Grade: C-
Violent Night 2 isn’t even out yet, but I’m more optimistic about it than ever, after seeing Christmas at the Kringles. I wasn’t the biggest fan of Violent Night, but those folks owe a debt of gratitude to the Kringles crew, for putting their movie out first and potentially making Violent Night 2 look good. I might end up not liking it, but they can’t help but do better than Christmas at the Kringles.
After a brief “cold open” that hints at the slasher element that is to come, the first two-thirds of the movie is a comedic setup, with a few hits, and many more misses. The movie’s use of fictional names for companies that apparently wouldn’t grant permission to use their real names is distracting. Characters use an internet search engine called “Boggle,” and order Christmas gifts from “X-mazon.”
They don’t even name where they are. A family of three (the Seversons: Mark, Julie, and their son Bobby) moves to the suburbs from “the city.” Someone actually says “Where are you coming from? Let me guess. The city!” A couple of neighbors introduce themselves to the Seversons one at a time in the course of 10 minutes, as if they’ve read the script and are taking their turns. The last family to arrive is the Kringles, who live next door. The husband and wife are Nick and Carol. The children are Merry, Rudolph, and Elf. Are you sensing a theme?
The Kringles fervently celebrate Christmas all year round. Their house is garishly decked out with the kind of lights and other decorations that would make a “Griswold house” look barren in comparison. Most of the humor didn’t land for me, but Thomas Lennon, as Nick, has some funny business early on. The Kringles are almost constantly caroling, accompanied by Rudolph on the recorder, and Nick is never satisfied with the performance. He’s always delivering lines like “I didn’t love that. We didn’t nail it.” He is a huge part of the reason why they don’t sound good, as he’s often improvising a harmony that is more awkward than coalescent.
The slasher element appears in the last half hour, as if the filmmakers suddenly remembered the genre of their movie. This ordinary suburban house looks unnaturally cavernous once we see it indoors, but I enjoyed looking at it. It’s the same kind of interior/exterior dissonance as Hugh Grant’s home in Heretic. Once you get inside, it’s suddenly an endless funhouse maze. I’ve apparently seen several actors before, but the only two I recognized were Donald Faison (from Scrubs) as a neighbor who could have helpfully told the Seversons to steer clear of the Kringles much earlier, and Beverly D’Angelo as Grandma Kringle. Given her history with the holidays as a Griswold, she’s now showing up in Christmas slasher movies. She is wasted here, and barely does anything. At least she got to let loose in Violent Night.
The ending features the reemergence of a character who made me think “Wait. How is this person still alive and looking this good?” I’m glad I got a fix of some festive holiday eye candy, but otherwise, Christmas at the Kringles did very little for me. I was 20% of the audience at my showing. By the time it was halfway through, I was 100% of the audience. The only thing they missed out on was some great-looking colorful sets and lighting.
Grade: C-
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