Santa's Knocking

So in many ways this is a fairly generic slasher movie.

The acting isnt bad but isnt amazing, there is a lot of T&A as is common in these movies and plenty of gore and kills. The killers mask is actually pretty creepy which I thought was good, not often the killer genuinely is a bit creepy.

For the most part though this was a fairly generic slasher movie but, without giving any spoilers, I will say the backstory for the killer turned out to be pretty unique. Thats hard to come by nowadays. Overall really not a bad slasher movie at all, maybe not a classic but very watchable.

The cover for 'All Through the House' enticed me into seeing it. So did that it was purported to be an 80s throwback and that its idea was a good one. Also appreciate highly all the genres that 'All Through the House' contains and any film that tries to mix them.

Will admit to being a bit nervous as well, having seen my fair shares of failed execution of good ideas, some mediocre at best to terrible films lately and whether it would be as cheap as low-budget films tend to be. What a pleasant surprise 'All Through the House' turned out to be! It is not perfect or amazing, and it doesn't completely meet the quality of its concept. Still found it to be above average and it was a relief that the concept wasn't wasted.

'All Through the House' could have been better certainly. The killer is suitably creepy and there is effort to give him development (which is appreciated, too many films recently have failed to do that with their villains) but definitely could have been in the film more, he was underused. Some of the story is predictable and not always tight in pace, particularly in the middle.

The reveal didn't have me jumping out of my chair in shock or excitement and some of the dialogue is cheesy as sin (not a strong suit with the 80s horror films it throws back to admittedly but still). Occasionally, the film takes it too far with the vulgarity which doesn't always add an awful lot.

On the other hand, 'All Through the House's' look is surprisingly more polished than most low-budget films seen recently. There is a real dark eeriness to the film's look, and the killer's is cool and suitably creepy. The special effects serve their purpose well, not over-used and far less amateurish than feared. The music score is haunting and suspenseful, without over-bearing the atmosphere or making it too obvious something bad is going to happen.

Great the dialogue is far from, but it does boast some thought and some sharp and darkly funny satirical/black humour elements in a very 80s genre film way. The story isn't perfect either, but mostly it's very effectively atmospheric in tension, suspense and nightmarish eeriness, far from dull, intriguing and with some very brutally inventive kills. The direction shows confidence.

Regarding the acting, it is fair. Not exceptional, but not terrible. Ashley Mary Nunes is surprisingly agreeable in the lead role and hair-raising Melynda Kiring is the cast standout. The characters don't at least irritate.

In summary, not bad...not bad at all. 6/10 Bethany Cox

What lured me in to watch "All Through the House" was the movie cover/poster, as it has a blood-drenched Santa holding a pair of hedge cutters. And knowing that this was going to be a slasher horror, then the movie did seem to have the potential to be a good movie. And given my love for the horror genre, then of course I gave "All Through the House" a chance.

The movie starts out quite alright, and there is action in form of killing right from the very beginning. But that was also just about as exciting and thrilling as this movie would be. The rest of the movie just settled into a monotonous trot and just paced onward in a pace that left no one winded.

There is actually nothing to be seen in "All Through the House" that hasn't already been established, done and seen in other slasher movies, both the established franchises and the stand-alone slasher movies. So you shouldn't expect anything out of the ordinary when you sit down to watch "All Through the House".

As for the acting in the movie, well let's just say that it was fair enough, taking into consideration the genre and the budget of the movie. However, I can say that there was nothing outstanding or memorable to be witnessed throughout the movie.

The effects in "All Through the House" were adequate. But again, not really special effects that left any lasting impression of awe or amazement. But the effects served their purpose well enough.

The killer himself, well he definitely is no next Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger or Michael Myers that is for sure. Actually this serial killer is hardly one that you will remember once the movie has come to an end and the end credits start to roll.

There are far better slasher movies available, and this movie might be suitable enough for an off-beat slasher movies during a prolonged slasher movie marathon. Just don't get your hopes up for anything grand or spectacular.

Just in time for Halloween comes this slasher throwback about a man wearing a Krampus costume doling out death with a pair of hedge shears. This one follows all the rules of slasherness in a campy manor from the breasts to the surreal characters to the cheesy squirting blood. A no brainer Friday night flick for sure and it keeps you laughing.

The killer liked to shear off penises (the cat gets at one of them) and I thought maybe the writer is telling us something but later you see that he literally has a bag of dicks. The end tells me a sequel is coming. There now is a new film the whole family can enjoy on Christmas Eve.

All Through The House is a sexually saturated, viciously gory, low budget splatterfest with some great special effects.

There's a lot of T & A in this- and even some D- but they all get pretty mutilated by a serial killer who's wearing a santa suit and wielding a set of hedge clippers.

In fact, I haven't seen so many severed penises since Kim Ki Duk's Moebius.

And not even the pets are spared.

Like I said, pretty vicious.

The killer seems to be targetting the young adult men and women of a small town, our protaganess has returned to for Christmas vacation.

Her childhood friends start dropping one by one, as she investigates the fate of the girl next door- who had inexplicably disappeared- along with her own Mother, years earlier.

It turns out that her Mother was having an affair with the neighbour's wife...and now, all their fates have become intertwined...

Because this lady is a complete psychopath.

Ultimately leading to the film's twisted conclusion.

This is low-budget filmmaking done right (especially when compared to something like The Elf).

Although the story isn't particularly well developed, it makes up for it with gore.

Rendering it a fun little holiday horror Christmas slasher, in the end.

5 out of 10.