THE KILLING TREE (aka THE DEMONIC CHRISTMAS TREE, 2022)
New On Demand, digital download, and streaming on Amazon and Tubi from Uncork’d Entertainment!
Directed by Rhys Frake-Waterfield. Written by Craig McLearie.
Trailer: https://youtu.be/oPWtswFzGOA
After being thwarted by finial girl Faith (played by Sarah Alexandra Marks), serial killer Clayton (Marcus Massey) is captured and executed by authorities. A year later, Clayton’s wife Morrigan (played by Judy Tcherniak) uses ancient magics to resurrect her mass murdering husband to take revenge, but the spell goes wrong and Clayton comes back as a Christmas tree. Still bent with murderous intent, the evil tree, decorated with lights, ornaments, and tinsel, heads out for a night of bloody revenge with Faith as his central target.

OK, this is one of those films that is so bad it’s almost good. The premise is ridiculous, but the film at least knows to keep its sense of humor and not take itself so seriously. While the rampage of the terrifying Tannenbaum is menacing and sometimes gory, there’s always a tongue in cheek while doing so. And I appreciated that as taking things deadly serious would have only highlighted how stupid the premise of this movie really is.

The look of the tree is ridiculous as well. Half of the time it’s a guy in black wearing a Christmas tree suit shaking and twitching the tree branches in anger, frustration, and rage. The rest of the time, the tree is CG, utilizing long viny branches to slice and dice all in his path. The size of the tree varies from scene to scene. Sometimes its just a normal sized Christmas tree. Other times it’s a three-story monster towering over its victims. The variation of size depends on what is needed for the scene, which only adds some confusion as to the exact powers of this murderous tree. In the end, continuity is not really that important for the filmmakers just looking to get this film over with.

The acting isn’t terrible. Maybe it’s because of the UK accents which often ring with an air of more class and practice to me. Sarah Alexandra Marks is quite good as the sheepish final girl who is attempting to put her life together one year later and simply enjoy a Christmas party with her friends. Marcus Massey is hammy and over the top with motivations to preserve the original meaning of Christmas by…doing mass murder, which doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but still gives him a reason to go on his death spree. He spouts painful one liners occasionally and these broad attempts at humor are by far the most arduous things about THE KILLING TREE.

Still, I quite enjoyed the CG antics of the tree which sprouts woody vines at will and leaps around as he stalks his prey. I also like the gleeful way the tree stabs people over and over again with his branches like a kid slopping around in a mud puddle. The gore is not over the top or too gory, but that doesn’t mean this film isn’t above tearing a person apart a time or two.

THE KILLING TREE is not a great movie, but at a runtime of a little over an hour, it is in and out with its goofy premise with little harm. I think with a little more time allotted to making the script cleverer and funnier, this might have been a new goofy holiday classic like the equally moronic SANTA JAWS from last year. It has its moments though. So, if you’re looking for a low fi log to throw on the fire this Christmas time to get you in the bloody mood, THE KILLING TREE has enough absurdity to amuse, but not blow you away.

Creepy Jingle Bells Song by the Dork Lords (I do not own this music) – Subscribe to them here, they’re awesome! https://www.youtube.com/@DorkLords

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Music Written by Tim Heidecker
Music & Arrangement by Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy https://youtu.be/PDySbxQgZMg
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