PopHorror Let's Get Scared
‘Tis the season for Christmas horror, as jolly old Kris Kringle shares his holiday with Krampus, evil elves, grotesque gingerbread men, and other things that creep down Santa’s chimney. In 2021, we were introduced to The Advent Calendar, a French Shudder Original movie. Let’s look at the presents that this movie unwraps for its viewers.
The Advent Calendar was written and directed by Patrick Ridremont (Dead Man Talking 2012). It stars Eugenie Derouand (Drone 2024) as Eva, a paraplegic ex-dancer who’s battling through severed family ties and disabilities to live an independent life. When her friend gifts her an antique advent calendar for Christmas, she starts to see the blessings and curses that come with its power.
Derouand does a wonderful job as Eva, carrying the film with a subtle strength and crescendos of high emotion. Each pull of the daily calendar brings amazing gifts with equally weighted consequences, so you can see the gravity of each of the moments of deliberation on her face. Eva feels like a real person that you want to cheer for, as her sanity starts to slip with each passing day.
The Advent Calendar uses her disability to add major stakes to the climax of the film, while never making it feel like a caricature or a crutch, and that is to be commended in the highest order.
When The Advent Calendar takes its sacrifices, it doesn’t shy away from the gore, letting the audience know early on that accepting these gifts comes with a very real punishment. We’ve seen this style used in children’s movies and romantic comedies before, and it lends itself to a lot of tension in the horror genre here. It takes the classic monkey’s paw tale from movies like Wish Upon (read our review here) and gives them a grittier feel.
While the ending gets a little muddled and ambiguous, it lends itself to future entries. The Advent Calendar is an underrated Christmas horror gem and is currently available on Shudder.
