask has the same loose fit as the rubber mask in Curtains. It’s very scary.
“…a revelation about how to really tap the dark magic of the indie slasher by going total old school.”
Also, this is one of the rare Christmas horrors that really revs up the Christmas, with multiple lit trees providing glitter backgrounds to the slaughter. This may be because Helgren is a veteran of many Christmas movies, so he knows how to infuse the production with omnipresent Yuletide. The special effects on the kill scenes are practical and very inexpensive, keeping in line with the old school. Whatever it is short on with splatter is more than made up for with another key slasher element present: bitchiness.
The script is sooooo bitchy to the point that it needs a perpetual slap. And that is the topping on the big bloody crumpet here, as the bitter backstory and the buttery bitchiness congeal into a story that will have you on the edge of your seat. No tapping your toe while waiting for folks to die here, as everyone gets a character to be torn to pieces. Even with the obvious red herring, this one is designed to slide around you like an eel.
The Naughty List of Mr. Scrooge is a revelation about how to really tap the dark magic of the indie slasher by going total old school. Helgren needs to start pumping more of these out immediately. Do Easter next.
"…a revelation as to how to really tap the dark magic of the indie slasher by going total old school."
