Why the film-makers chose to stick with "Jingle Hell" as a title, is a decision that ranks second only to that of Hitler's insistence that he open a second front against the Russians.
It's a wonderful little movie, all the more remarkable for the fact that it's a first time effort by some young independents. It compares very favorably with Jodie Foster's 1995 thematically-similar Home for the Holidays with its all-star cast. The writing is top-notch, the direction is polished, the editing seamless, and there's not a single mis-step by the cast of unknowns.
Jingle Hell did well on the smaller festival circuit, but never obtained a general or even limited release. While it's listed here as a "TV" movie, there's no information about who might have televised it or where, and in this age of untold numbers of cable channels with their voracious appetite for any sort of "content" (which term sounds a whole lot better than "filler"), the fact that the film isn't on someone's year-end holidays schedule, is all the more inexplicable.
I'm of the unalterable opinion that the problem starts with the title; it's impossible to hear it and not dismissively flash on, as an earlier comment suggests, "slasher-in-a-Santa-suit." If there's a God-of-Celluloid anywhere, this is a movie which will somewhere along the line, gain some just recognition. Fortunately, the film-makers are all relatively young, and might be able to wait it out in terms of some richly deserved artistic recognition.
Sadly, none those behind the camera seem to have done anything in the field since Jingle Hell. More's the pity.
