Merry Christmas, killers! Congratulations on surviving to see another Thursday and another issue of TTN. Christmas is right around the corner so embrace time with your family and friends, but don’t neglect your need for quiet time and rest.

A Creature Was Stirring (2023)- Review

Warning, this review may contain spoilers!

A Creature Was Stirring is a recently released U.S. Christmas horror film directed by Damien LaVeck. The isolated story circulates a mother and daughter who are stuck in their home due to a blizzard. Instantly, it is revealed that the mother, Faith, is keeping her daughter, Charm, hostage and under bizarre medication due to an unknown biological disorder. During the storm, two peaceful drifters break into the home to avoid freezing to death but are blindsided by Faith. These intruders, Kory and Liz (Scout Taylor-Compton) discover something sinister lurking within the house and realize they might have had better odds of surviving the blizzard.

While A Creature Was Stirring is technically a Christmas movie, it lacked any significant holiday themes or dialogue. The movie does have strong colorful lighting throughout, but I would attribute that to the aesthetic of the drug-induced fever state Charm is kept in. Acting didn’t seem to be an issue for anyone in the cast, and the characters weren’t nearly as bad as they could have been. The worst scene for them was an extremely shallow Christian versus Atheism debate at the dinner table which I found laughably bad and I think anyone else who is religious will too. Following that, the story eventually gets rolling and momentum builds around the creature which is some sort of giant black porcupine. It has a couple of chilling scenes that feature impressive gore and practical effects which I consider the overall highlight of the film. Things begin to slip in the third act and the final five minutes are one of the worst twist endings I’ve seen. It’s the nail in the coffin for me because it carelessly pulls the rug out from the 90-minute runtime preceding it.

Overall, I had high hopes for this film because of the hype and strong first act, but terrible writing and limited carnage make it forgettable. A couple of scenes with decent gore couldn’t salvage it for me. If I were you, I would wait to consider A Creature Was Stirring until it streams somewhere because it is not the Christmas horror movie you hoped for.

Terrifier 3- Update

Last month, a trailer for Damien Leone’s Terrifier 3 dropped. The trailer showed a parody of the classic Christmas scene where a child awakes on Christmas Eve and wanders downstairs to find Santa, except, Art the Clown is the one in the red suit. This tense trailer and some circulating posters confirm that Terrifier 3 will be a Christmas slasher. Leone took a stab at a Halloween theme with his Terrifier 2 (2022), so it is no surprise he is trying to leave his mark on a new holiday. It was bigger, bolder, and sicker than the original in every possible way, so I have a pit in my stomach contemplating the heights Terrifier 3 will go. There will apparently be a fourth film, so Leone can take his best shot knowing the franchise has one more. Honestly, I’m both excited and scared for Terrifier 3 and I hope that it has the story and the right amount of gore to become a Christmas horror classic!

Weekend Watch

Thanks again for joining in for another issue of TTN! I hope that this holiday weekend is safe and well for all of you. If you get a couple of hours freed up to relax, you should check out…

Charles E. Sellier Jr.’s Silent Night Deadly Night (1984)