The Mean One

In Newville, on Christmas night, the mother of the girl Cindy is murdered trying to save her daughter from a trespasser. Nancy describes the man as a green monster dressed in costume of Santa Claus. Twenty years later, Cindy (Krystle Martin), who was hospitalized due to her mental illness, returns to Newville with her father during the Christmas holidays as part of her recovery from the childhood trauma. On arrival, they are stopped by Deputy Burke (Chase Mullins) since Christmas ornaments are not allowed in town. They arrive at their house that is closed and start to decorate the house for Christmas. But during the night, the green monster kills her father at home. Nobody believes Nancy again but out of the blue, the local Doc Zeus (John Bigham) tells her that the Grinch, a.k.a. The Mean One, killed his wife Martha twelve years ago, and nobody has also believed in his words and since then, he is chasing the Mean One in Christmas to kill it. Nancy visits Sheriff Hooper (Erik Baker) again, but he does not pay attention to her. Now Cindy decides to team up with Doc to kill the Mean One.

"The Mean One" (2022) is a movie about The Grinch by Steven LaMorte. The gory plot has a promising beginning, but the development is not good with stupid situations. The conclusion is awful, with Cindy feeling sorrow and forgiving the Monster Killer. It is difficult to understand the intention of the writers with this corny conclusion. The cast is also very weak. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "O Malvado - Horror no Natal" ("The Mean One - Horror in Christmas")

So, this movie is a trip to say the least. Lots of cheap blood effects, many deaths, awkward acting, and some weird comedy mixed in with the horror aspect. The makeup is actually pretty good for such a small studio. The character of The Mean One is actually pretty good, and they don't add too much backstory, unlike some of the previous adaptations of the story. It's just "stealing lives, just like their Christmas" and not much more. This movie definitely doesn't fail at being entertaining for it's runtime (93 minutes). It might be pretty cheesy and poorly acted, but it is for sure a wild ride. Is it funny? Not really. Has it ruined my childhood? Probably. Despite all the negatives I've mentioned, it's actually fun to watch and I do recommend it to fans of the original story.

The Mean One is a Grinch-Horror parody film filled with alright and pretty bad acting, kills, and the story. The story with it being that the Grinch, but in the film referred to as "The Mean One", that it does its Christmas yearly kills to whoever puts up Christmas decorations or is in the Christmas spirit for the holidays. The origin story of Cindy (main protagonist) witnessing her mom die, while she was a kid, because of the Grinch right in front of her and seeks retribution to end this nightmare once and for all as she is older. Overall, I tried to like it because it is a Grinch Horror parody, the story, and my favorite scene being with the douche Christmas party people entering the bar, then getting killed off. Disliked it because of the cringe and awkward sheriff and half the deaths were off screen, then we see the aftermath of their dead bodies afterwards. In my opinion, it is a mid-level film of entertainment because it is bad and good at the same time.

I went into this movie with high expectations. Knowing the Grinch was going to be played by the Terrifier and seeing the trailer had me thinking this movie would be hysterically bloody.

Ironically, it was nowhere near as gory as I anticipated, and that is not necessarily a bad thing. All of the Dr. Suess easter eggs were cute.

This film had a lot of potential to really be a wonderful com-horror parody, but I felt they dropped the ball by not letting the Grinch speak. Given that the Grinch has always spoken and drove the story, to have him non-verbal appeared to be a missed opportunity, especially given how violent he was supposed to be in this movie.

Second thing was the acting was lack-luster and the dialogue not particularly well-written. Obviously this film did not have the budget equivalent of a Marvel film, but the acting just left a lot to be desired. That said, the actor playing the deputy did a serviceable job and of course Mr. Thornton did an outstanding job as the Grinch considering he was limited to body language to convey the character.

All in all not terrible. I have seen better< but also seen much worse.

"The Mean One" is a lackluster parody of Dr. Seuss's "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" with a higher body count. Despite the presence of David Howard Thornton, known for his role as Art the Clown in "Terrifier 2," the movie fails to deliver on its central joke. The use of shaky camera scenes and dark lighting hides Thornton, and the movie's commitment to CGI blood splatters zaps the basic thrills of its scenes. The supporting characters are walking tropes, and the movie's emotional investment in Cindy You-know-Who is weak. Overall, the movie is a missed opportunity for a fun, bloody riff on a classic story.