PopHorror Let's Get Scared
There’s something special about keeping traditions and nostalgia, especially when it comes to Christmas. That’s the basis for There’s Something In The Barn, a 2023 Norwegian horror comedy that packs in more laughs and shocks than your office Christmas party. Let’s take a look at this uproarious holiday horror and how it stacks up against other recent entries in the sub-genre.
There’s Something In The Barn is written by Aleksander Kirkwood Brown (Stardust TV Series 2020) and directed by Magnus Martens (Fear The Walking Dead TV Series 2018). It stars Martin Starr (Lemon 2017), Amrita Acharia (Black Dog 2023), Zoe Winter-Hansen (The Bitcoin Car 2023) and Townes Bunner (in his debut). They play Bill, Carol, Nora, and Lucas, respectively. When Bill moves the family of four out to his new estate in Norway, the chaotic events surrounding the barn of the house start to turn their holiday traditions into a slaughtering ground.
The humor in There’s Something In The Barn jumps off the page very quickly. Between the dry delivery of the calm Norwegian townsfolk and the uncool dad who tries desperately to relate to his aging children, there are a lot of funny moments in between the blood. We spend a lot of time getting to know the family and watching them try to acclimate to their strange new environment. But beyond their new living quarters, we also see a lot of trauma and discomfort that’s been festering in their relationship before we ever met them.
As if that weren’t enough for this family to deal with, they have a surprise barn elf that will only keep the peace with them if they follow the rules. No loud music, no bright lights, and they must feed him regularly. Lucas finds a bond with the elf, but nobody else in the family believes he exists. His rules interfere with their idea of Christmas, and the elf brings backup to keep it from being a silent night in Norway.
There’s Something In The Barn feels a lot like Michael Dougherty’s Krampus (which made our favorite movies, read about it here), in that we see a family reconnecting during a dangerous series of events, where larger than life killers are committing mayhem. And the mayhem is glorious, as the well-executed gore gives a nice contrast to the beautiful location and blustery snowy environment.
The characters are well acted and have great arcs, the humor and horror are well balanced, and the antagonists are really fun to watch. There’s Something In The Barn could easily stand as a modern yearly rewatch, and it’s currently available to stream on Shudder.
