As a follow-up to “Summer Camp Massacre,” Caesar and Otto’s latest adventure with psychopaths and horror icons isn’t quite as good. It definitely has its share of laughs and head scratching moments that have become standard with the comedy duo of Caesar and Otto, but the sad part of “Deadly X-Mas” is that it really loses steam in the final ten minutes. In either case, Caesar and Otto are able to come out looking great in the end as one of the few comedy duos with antics built on and around the horror film. They’ve confronted almost every situation imaginable, and still haven’t died.
And what’s best is that director Dave Campfield is able to pay tribute to some of his favorite horror films by staging his own versions involving the hapless duo of Caesar and Otto. This time around Caesar and Otto find themselves at odds with Christmas as a psycho Santa walks around the city hacking people to pieces. Most of the film sports some interesting comedy that keeps Campfield and co-star Paul Chomicki on their toes, engaging in physical stunts and fights, while being given their own unique sub-plots. The first five minutes involve preparation for a terrible Thanksgiving dinner where Brinke Stevens comes to eat as Otto’s ex-girlfriend, and the unusual Thanksgiving feast of eggs, and breakfast sausage.
Campfield opts for some unusual gags that are so random you just have to appreciate the boldness, such as Otto’s ex-girlfriend’s weird obsession with shaving cream, and a flashback sequence of Caesar as a child. Campfield doesn’t so much cast a child version of himself so much as features a miniature version of himself standing beside Lloyd Kaufman who plays his eccentric grandfather. There’s also a much appreciated walk-on role by Linnea Quigley, who plays a role similar to the one in “Silent Night, Deadly Night,” as well as Debbie Rochon who is always a welcome treat.
“Deadly X-Mas” is very much in the vein of the old buddy comedy movies like Abbot and Costello, where Caesar and Otto walk in to extraordinary situations, and have to save the day, and it’s great that director Campfield uses these characters to battle mostly horror movie concepts rather than just try for a generic buddy comedy. I’m very much looking forward to the next installment since director Dave Campfield seems to be refining and tailoring his comedy duo more and more with every single film. “Deadly Xmas” isn’t quite as good as “Summer Camp Massacre,” but it still rakes in more laughs than most mainstream comedies I’ve seen.