Haul Out the Holly: Lit Up

"Haul out the Holly" was a great movie! So fun and cheerful! It's too bad that I can't say the same for its sequel "Haul out the Holly: Lit Up." Not such a fun and cheerful movie. This movie was quite annoying. A family who were reality TV stars moved in, and literally tried to take over the neighborhood and the homeowner's association, and Christmas festivities, and everything. And they were obnoxious to boot. And mean. Not Christmassy and not cheery. Very disappointing. They should not have made this sequel. They should have just left the first movie "Haul Out the Holly" alone. I recommend "Haul Out the Holly," but not its sequel.

This is one of those movies that just did not need a sequel. And rarely do I not love a Lacey Hallmark Christmas movie. This was just beyond disappointing. Loved the first one and was so excited to watch this when I saw the previews for the season, but it just did not deliver. The Jolly Johnson's left me anything but jolly after watching. I've watched hundreds of Hallmark movies and realize they are not trying to be Oscar worthy, but this is barely watchable. I have seen worse, but not with this cast. It was just incredibly disappointing and painful to watch. They can't all be winners, but this is a big pass for me.

This one is not nearly as fun as the last one and has a much darker undertone of mob mentally being swayed by celebrity's. Yes it's a Christmas movie so it does have a happy ending, eventually.

I get that's the point. But it's a sharp contrast to the last one which was a lot more fun throughout and being part of a community.

Also when do the Johnsons sleep. They Do sooo much and get everywhere so quickly. I just don't get it.

This sequel is not the worst, but it's definitely not the best. And we'll worth a skip if you liked the first one.

It does get s lot more light hearted and fun, but not until about the last 20min or so.

6.2 stars.

Take the original film and imagine it continued for another 2 hours and the logical continuation would in fact be "lit up". However, the first was already headed for a crash and burn and saved by the fact that it ended. Don't get me wrong, I didn't hate the first one, I actually thought it had some redeeming qualities, but it ended on a high note, thus it was a decent standalone story. There was something about the originality and all the cool neighborhood competitions and the undermining and the HOA rules fiasco. Neighbors being frantic with decorating and games and the whole weirdness of it was interesting. Now take all of that originality and multiply it by ten, but instead of adding some variety and a new spin, take the original theme pound it into the ground, i.e. Beat on a dead horse for two more hours. The ending seems to lend itself to yet another sequel, dollars to doughnuts it won't happen. This film cannot rest upon its laurels sufficiently enough to survive the gestation and birthing of a third.

I watched the original and saw this as my obvious next choice. I wish I didn't. The new neighbors just reminded me of everything that is wrong in the real world today.

Instead of taking me away from the world for a few moments, this put it front and center. As a huge Lacey Chabert fan I feel this sequel is beneath her as an actress. This movie felt very quickly put together and was a mere afterthought. I do not think this movie does any of the original cast , characters and story line justice. And if one were to accidentally watch this movie first I would bet my Christmas cookies they'd never watch the original, Which was delightful.