Santa's Slay - Blutige Weihnachten

It must be hard being a popular wrestler. People pay money to see you, to cheer for you, to buy your merchandise, and generally to make you feel like more then the average man. It makes you think that if they were willing to do all that, they'd be willing to follow you if you attempt other projects as well.

And they do. But mainly to make fun of it.

Then again, it seems like wrestlers are united in their substandard film choices. Hulk Hogan's, whose wrestling stardom was heavily influenced by his guest appearance in Rocky III, movie career reads like a "What Not To Do When Picking A Script". Steve Austin, Triple H, and Adam Copeland (Edge) won't exactly be remembered for their marks in Hollywood either (Only the future will tell if The Rock breaks the mold or follows in their footsteps). And then along comes a film like this, starring former WCW dynamo Bill Goldberg.

Surprisingly, it's not all bad.

True, one shouldn't go into the film expecting a fully sensible plot, or a masterwork of acting, or extremely convincing special effects (look out for the prone motionless 'hell-deer!'). However, the film does contain a few likable characters, some decent puns in the Christmas vein (along with some excruciating ones), and half the time, Goldberg actually manages to make the concept of Santa really being an evil entity comes off as credible. And of course, any film that presents the credit sequence as a naughty and nice list can't be all bad.

In the end, it's not Santa With Muscles.

And that's really saying something.

A movie never meant to be taken seriously, but oh so enjoyable if you've a mind to. I mean, come on, GOLDBERG is SANTA!!! I f you're looking for a friendly, family-oriented Christmas movie, do NOT watch this. A carnage filled Christmas delight, though mostly oriented towards the "guy" movie type. Goldberg has some great one liners and I have to say that I look forward to seeing him in other films because of this one. An actor or a film that doesn't take itself too seriously is what we need more of these days. People take themselves too seriously. And apparently this is too short to post. Death. Mayhem. Santa. Satan's offspring.

It's not that kind of slayer movie with a psycho dressed in a Santa costume, but a fantasy horror comedy with the "real" Santa Claus who is actually a demon that lost a bet with an Angel in ancient times.

Because he lost the bet, he must be a good guy and give presents to kids for Christmas, but after 1000 years he has the right to get back to his evil habits and now he suddenly becomes a slayer Santa.

The movie is really interesting and entertaining. Even if there are a lot of sadistic killings, they are not scary and would never be dangerous to kids. So let them watch this movie without restrictions.

I give it a 10 out of 10 for the very well done black humor.

One of the greatest Christmas movies EVER! Up there with Scrooged and Die Hard. I rented this film with my buddies on a lark. We were expecting to laugh at how bad it was but we were amazed to find that we were actually laughing at all the right parts. Actually we were laughing the entire way through. We kept having to ask each other what that last line of dialog was because we missed it. Great gags, some fantastic cameos, and a Jewish wrestler playing Santa Claus.

I'd only hold two things against it, those being: (1) the lead actor (Douglas Smith) - he was a little weak and (2)the CG could've benefited from some more expense. Otherwise this is a brilliant film. Santa's Slay is the first film to honor the truly great sport of curling. A flying bison, Goldberg, strippers, and Caulk jokes. Plus swearing children and swearing old ladies. A new holiday tradition.

Twenty years later, this movie falls flat. A big part of that is that David Harbour played Santa (in Violent Night) with a lot more charisma. This looked like an indie film, but was missing the heart. A big problem with wrestlers in non wrestling movies is that they bring the ring presence. However, in "the real world", that doesn't translate. Santa powerbombing someone seems like a lot of work for little return. This is one and done for me.

The plot had moments, but, they weren't tied together - more like someone wrote a line, and said, Hey, that's good!, and that's where it ended. Special effects were not "special", so, they weren't engaging. If anything, this COULD be remade with 1. Better production values 2. Better script and 3. Better acting. Sometimes, trying isn't enough.