El calendario de adviento

Wow, I didn't expect this age-old tale of obeying an supernatural object or die to be this good. It partially reminded me of Monkey Shines and has that feel blended with a more tone downed Malignant. For a Christmas Horror, you can't go wrong even though I doubt it'll be a yearly viewing.

This is more of a ghost story than a horror. It demonstrates how good storytelling can entertain viewers without the need for state-of-the-art graphics, stunts or other gimmicky distractions. This movie offers an intriguing story of mystery & suspense. The movie is well done in terms of likeable characters, good actors, good production quality. The one thing I did not like was the ending. It seems to be a trend in recent movies I've watched where the movie leaves some questions unanswered. It is my pet peeve about movies or series - where they don't solve all the mysteries at the end. I think it is the responsibility of the story teller to end the story with answers. No matter how hard that might be. Bottom-line: This is a mysterious, spooky story, akin to a ghost story and not a horror story. I recommend!

The Advent Calendar was a pretty good little story. I don't think people looking for traditional horror will find it scary in the least. In fact, I really didn't think it built much tension at all, but it did draw me in and had me really wanting to see how it turned out. Another thing I will warn potential viewers about is that it is somewhat inconsistent in its storytelling. Much of it unfolds like a straightforward thriller (with some supernatural elements), but every once in a while, they throw in a moment that feels more surreal or symbolic. Finally, I want to prepare you for the possibility that you might feel like some things went unexplained. I personally didn't mind these minor nitpicks. I was just glad the whole thing didn't fall apart in the final act, like so many thrillers do. I was satisfied with what they gave me. While I will not give it a strong recommendation, being that it isn't all that shocking or visceral, my feeling is that it was an enjoyable enough ride that I don't regret sitting through it. A fun little holiday-themed offering.

The Advent Calendar is within the genre of the most surprising films of 2021. Although it doesn't bring anything new, the film has a very well-developed story without falling into the genre stereotype and has something different that captivates the narrative. Very interesting.

It's easy to scoff at the ridiculous premise, assigning sinister origins to innocuous items is usually a sign of a stupid movie, and "evil advent calendar" is as dumb as they come. Yet somehow they managed to wring a quality picture out of this ludicrous idea.

The tone is uniformly dark and serious, with the camerawork capturing some great low light shots and Eugénie Derouand expertly showcasing her character's turmoil. The plot mixes it's supernatural themes with the real world tragedies of living with a disability, and has an interesting focus towards the moral quandary of inflicting harm on others to service yourself. It all heats up to some gruesome ends, the effects work on the monsters is stellar, it's an inventive creature that's scary as hell without looking the least bit cheesy, and though things get pretty bloody, it's never as uncomfortably squeamish as other French horror films have been. I may have preferred a more conclusive resolution, but I still see the merit in how they chose to wrap things up.