Good Tidings

This was a film that I had heard about from podcasts I listen to. I couldn't remember a lot about what they had said, but since I was out to watch Christmas themed horror films during December, I thought I'd give this one a chance. The official synopsis is a homeless war-veteran with a checkered past must rely on a side of himself once thought buried when he and his companions are targeted by three vicious psychopaths wearing Santa suits on Christmas Day.

We kick off with a man in a Santa Claus suit leaving a house. The yard surrounding the house looks rough and the man might be coming off of a bender. That's when three men attack him, all wearing what looks to be hospital attire. They are all wearing masks. They end up killing the man. We then see that they are all dressed up as Santa, all wearing masks as well. We never see their faces, but they are given the names of the Three Stooges: Curly (Stu Jopia), Larry (Giovanni Gentile) and Moe (Liam W. Ashcroft). Oddly enough, Curly and Larry are two of the co-writers for the film

The film then shifts to a man ask he is digging through the garbage. He is Frank Roland (Colin Murtagh). We learn that he is the former war veteran who is running away from something in his film. There's another homeless man who is watching, Jon Latham (Jonny Hirst). Jon asks if he can come with him.

Frank takes him to where he has been staying. It is an abandoned courthouse where bunch of other homeless people is staying to get out of the cold. They have procured enough supplies to put on their own Christmas party. It is during this that Frank talks with a younger woman, Roxy Muller (Claire Crossland). She is a former junkie, but with Frank's help she has gotten clean.

Things take quite the turn when the three Santas show up, chain the door shut and then they start to toy with those stuck inside. Some are killed and some are rounded up. Why are they doing this and can they find a way out before it is too late?

I have to lead off stating this film hit a lot of positives for me. I love the concept of these three Santas coming in and wrecking havoc. I'm a big fan of taking something as innocent as this character and perverting it like the film does. It is even scarier knowing that the mental patients and that can explain some of things they are doing. Some of it doesn't make sense, but that is explained that they are crazy. Not everything they do is rational.

This film also has some social commentary I'm a big fan of. If you know me, then you know that I'm not a big fan of Christmas. It should be a time that we are thankful for what we have and for those around us, but it is such a commercial holiday now. This film has a bunch of poor people who are the victims here. It seemed like a good allegory of how the holiday beats down those that don't have much and that's what this film seems to do. Going with this though, I actually thought this film is a solid slasher, because I felt bad for these people. Not everyone is given a story why they are there, but we do get some and it helped me connect with them. My favorite slashers make me feel for the character so I care if they are killed and this film did that for me.

Something I would have like fleshed out a bit is why did the killers choose this place. My initial thought was that they are going back to where they were sentenced. This is the way that I read it and the only thing that makes sense.

Going from there, I will touch on the pacing next. I thought the film was paced very well. We are introduced to the characters in a natural way and it doesn't take long for the three killers to show up. It then becomes a cat and mouse game, but I thought that was well done. It was reminiscent of the slashers of the past where we got some stalking with the slashing. I thought the ending was fine and fitting for the genre.

I will say though that the acting was only decent. Murtagh I thought was fine in his role. He didn't do anything to hurt the film, but he really didn't stand out either. Crossland I also thought was fine in her role, but for similar things like for Frank, I just wasn't blown away. This is a slasher film so I don't need to be blown away by the acting. The rest of the people inside the courthouse were fine as well. I did like how Jopia, Gentile and Ashcroft acted. It was definitely believable as crazy people and they all had distinct characterization to help tell them apart.

The effects did have some issues as well. The bigger problem for me was that there were too many off-screen deaths. I'm fine with doing this a bit, but for a film like this, I think we really need to see them. The deaths we did get were creative and some looked to be practical. The other issue though was they decided to go with CGI blood. It didn't look real and that aspect disappointed. I will say that the film was shot well outside of that.

Something I really wanted to talk about was the score of the film. They decided to use a lot of Christmas songs, but play them with creepy bells for most of it. I absolutely loved that aspect. It really creeped me out and helped to enhance the film. The score overall was very well done and is actually one I would like to purchase if I can find it. It definitely would be fun to use at a Christmas party to get a little of my horror side in there.

Now with that said, I actually really enjoyed this film. It was one that I didn't remember much about what others said and came in pretty blind. I thought this was an interesting Christmas slasher that had some solid social commentary with it. The film did have some issues with effects and the acting wasn't great. It was paced well and it had a great soundtrack for me. I think some minor changes could have really made this film really good. Due to some minor issues, I have to say this one is above average.

Independent Horror film-maker Stewart W. Bedford is sinfully spreading some good blood smear, his three psycho Santa's slay merrily, bringing gore-ious gut-spill, and good kill to all men! Amen!!!! This grisly 'Good Tidings' is a gruesome gift to Yule-snide slasher fans, while undeniably cheap and deliciously nasty, with Gorgonzola-garlanded goof-ball amateur acting calamity, this frightfully festive fright flick, while far from a silent night is certainly a night to dismember! 'They're cutting people's phooking heads off!'

A trio of sociopathic serial killers, wearing santa claus outfits and masks, target a group of squatters who are held up in a vacant courthouse building for the holiday season.

We follow the de-facto leader of the squatters as he; a recovering addict; one of the main organizers of the group; and a guy they just met and took in; try to survive and attempt to exact justice...or vengeance...for their now deceased friends.

Clearly the largest and most intimidating santa is the dominant force of the trio; with the two others coming off as probably inbred- definitely mentally-ill- twins. There's not much context given to the narrative...it's all just a senseless violence splatterfest.

But the characters are developed pretty well.

The acting from the two female leads- particularly the woman who plays the main organizer- is excellent. Her trauma feels truly genuine.

However, what the guy goes through requires some suspension of disbelief...though, by this point you are invested in their survival...so it's not too bad.

There's quite a bit of gore- which is hit or miss. The use of sausages as intestines was pretty cheesy, but the finale was badass. And overall the special effects are pretty good.

In the end, it's entertaining enough, if you are just looking for senseless Christmas violence.

But I felt it could have had more depth with a little more attention to detail. 5.5 out of 10.

I saw Good Tidings at the Grindhouse Planet Film Festival.

It was pretty standard horror fare. A group gets locked in a court house during the Christmas season and gets tormented by three killer men in Santa suits. A couple of pretty effective grizzly moments aren't enough to balance out the over-long, boring sequences of the Santas staring and cackling as their hostages say things like 'please don't do this' etc.

You could cut out half an hour easily and although that wouldn't leave you with much of a film, that is kind of the problem. There is simply not enough plot and not enough imagination to justify this being feature length. In a year which has seen so many brilliant (admittedly higher budget) single-location horrors come out, (Green Room, Don't Breath, The Invitation) Good Tidings simply can't complete.

What's the only thing better than one killer Santa? Three of them! I must say, this film exceeded my expectations big time. Despite being a bit on the low budget side, the acting was good, the story was unique and the soundtrack was awesome. Stu Jopia (who played one of the killer Santas) would also serve as one of the film's writers and producers, while Stuart W. Bedford served as writer, producer and director. And seriously, the film's soundtrack by Liam W. Ashcroft is truly outstanding.