Demonic Christmas Tree

The Killing Tree (2022) is a UK movie that I recently watched on Tubi. The storyline follows a serial killer's widow who casts a spell for him to return but the spell goes wrong and he returns as a Christmas tree. As a Christmas tree he also has special powers that allows him to do things beyond his wildest dreams. The serial killing tree sets out for revenge on those who caused him to get caught and executed.

This movie is directed by Rhys Frake-Waterfield (Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey) and stars Sarah Alexandra Marks (Kill Kane), Marcus Massey (Bunny: The Killer Thing), Judy Tcherniak (Monster Portal) and Kelly Rian Sanson (Curse of Jack Frost).

This movie wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The storyline itself reminded me a little of Shocker. The acting and dialogue is just okay but the horror elements are entertaining. There's a pool scene I really enjoyed and the kills by the tree get better and better as the movie progresses. The CGI didn't bother me at all and reminded me a little of Deep Rising. The final showdown scenes at the end are a lot of fun. I would definitely watch a sequel.

Overall, this is a fun watch for fans of bad horror movies. I would score this a 5.5/10 and recommend seeing it once.

Plot

On Christmas Eve, a widow casts a spell to resurrect her executed husband. However, when the spell goes wrong, the husband is brought back as an Evil Christmas Tree and is hell-bent on getting revenge on the one who caused his execution.

Cast

The usual suspects that you expect to see in Uncorked and ITN movies, truly dreadful for the most part who have absolutely no place in the industry especially Marcus Massey who puts in a career worst here.

Verdict

I went in assuming a novelty comedy horror, I knew it was almost certainly going to be bad especially considering the creators and cast but expected at least that novelty value which could make up for it.

I didn't expect it to be this bad, it truly is abysmal. You see the novelty element is worn thin by just how bad it is, the horror is barely present and the comedy? I think they forgot to implement that. I mean how exactly do you make a movie about a killer Christmas tree and leave out the comedy? It's actually played serious and that couldn't possibly work!

Sometimes the tree is practical, sometimes it's CGI, sometimes it's 5ft sometimes it's 50ft, the acting from our villains is comically terrible, the dialogue from the tree is some of the worst I've ever heard. It's not that it's bad, it's just repetitive and generic to a level I never thought was possible. You have to hear it to believe it.

So there it is, it's not funny, it's not worth it for the novelty value, it's not film so bad it's worth a giggle, it's just bad.

Rants

Marcus Massey please retire Marcus Massey please retire Marcus Massey please retire Marcus Massey please retire Marcus Massey please retire That's my rant, seriously he's so bad.

Breakdown

Strange concept at least Not funny Not scary Awful cast Marcus Massey Terrible CGI Dreadful dialogue.

If you like out of control, fun and ridiculously over the top movies...this is a keeper. The kills were well done, and everything was so much fun to watch. This genre is severely underrated, and needs more of these types of holiday horror. I really hope they make a part 2 for this, and keep it going. I couldn't get enough of this and was on the edge of my seat waiting to see what ridiculous event would happen next to the cast. If u like we'll done B holiday horror movies, this is a must see. This is a great holiday movie and should be shown every year. You can't go wrong with this, see it immediately.

A distraught woman- pining over the death of her recently executed partner in crime and love- desperately tries to reincarnate him, by undertaking a ritual designed to release his soul from his ashes.

However, things don't go exactly as planned.

As he ends up possessing the Christmas tree.

Which gives him a chance to hunt down and kill the one that got away...as The Killing Tree.

Despite the fact the whole demonic anthropomorphic tree slasher trope has been done before- most notably in the awesome Christmas horror short, Treevenge (but also in Twas The Night Of The Tree Beast)- this was much more entertaining than it should of been.

Especially considering most of the gore and action are facilitated with CGI effects.

Part of it's charm comes from the fact that it doesn't take itself too seriously, though.

Most explicit when the Christmas star is used as a shuriken, with no effort made to hide the string that it's on.

Having been released by the same company that brought us the Krampus series...I went in to this with relatively low expectations.

And it, at least, managed to surpass those.

Though, with that being said...there's not much depth to the story...and the character development is rather poor.

But if you don't go in expecting much from it...it's certainly worth a watch for a few laughs, and bit of mindless entertainment.

Just realize that Treevenge is still the better of the killer Christmas tree horrors (and packs more entertainment in 9 minutes, than this does in 70).

But it is what it is.

3 out of 10.

Listen, you're gonna read the description and groan. You're probably gonna see low "critic" reviews and you're going to write this one off. DO NOT DO THAT. Listen to fans of low budget horror, like myself. This, at the very least, will find itself in your "so bad it's good" column if you let it. The CGI is laughable, and most of the kills are part of that CGI, but that's actually part of the charm here! Watching these cheesy CGI kills made me chuckle, and it's a big part of what kept me entertained until the end.

If you are a fan of movies like Jack Frost, Jack Frost 2, Thankskilling, CarousHELL, and so on, this is right up your alley.