Santastein

Glad I stumbled across this and gave it a chance cause it's so goofy and trashy and I mean that in the best way possible. You can tell the cast and crew had a blast making it and that there was a lot of passion behind the project. Yes, there are some technical issues due to its small budget, but nothing that was distracting enough to hinder my viewing experience and honestly, the film's scrappy nature kinda added in some extra charm. It's a fun premise with some surprisingly funny moments and a few entertaining, over the top kills (with one standout death being particularly gnarly.) will happily add this to my annual holiday viewing lineup!

Attempting to perfect an experiment, a teen and his friend try to put their skills to the test by resurrecting Santa Claus after accidentally killing him as a kid several years earlier, but when the resurrected Santa starts going on a killing spree in his town must race to stop it before his friends are killed.

Overall, this was a rather enjoyable genre cheesefest. One of the main aspects to be had with this one is the series of solid and enjoyable interactions that come about here due to the setup at play. With the initial accident involving his attempts to photograph Santa backfiring and inadvertently killing him instead which results in a decidedly different timeline that alters how society views the Christmas season, this already has a solid enough backstory in place long before it deals with the regeneration experiments and the high-school cliques that constitute the human drama. Realizing that his experiments are designed to bring Santa back to life, the interactions with him and his friend trying to put their science experiments to the test is enough to understand this viewpoint much like the secondary storyline with the sister's party that takes place at the same time. This provides a great setup for the kind of cheesy, over-the-top carnage that takes place as the resurrected killer is set loose on the town. Initially focusing on brief ambushes such as the series of stragglers he comes across wandering the streets at night after getting woken up, the changeover into more involved and lengthy stalking scenes such as the ambush at the police station after initially thinking it's a drunk-driving victim or a fun series of encounters at a convenience store knocking off several rounds of individuals who arrive there looking for supplies allows for a fun series of escalating confrontations to be had. It all leads to the arrival at the party where the various storylines emerge rather nicely with the inventive kills on the numerous guests he comes across, the full-scale brawling that takes place, and the enjoyably over-the-top means of integrating the season into the combat tactics to stop him. It's all given a fun sheen with a lighthearted approach while still being taken seriously and it gives everything a lot to like about it. There's not much to dislike here but it does have some minor issues. One of the biggest determinants present is the general air of cheese present involving the tale of a reanimated Santa Claus going on a killing spree after his death provided a world without the holiday season. It's a concept that should not be taken seriously but the concurrent humor that goes along with this type of storyline is a real hit-or-miss. Some of the corny actions here, especially by the various high-school clique girls on the sister trying to get in their good graces which ranges to the mocking treatment and the numerous undermining comments that just vaguely come off as funny. Either of the numerous gags with the kid trying to save the resurrected Santa running loose that is also immensely scattered, focusing on this idea of the adults not trusting his claims about being able to help Santa and just trying to put it down that's quite hard to get over which are the issues present here.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, and teen drug use.

Santastein is a high school Christmas horror comedy take on the classic Frankenstein tale.

It all begins with Max, who accidentally killed Santa when he was 9 years old.

In an attempt to capture evidence of his existence.

So he has dedicated his life to fixing this mistake...with hopes of restoring the magic of Christmas.

However, all his efforts fail...until he teams up with the smartest girl in school for a science project.

Together they manage to bring a rat back from the dead.

Which leads Max to believe he can do the same thing for Santa.

But he only has Santa's brain.

So he must steal a newly deceased body from the morgue; swap it's brain for Santa's; and harness an electrical charge strong enough to reanimate him.

Not realizing how big of a mistake this actually is, until it's too late.

Because he's not the sort of Santa he thought he'd be.

Rather, one with an insatiable bloodlust he immediately puts into action.

Now Santa's on a killing spree.

So they must concoct a plan to stop him...without totally ruining Christmas in the process.

What starts out as a cheesy, high school, horror comedy...ends up taking quite the vicious turn in the third act.

Which is quite action packed.

And all sorts of gory fun.

It is rather low budget, though.

And suffers from some severe audio-balancing issues.

But, that aside, it's actually pretty great.

In a super culty sort of way.

I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Finding it to be pretty darn fun.

So, must say...it's definitely worth a watch.

Just remember to stick with it, and wait for the payoff.

Because it's totally worth it.

5 out of 10.

Never having heard of the 2023 horror comedy "Santastein", from writers and directors Manuel Camilion and Benjamin Edelman, when I stumbled upon it here in 2024, of course I opted to watch it, given my love of the horror genre. And I do enjoy horror comedies.

While the movie started out great with the scene of Santa accidentally getting killed, and "Santastein" definitely had an interesting synopsis and plot on paper, I must admit that I had some expectations to the movie. But I have to say that writers and directors Manuel Camilion and Benjamin Edelman failed to deliver. The movie's narrative was a swing and a miss. Sure, the movie had potential, but it was not utilized, and the movie just fell flat. Even the whole "Frankenstein" part of the movie just felt irrelevant to the narrative.

Of course I was not familiar with any of the actors or actresses on the cast list. But while the narrative was not particularly great, the acting performances were actually still quite fair. And I do enjoy watching unfamiliar talents on the screen when I sit down to watch a movie. Just a shame that the actor and actresses didn't really have much of anything solid to work with.

This movie will never find its way back onto my screen a second time, as it was a struggle to sit through it the first time already. In fact, I actually also dozed off somewhere along the way. Yeah, the movie was that boring.

My rating of writers and directors Manuel Camilion and Benjamin Edelman's 2023 horror comedy "Santastein" lands on a three out of ten stars.

Santastein (2023) is currently available on Tubi. The story follows a young boy who accidentally kills Santa. Obsessed with bringing him back, the boy spends six years researching resurrection rituals. When he finally succeeds, Santa returns-but as an evil, vengeful figure who embarks on a killing spree.

The film is co-directed and co-written by Manuel Camilion and Benjamin Edelman in their feature film debuts. It stars Jared Korotkin, Michael Vitovich (Lady Ballers), Heather Fisch (Unboxed), Fletcher Hammond (Home for Thanksgiving), and Brian D. Long (Saturday Night).

This is the kind of movie you watch out of curiosity about how the concept will play out, only to finish it wondering why they bothered if this was the result. While the settings and atmosphere are decent, the execution falls flat. The transformation scene is serviceable but lacks impact. Santa himself had potential as a menacing figure but ends up feeling like just another generic killer. The storyline is straightforward and predictable, and the kill scenes are uninspired and forgettable.

In conclusion, Santastein is a mediocre entry in the holiday horror genre. I'd score it a 4/10 and recommend skipping it.