Carnage for Christmas
Alice Maio Mackay (So Vam, T-Blockers) here takes a whack at a seasonal slasher movie whodunit, without abandoning her interest in trans stories and a range of queer supporting characters – who, in one cheeralong moment, become supportive characters in the final face-off with a spooky Santa who has copied his act from an old-time serial killer known as the Toy Maker.
Lola (Jeremy Moineau), a true crime podcaster who had a childhood encounter with the mystery, returns to Purdan, her small Australian town, for Christmas – it’s the height of summer, of course, which hasn’t featured much in antipodean horror since Wake in Fright – and finds all the bullies who gave her a hard time before she transitioned still around and eager to get on her case … plus the usual uncaring, possibly malicious police department who find any excuse not to investigate if the victim comes from a marginal group. It’s not all bad, since Purdan now has its own gay bar and an apparently thriving subculture – even if Santa is stalking them, and leaving sinister cards and presents on Lola’s doorstep, possibly because the mystery villain is also a fan of her podcast.
Mackay, who co-wrote with Benjamin Pahl Robinson, puts together the pieces of a generic 1980s style slasher mystery – even the solution is in the spirit of VHS era schlock – but has a fondness for her oddball, squabbling characters. Her earlier films were scrappy and showed seams, but this is slicker and tighter – it’s a taut 70 minutes – with a neon nightscape look and suspenseful action/fight/slash scenes.
Discussion
No comments yet.