I am always excited for new holiday horror and Carnage for Christmas was exactly what my shriveled Grinch heart was missing. This was the gift I needed as my first watch from the 2024 Fantasia International Film Festival. Alice Maio Mackay comes in hot with this ode to the Christmas slasher, reminiscent of everything I adore from Christmas Evil to Silent Night. Much like Santa, she is giving!
At only 19, the trailblazing filmmaker, has cemented herself as a phenom in horror cinema, and her latest film is her best yet. Mackay describes it as an independent no-budget trans horror Christmas film. Obviously, I added Carnage for Christmas to my holiday horror playlist with a quickness. It’s smart, it’s sassy, it’s camp, it’s queer, it’s fun, and I loved it!
The ghost of Christmas past
The plot is simple with a little true crime meets urban legend action. From Fantasia:
When true-crime podcaster and sleuth Lola visits her hometown at Christmas for the first time since running away and transitioning, the vengeful ghost of a historical murderer and urban legend seemingly arises to kill again. Lola must solve the case before her community is slaughtered. She’s up against not only a psychotic killer, but a town haunted by secrets.
Jeremy Moineau shines as Lola. She’s intelligent, confident, and captivating. It’s difficult to imagine her as the teenager who ran away from home. The bullied teen protagonist is usually a tired trope but Mackay has created a modern woman who is facing her past head-on. Who wouldn’t have anxiety returning to a place full of bad memories? However, Lola arrives in her hometown as a badass. She quickly establishes herself as a force and won’t be letting anyone take a thing from her.
Merry fucking Christmas!!
First, Lola’s storytelling of the grisly Toymaker murders on her podcast was a great introduction. We take a little stroll down memory lane and then follow Lola home for the holidays. After a brutal murder and the disappearance of an old friend, Lola is forced to use her sleuthing skills thanks to the indifference of local authorities. Much like the standard slasher, law enforcement is no help. And in this case, it’s good ol’ fashion small town mentality with a heaping helping of homophobia and transphobia.
When the bodies begin to pile up, Lola befriends a local cop and gets help from her closest friends. Fortunately, not everyone in this town is close-minded. It was surprisingly refreshing to see a woman lead with supportive family and friends and zero gaslighting. With a runtime of only 70 mins, there’s no time wasted in this developing murder mystery.
The reason for the season
Alice Maio Mackay is no stranger to working with micro budgets and crowdfunding. Despite the lack of big budgets, she works masterfully with little to create her spectacular visions. Carnage for Christmas is no exception. The movie is gorgeous to watch. The cinematography and editing style of Aaron Schuppan and Vera Drew, respectively, had me leaning in to take in as much of each scene. The animation, smart use of lighting, oversaturation of colors, the music, and tone of the film were all fun and stylish.
I want to add Lola’s podcast to my playlist and/or be tuned in weekly for a television series. I needed more. Can someone give this a wide release for the holidays? Nothing screams Christmas like a Santa-clad serial killer, a few whimsical murders, and maybe a drag queen slapping her cone-bra’d titties around for some sparkle.
