Santa's Knocking (2015)

Santa’s Knocking: Directed by Todd Nunes. With Ashley Mary Nunes, Jessica Cameron, Melynda Kiring, Lito Velasco. A deranged masked Santa-Slayer comes to town for some yuletide-terror. He leaves behind a bloody trail of mutilated bodies as he hunts his way to the front steps of the town’s most feared and notorious home.

“The cover for u0026#39;All Through the Houseu0026#39; enticed me into seeing it. So did that it was purported to be an 80s throwback and that its idea was a good one. Also appreciate highly all the genres that u0026#39;All Through the Houseu0026#39; contains and any film that tries to mix them. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWill admit to being a bit nervous as well, having seen my fair shares of failed execution of good ideas, some mediocre at best to terrible films lately and whether it would be as cheap as low-budget films tend to be. What a pleasant surprise u0026#39;All Through the Houseu0026#39; turned out to be! It is not perfect or amazing, and it doesnu0026#39;t completely meet the quality of its concept. Still found it to be above average and it was a relief that the concept wasnu0026#39;t wasted. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026#39;All Through the Houseu0026#39; could have been better certainly. The killer is suitably creepy and there is effort to give him development (which is appreciated, too many films recently have failed to do that with their villains) but definitely could have been in the film more, he was underused. Some of the story is predictable and not always tight in pace, particularly in the middle. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe reveal didnu0026#39;t have me jumping out of my chair in shock or excitement and some of the dialogue is cheesy as sin (not a strong suit with the 80s horror films it throws back to admittedly but still). Occasionally, the film takes it too far with the vulgarity which doesnu0026#39;t always add an awful lot. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eOn the other hand, u0026#39;All Through the Houseu0026#39;su0026#39; look is surprisingly more polished than most low-budget films seen recently. There is a real dark eeriness to the filmu0026#39;s look, and the killeru0026#39;s is cool and suitably creepy. The special effects serve their purpose well, not over-used and far less amateurish than feared. The music score is haunting and suspenseful, without over-bearing the atmosphere or making it too obvious something bad is going to happen.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eGreat the dialogue is far from, but it does boast some thought and some sharp and darkly funny satirical/black humour elements in a very 80s genre film way. The story isnu0026#39;t perfect either, but mostly itu0026#39;s very effectively atmospheric in tension, suspense and nightmarish eeriness, far from dull, intriguing and with some very brutally inventive kills. The direction shows confidence.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eRegarding the acting, it is fair. Not exceptional, but not terrible. Ashley Mary Nunes is surprisingly agreeable in the lead role and hair-raising Melynda Kiring is the cast standout. The characters donu0026#39;t at least irritate.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIn summary, not bad…not bad at all. 6/10 Bethany Cox”