PopHorror Let's Get Scared
One of my very first reviews for PopHorror was for a little ol’ film called Volumes of Blood (2015 – read the review here). I picked it because I work in a library and I thought it would be fun to watch an entire film of horror tales that take place there. Little did I know that the film would become one of my go to anthologies and turn me into a hardcore fan for the man behind the madness, filmmaker P.J. Starks (read our interview with him here). He followed that up in 2016 with Volumes of Blood: Horror Stories (read the review here), which took the initial VoB concept and doubled it, giving us new housewarming stories that paid homage to the kills and killers from the first film.
Four years later, we’re back again with yet another anthology, a holiday horror called 13 Slays Till X-Mas from Scream Team Releasing and Blood Moon Pictures. Several of the VoB filmmakers are back again, and this time, they’re joined by some new blood. Together, they’ve created 13 individual tales that are tied told by a group of people hanging out in a bar on Christmas Eve. What better way to spend the night before Christmas than on trying to scare each other to death?
There is a lot that works in 13 Slays Till X-Mas. I could go on and on. I will start by saying 3 things: Christmas. Horror. Anthology. Always a win in my book. That being said, not all Christmas horror anthologies are the same. Some are better than others. But, as I’ve come to know and love, the ones compiled by P.J. Starks always rise head and shoulders above the rest. The humor, gore, offbeat kills, and corny one-liners make his projects so freaking fun to watch. If you pay close attention, you’ll see shoutouts to other great horror films of the past, even in something as small as the name on a whiskey bottle.
Another great aspect of 13 Slays Till X-Mas is the use of crossovers. Yes, these shorts were all created by different filmmakers, but you’ll see the same names repeating over and over. These people know each other. They’re friends and co-workers. They rely on the talents of the people around them to help them make better films. The members of this close-knit indie family have fun together, and you can feel that emotion and passion in the end result every time.
Then there’s the soundtrack. Composer Rocky Gray (read our interview with him here) has done it again. The music he created for 13 Slays Till X-Mas is top notch. The opening credit song, “We Tree Kings,” created by Musician Jason Ellis, is now one of my new favorite Christmas songs. Seriously, it’s that good. He manages to instill a heavy dread into the music that’s still uplifting, despite its dark undertones. Not an easy feat. The perfect Christmas horror soundtrack.
Producers for 13 Slays Till X-Mas include Starks, Eric Huskisson (Volumes Of Blood franchise), Carlos Omar de Leon (KAL The Clown 2016 – read our review here), Robert Kern III, Emily James, James Neat, Chris Taylor, Don’t F*ck In The Woods’ Shawn Burkett (read our interview with him here), Brittany Blanton (Ambrosia 2020 – read our review here), Travis Wilson, Stephen J. Hodke, and Andrew Moore (Season’s Greetings 2 2019 – read our review here), Ryan Stacy and Rob Collins (Trespassing 2020 – read our review here), Stranded’s Chris Gierowski, Amy Beth-Mason, and Christie Swiss. Executive Producers include PopHorror’s own Tori Danielle Romero, Wes Bartlett, Brian Gaddis, Kelli Marchman McNeely, WW Crossing, and Zachary Labin.
In 13 Slays Till X-Mas, we have the wraparound story, Digging Up The Ghost, about a group of mismatched loners at the bar on Christmas Eve. To help pass the time, they each tell a story or two to try and scare the others. This one is written/directed/edited by Starks, who gathered Blood Moon Pictures alumni Alex Clark as Director of Photography and the hugely talented Special FX Artist Cassandra Baker (read our interview with her here) to create this story. Standout performances come from David E. McMahon (Teacher Shortage 2020 – read our review here) as Carl, Christopher Bower (Volumes of Blood: Horror Stories 2016) as Red, and Kevin Roach (Volumes Of Blood 2015) as Ben. These three have impeccable comic timing, even when they’re working as the straight man. Jay Woolston, Joshua Cornelius, Katie Stewart (Wicked Ones 2020 – read our review here), Alyssa Evelyn Rhoads, Joseph Caban, Julie Prescott, and Franky Taylor also star.
The film also boasts a faux movie trailer for a film called Deard Santa, which was directed by Robert Kern III (Pupper Master X: Axis Rising 2012) and written by Weedjies: Halloweed Night’s Shane Bitterling. Emily James came on as editor and DoP. The concept for this faux-vie—a child’s letter to Santa has some Monkey Paw-esque results—is fantastic. I would love to see this turned into a full feature at some point. Toussaint Morrison, Jillian Barden, and Stacey, Alina and Carter Alcenat star.
The opening credits sequence of news anchors reporting the previous years’ massacres, interspersed with news clippings of the crimes, showed a slew of familiar faces, including Tiffany Kiely (Bong Of The Living Dead 2017 – read our review here), Shawn C. Phillips (Harvest Of Horrors 2020 – read our review here), Malvolia: The Queen Of Screams’ Jenn Nangle, Brett DeJager (10/31 Part 2 2019 – read our review here), Dixie Gers (Kill Dolly Kill – read our interview with her here), Chris Moore (Blessed Are The Children 2016 – read our interview with him here), Teacher Shortage’s Troy Escamilla (read our interview with him here), PopHorror’s own Rebecca Rinehart, and Dave Spencer.
The first tale told is called Like A Family and it was written/directed by William Capps (After The Slasher 2017) and Julie Streble (Volumes Of Blood: Horror Stories 2016), edited/filmed by Capps with the SFX created by Matt Goodlett. The short stars Streble, Capps, and Lauren Argo. Two young women decide to decorate their late mom’s home for one last Christmas, but the reason for their mother’s passing may come back to haunt them. I think the explosion FX is very well done, and the parting shot with the wreath in the ashes is perfect.
Next is Carlos Omar de Leon’s The Devil’s Due, which was written by Vorasine Vince Phrommany, edited by Emily James with the head-splitting FX created by Robert Kern III. Rod Kasai, Sasha Schectman, and Desire Jansen star. A man and his daughter celebrate their first Christmas after the tragic passing of the matriarch of the family. Intriguing premise with a bloody ending.
One More Gift was directed/written/edited/shot by Happy Endings Are A Rarity’s Blair Hoyle (read our interview with him here). Two men (Ian F. Scott, Brian Boggs) exchange Christmas gifts. Sounds simple enough, right? Not so fast. Simple premise with a great twist.
Suicide is the theme in Director/Writer/Editor John Mason’s It’s A Wonderful Death which was shot by DoP Peter Leininger with SFX by Jill Pugh. All alone on Christmas, divorced dad Charlie (Chris Killian) has decided to end it all, but his Guardian Angel (Ryan King) shows up just in time to make him see the light. The short also stars Jessica Anderson, and Clare and John Michael Mason.
My favorite short from 13 Slays Till X-Mas is, by far, Don’t Kill Santa On Christmas, directed/written/edited by Sean Blevins (Volumes Of Blood: Horror Stories 2016) and beautifully shot by Andrew Robinson. Robbing the house of a mall Santa (Brandon Shell) who recently lost his wife (Nicole Blevins) and daughter (Ava Blevins) in a car accident is probably not the best idea these two thieves (Francis Whitaker, J.B. Lebandgood) have ever had. Fantastic, creepy kills and an outright nasty compound fracture EFX.
Next is Kringles the Christmas Clown, directed/written/edited by Jed Brian, edited by Brent Perrott, and shot by Teacher Shortage’s Derek Huey (read our interview with him here), with makeup and FX created by Tabitha Blackwell. A father (Steven Potts) tries to convince his son (Jace Brian) to go to sleep on Christmas Eve by scaring him with a story about Santa’s brother, Kringles the Christmas Clown (Steve Christopher), who punishes disrespectful children. I absolutely LOVE the death scene in this short! And yes, pink is definitely not a Christmas color.
Pool Party Massacre’s Drew Marvick’s (read our interview with him here) short, Santa Claws, is next. It was filmed by A. Baturay Tavkul with music composed by Von Boldt and prosthetics created by Tom Devlin’s 1313FX. Marvick himself plays Santa’s twisted twin in this story about a brother (Degan Marvick: Pool Party Massacre 2017) picking on his sister (Parker Lemon Marvick: Pool Party Massacre 2017) for still believing in old St. Nick. I am pretty impressed with Degan Marvick’s acting. And Sophie the Bearded Dragon stole the show.
Creepy dolls come into play in Eric Huskisson’s (read our interview with him here) The Scareionette. This short was edited by P.J. Starks and shot by Alex Clark. The creepy SFX were created by Cassandra Baker. When Maggie’s (Roni Jonah: Wicked Ones 2020 – read our review here) girlfriend, Laurie (Kaylee Williams: Teacher Shortage 2020), stumbles upon a creepy elf doll in their Christmas decorations, she has no idea the hell she has unleashed for them both. The doll person makeup is fantastically twisted and alien.
Starks (writer), Clark (editor/director) and Baker (SFX) team up again for A Christmas To Dismember. This is another favorite of mine from 13 Slays Till X-Mas. I love how it all starts one way and suddenly dives off into left field for a wicked twist at the end. Sonya Delormier (Wicked Ones 2020), Jillian Carpenter, Wesley Johnson, Brad Youngman, Nate Gross (VooDoo 2016 – read our review here), Ryan Matthew Ziegler (Butcher The Bakers 2017 – read our review here), Worth Mountjoy, Jeffrey Reddick (Dead Awake 2017 – read our review here), and Sadie Katz (Party Bus To Hell 2017 – read our review here).
Brittany Blanton also took on the help of Starks, Clark, and Baker for Dead Air, a tale about Howard Stern-like DJ Dean Castle (Wes Bartlett) who’s paranoid by rumors that he’s being taken off the coveted nighttime radio slot. VoB alum Gerrimy Keiffer stars as his new replacement, along with B.J. Emmick, Jed Brian, Eric Huskisson, David Abrams, and Brian Gaddis, and the voices of Kevin Clark, Aryanna Brailsford, and indie horror superfan Lance Wagner.
It’s ugly sweater time during Shawn Burkett’s Jingle Bellz, where a Christmas party is interrupted by a musical horror. Rob Collins and Emily McAnulty created the FX for this one. Collins, McAnulty, Travis Wilson, Brittany Blanton, Michael Reeves, Scott Gillespie, Stephen J. Hodke, and Mike and Payton Pleska star.
Last but not least is Killer Caribou which was written/directed/edited by John Hale (10/30 Part 2 2019) and shot by Cryptids’ Zane Hershberger (read our interview with him here). Cody Ruch created the nightmarish SFX. When a couple of night hunters try to escape the horror that they find in the woods, they end up stumbling on something even more terrifying. The short stars Greg Harpold, Michael Merchant, and R.J. Campbell.
That about wraps up the 13+ tales mixed into 13 Slays Till X-Mas. This is a hell of a fun anthology, and I definitely recommend indie horror fans to check it out. You can pre-order 13 Slays Till X-Mas HERE.
