It’s a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, and A Christmas Carol, are all Christmas classics that should be on your radar when December rolls around. But, wait. Writer/director Ken MacLaughlin’s comedy-horror We’re So Dead should become a household Christmas staple that you add to your list of timeless classic holiday films. Imagine the classic Ryan Reynolds comedy Waiting, but with a lot more murder and Christmas decorations. That’s right – you get the dark comedy of restaurant worker culture only heretofore known to those who work for TGI Fridays or Applebee’s, along with the hilarity of murder scenes of characters you probably didn’t like anyway, topped off with colorful lights, candy canes, and elf costumes. In other words, it is f*****g great.
It’s Christmas Eve and Ashley (Jenna Kanell) is working her final shift as a server at O’Kane’s, a family-style diner that her mother used to own. They’re training a newbie, closing early to host a Christmas party, and somehow running low on food, despite knowing ahead of time that they had a party coming in. Jenna does an excellent job, as do her cohorts, Doug the manager (Kevin Saunders), and Gina the server-in-training (Artemis). But some of the customers are so insufferable (on purpose) that you’ll smile with Christmas glee at seeing them get their comeuppance. But the restaurant workers soon find themselves in an unexpected situation. One customer, Karen (Leanna Adams), becomes so dissatisfied with her service that she takes matters into her own hands… by killing everyone at the restaurant.
The opening of We’re So Dead features a particularly great one-shot. Ashley is followed around by a floating camera for several minutes as she masterfully handles almost the entire room of customers by herself. These shots are particularly difficult to pull off because one thing going wrong means you have to start the entire multi-minute shot over again. Not only is a great way to layout the location but it proves Kanell’s chops. Elf hats off to her for this performance as Kanell holds this whole thing together like Santa watching over his elves.
“One customer, Karen, becomes so dissatisfied with her service that she takes matters into her own hands… by killing everyone at the restaurant.”
As for complaints, I have but a measly two. First, the “Karen” meme used as a major plot point is a wagon that passed years ago. It seems MacLaughlin missed it. I believe the film could’ve been just fine without including that joke. They wouldn’t even have had to change anything other than not purposely pointing out the old joke and riding it. Even just leaving the character’s name as Karen and not harping on it would’ve been fine. That would make the joke without letting it take over the movie.
My second whining Karen momentis that there’s a difference between movies that are bad by accident and movies that are bad on purpose. This one seems to fall under the latter. Don’t worry, though – When I say “bad,” I mean that in a good way. This still makes it enjoyable, but just not as much as if it were accidentally bad as opposed to on purpose. Admittedly, the script features a constant flow of comedy, sarcastic and otherwise, throughout. The kills are also a lot of fun. But by winking at itself the film is a little too detached for its own good.
Many Christmas horror flicks take themselves very seriously and demand that you do too. To quote Peter Griffin, “They insist upon themselves.” We’re So Dead laughs in the face of those Christmas slashers and doesn’t care if you join them or not. If you’re into silly horror movies that are strictly made for fun and laughs, then this is for you.
"…Kanell holds this whole thing together like Santa watching over his elves."
