A Cadaver Christmas (AKA Zombies at Christmas)

Dir: Joe Zerull

2011

*

Joe Zerull's A Cadaver Christmas is one of the most frustrating films I've ever sat through. There are quite a few Christmas horrors around, most feature an axe-wielding Santa or Krampus, an Austro-Bavarian legendary horned anthropomorphic beast who is basically the anti-Santa and his complete opposite, but this is, I believe, the first ever Christmas Zombie film. It's a huge waste of an opportunity. Apart from the fact we're told it happens during the festive season there really isn't anything Christmassy about it at all. This is a huge oversight. The other huge problem is that Zerull and co have decided to make it a comedy and because neither he nor his colleagues understand basic humour, it falls spectacularly flat. The story is very similar to Grabbers, a comedy-horror that got it right. Who influenced who is questionable, maybe it's a coincidence, but it's a shame that the only thing clever about the film has been done better elsewhere. That said, the direction is actually highly impressive. Obviously influenced by Sam Raimi and Evil Dead, A Cadaver Christmas (or A Zombie Christmas) is quite a well done homage to the horror classic. It's far from amateur in its visuals but truly awful in every other department. Dan Hale's painful attempt to become the next Bruce Campbell is excruciatingly bad. It will most likely make Zombie fans quite angry, Zerull clearly has talent but is wasting his time and the time of everyone who watches it. It should and could have been a classic with just a few simple changes. I want to give it more stars but I just can't.