The Nights Before Christmas

While the 2019 movie "The Nights Before Christmas" was dark and gritty, it was not an overly outstanding movie. Sure, it was watchable, but the movie just didn't really cut it - pardon the pun - in terms of being a properly entertaining horror movie.

So why was that? Well, mostly because the movie was predictable, but also because the storyline was just way too generic. It felt like writers Simon Phillips and Paul Tanter were playing it way too safe and going for something that had been done many times before this movie. Sure, it worked well enough, but at the same time it was restricting the movie from being more than less than mediocre.

The characters in the movie were cliché, and as such it was just a bit difficult to really establish any connections with them. The Santa Claus character was interesting enough, albeit generic, and actor Simon Phillips definitely helped to bring the character to life on the screen. As for Mrs. Claus, played by Sayla de Goede, was just too much of a clone of the Harley Quinn character.

"The Nights Before Christmas" is not a contender for becoming neither a Christmas classic nor a slasher classic. It is the type of movie that you watch once - probably because you got lured in by the movie's cover - and then never will shed a single thought to the movie ever again.

My rating of the 2019 movie "The Nights Before Christmas" lands on a four out of ten stars. It was watchable, sure, but it was ultimately a less than mediocre movie at best.

The Nights Before Christmas (2019) is a Canadian 🇨🇦 holiday/horror film currently available on Tubi. The story follows a couple who meet in an asylum, escape, and embark on a killing spree while posing as Mr. And Mrs. Claus. A determined detective sets out to stop their reign of terror.

Directed by Paul Tanter (Stealing Chaplin), the film stars Simon Phillips (Survive the Game), Sayla de Goede (Silent Bite), Keegan Chambers (Age of the Living Dead), and Kate Schroder (All I Didn't Want for Christmas).

Unfortunately, the film's decision to lean into a Joker-and-Harley-Quinn-inspired dynamic for Mr. And Mrs. Claus makes the writing feel derivative and uninspired. That said, Santa's menacing look is a highlight and adds a cool, sinister edge. However, the acting, writing, and dialogue feel low-budget, as do the cinematography and kill scenes. The lackluster execution of the kills is particularly disappointing, as stronger sequences could have made this a more entertaining experience.

In conclusion, The Nights Before Christmas has a few moments that work, but they're overshadowed by its flaws. I'd score this a 3.5/10 and recommend skipping it.

Not bad for a Christmas horror film! I'm excited to watch the first one now. I'm hoping there's another sequel. I think more can be explained, this was a great movie!

The Nights Before Christmas This movie I can definitely recommend to anyone. There isn't anything bad about this movie, really. The actors play well and the characters are built even better. I cannot express how good this is. 10/10

Wasn't unwatchably bad, but fairly bad. The actress playing "Mrs. Claus" seems to have based her character on a blend of Harley Quinn and Baby from House of 1000 Corpses and didn't come off very well at all being so blatantly obvious what she was attempting to do. The lead FBI agent was trying way too hard to pull off a "Clarice Starling" but failed miserably and seemed to be reading her lines, pretty much like most of the other actors. Story was fairly predictable but was still just okay. Seems to be pretty common with the films where the directors, producers, writers act in their films. I wouldn't recommend watching it, but I wouldn't steer you away from it either.