Todd Nunes takes “Black Christmas” and wraps it in the Santa slashing madness “Silent Night, Deadly Night” for what is a pretty wonky slasher film. I appreciated the humor and inherent mean spiritedness of it all, as Todd Nunes definitely has a love for slasher films. He and his crew even seem dead set on creating their own iconic slasher with our silver faced Santa who has a knack for mutilating his victims with garden sheers. There’s also his habit for turning his male victims in to eunuchs, which is of shocking importance once the finale rolls around. I really like that Todd Nunes stuffs the film with more Latin and Hispanic actors, providing a very welcome diverse cast.
There’s even Ashley Mary Nunes who does a solid job as main character Rachel who doesn’t realize there’s a masked maniac dressed as Santa slaughtering women and helpless animals left and right. Set on Christmas, we meet Rachel, a young college girl on break who visits her weird and eccentric grandmother with her group of very good looking girlfriends. The night before her arrival, a patient from a local hospital has escaped and is now dressed in Santa garb, including a silver mask that hides their identity. Said maniac is ruthless and merciless in their efforts to slaughter folks with their silver garden sheers, and Rachel has to evade the maniac while also uncovering a pretty twisted mystery. Todd Nunes’ horror slasher is very rough around the edges, but is at least watchable thanks to the spirited effort he and his crew make.
His enthusiasm for the sub-genre also pours on-screen with some gruesome murders (thanks to Tommy Pietch’s top notch effects), some of which are obvious nods to classic slasher films like “Alone in the Dark” and “Psycho.” The performances are rather rocky with some of the cast seemingly struggling through dialogue, while the editing could have been tightened so much better for a more respectable pacing and tension. There are a slew of horror films on the market with killer Santa Claus characters, but “All in the House” is still a decent cinematic experience with admirable ambition and great respect for the films that came before it. “All Through the House” is a decent horror diversion, one suitable for Christmas or Halloween.
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