Golden Winter

I found myself pleasantly surprised by Santa's Little Yelpers(or Golden Winter, I'll be honest though and say that Santa's Little Yelpers is a much more fitting title). I hate most of The Asylum's movies with a passion, but seeing as it was something different for them I was wondering could it possibly be a someway decent film? After seeing it, I have to say yes it was. It was a long way from great, and it is miles away from almost anything else The Asylum has done.

There are certainly some good things about Santa's Little Yelpers. Surprisingly for The Asylum, it looks good, one of their better-looking movies actually and that is saying a lot(with most of them they make it far too obvious that their budget is low). The scenery is colourful without ever feeling too gaudy and the editing is an improvement on the choppy editing usually found. The soundtrack is sweet and catchy with some moments of unforced whimsy and recognisable themes, while the dogs(the stars of the film as you will) look really cute and give some heartfelt charm to the proceedings. The acting especially from Shannon Elizabeth is better than average, again a huge improvement over most Asylum productions.

Santa's Little Yelpers is besieged with a lot of problems though. The chief culprit is the story, which is very tired and generic especially in the third act. The middle and the end are more action-packed but at the same time I found little to be excited or thrilled about, while the more comedic and emotional moments feel forced. The script is not much different from most family films that follow Santa's Little Yelpers' concept, in short it is well-intentioned but often verging on cheesy or mawkish. The characters are more likable than most Asylum movies' characters, but there is much emphasis on the dogs and consequently the human characters feel bland. Some of the voice work is also a bit too over-eager and eventually on the annoying side, and sadly the lip-synching is awful.

All in all, a decent if unexceptional family film, and of The Asylum's notorious output one of their more tolerable efforts. 5/10 Bethany Cox

Oliver (Andrew Beckham), a middle schooler, is lonely. His workaholic parents, Jessica (Shannon Elizabeth) and Jeff (Jason Burks) have very little time to spend with him. Even when his father seems to make plans with Oliver, they almost always get postponed for work related reasons. Therefore, it is little surprise that Oliver reaches out to a few classmates, even though they are bad news. Meanwhile, at a foreclosed home, the owners do a terrible thing. They pack up and speed off, leaving a mother Retriever and her five puppies behind, with no food or water. How can they! Happily, a bank associate comes by soon and spies the mom dog, taking her to a shelter. Now, the puppies are own their own, but not for long. Olver's new "gang" breaks into the vacant home, hoping to filch some of the items left behind. It's our Ollie who finds the pups and wants to take them to a humane society but once the gang leader realizes how much their street value is, he merely puts Oliver in charge of their care. More complications arise when the gang leader gets wind of a charity party where the boys hope to pose as Santa's helpers and take other items by the five-fingered discount. Can Oliver break free from their bad influence and will the puppies find great new owners, along with Mother dog? This is an acceptable film for families and everyone will love the adorable puppies. They "talk" in human voices, too, and their conversations are a stitch. But, there are some issues here that prevent the film from being a huge winner. For one, Oliver's parents are neglectful in the extreme, more so than any good mother or dad would be, even with a large number of working hours. So, children will want to discuss that with their own family. More importantly, some of the film's bad elements are truly bad. First, the dogs are abandoned inside a house, even though there is a doggie door. Sadly, this happens but kids will be bothered by this. Then, the bad boys discuss selling the dogs to the Chinese markets for meat, which is very upsetting, when Oliver doesn't fall in line. Thus, the movie goes to far in portraying the nasty folks, it isn't necessary, truly. Despite these criticisms, families will fall hard for the puppies so, as long as adults are prepared to discuss some minor matters, most everyone will have a swell time.

If you watch this movie, make sure that you haven't seen the Buddies movie series or any other talking dog movie first, as you won't be left as disappointed.

I could only manage 15-20 minutes of this on first viewing.

When I then saw it was produced by the team from The Asylum, I should have realised that the movie would've been poor before I bought it.

The special effects is just awful. and that just spoils a movie for me.

Previous Asylum Movies I may have caught on TV, may have had bad SFX and story, but its surprising star movie, would've kept my attention.

But this failed in that respect too.

In the tradition of Air Buddies The Asylum now has their own cute & cuddly dog film, is that good though for a studio that has been putting out some pretty decent flicks this year? The answer is no. This film sticks to the cuteness way too long and gets tired about 20 minutes in. Andrew Beckham plays Oliver who wants to join the local group of bad guys?So they break into a house and hold up fort in a house that is up for foreclosure that Oliver's father is working for the bank that is forcing the family out. In this house is a pack of puppies that have been separated from their mother, the film has some of the most annoying voice overs I have heard. I have seen a number of the Air Bud, Air Buddies & Beethoven etc films so I am familiar with these types of films and the fore mentioned films are better. This movie is just a platform for the dogs to show their cuteness but they are put in situations like being locked in the garage and they grab a mop and open the door with it, because they are too short to reach the doorknob. This did not work on so many levels even the heist at the end of the film is poorly done and the conclusion to it is even worse. Shannon Elizabeth lends her name to the film, that's about it she does her best(I guess)but this is far from anything remotely entertaining or good. There is a scene where she and her husband Jeff(Jason Brooks)are talking about Oliver who is at the other house with his buddies but in the families kitchen his backpack and bike helmet sit on the counter, he just had them at the other house in the scene prior.

No. NO.

The premise sounds cheesy but endearing. It starts promisingly, but as soon as the opening credits finish and the movie begins in earnest, it's all downhill from there.

Extremely dubious voice work is one matter, to say nothing of as many bad jokes and puns as can be stuffed into every passing minute. Even at that, there's potential for mild fun in a movie that mostly revolves around letting several golden retriever puppies just play and run around. However, the fact that this Christmas movie is produced by The Asylum should (key word) communicate everything you need to know about 'Golden winter.'

We're subjected to abhorrently inauthentic dialogue, and a decided lack of effort or ability from everyone in the cast. Characters are almost entirely bereft of any intelligence. Chris Ridenhour's music is wholly bland, and the song contributed by Laura Tuny sounds as plastic and fake as any special effects in Asylum features. These complement an incredulously blasé story without a single original idea. There's no greater example that immediately comes to mind of a movie you can "watch" without meaningfully engaging with it - though I'm unsure why you would want to do even that.

In fact, simply having it on in the background may be the ideal way to "enjoy" 'Golden winter,' because to actively pay attention to this could be considered an act of self-harm. As awful as every element of the movie is - writing, direction, acting, music - most atrocious of all is the CGI that litters the film from the very beginning. Its purpose: animating animals' mouths to poorly and halfheartedly mimic human speech patterns.

Everyone who contributed to this abomination should be plainly ashamed of themselves, and that goes not least of all for its "stars," Shannon Elizabeth and Haylie Duff, who above all should know better. I can't imagine that even the youngest of possible viewers could find this entertaining: I remember watching a few films as a child that were so ungenuine and unfunny that I was embarrassed to watch them with my parents, and none of those were half as terrible as this. Any miniscule passing value that the picture may have to offer is overwhelmed and subsumed by utterly rotten craft.

There is no reason whatsoever to watch this movie, under any circumstances. Whatever it is you were looking for, to have thusly stumbled across this - spend a few extra minutes searching, and you'll find a couple dozen movies that are far more worth your time. I began watching with no foreknowledge and mixed but positive expectations, and I'm aghast at what I just sat through. 'Golden winter' is a horrid waste of 90 minutes; no one should ever watch this, and streaming services that host it owe us all a massive apology.

What garbage.