A CADAVER CHRISTMAS (2011)

Streaming on Tubi!
Directed by Joseph Zerull
Written by Joseph Zerull, Hanlon Smith-Dorsey, Daniel Rairden-Hale
Check out the trailer here!

This festive Christmas tale surprised me a lot in its straight up, pitch black tone and surprisingly good comic delivery. It definitely uses the grindhouse filter with scratches on the film and hairs on the lens more effectively than the off and on usage of the effect when convenient in Tarantino/Rodriguez’s GRINDHOUSE. A CADAVER CHRISTMAS did a great job of bringing in that Christmas cheer, albeit in a truly wicked style.

Everything seems hunky dory as a bartender and a regular are tipping back the shots and beers on Christmas Eve until the janitor, played by writer/actor Daniel Rairden-Hale, shows up covered in blood and asking for a stiff drink. As he downs the alcohol, he tells the two bar patrons about his night, which consists of witnessing the beginnings of a zombie holocaust at a local school science lab. The action brings a police officer and his perp to the bar, and soon the five unlikely zombie killing warriors must use their skills, though somewhat limited as they are, to fend off scores and scores of zombies.

Kind of acting as the reverse Bizzarro version of SHAUN OF THE DEAD which climaxed in a bar, this zom-com opens in one, but quickly distinguishes itself from SHAUN by moving the action mainly into a school. What separates A CADAVER CHRISTMAS from the herd of zombie films on the shelves out there is that it is genuinely funny and not only incorporates many Christmas themes that have been relatively untouched in horror (sitting alone at a bar a Christmas time, for one), but the film also very effectively uses some age old Christmas songs such as O HOLY NIGHT in an absolutely genius manner which many with a propensity to thump bibles would most likely find offensive, but had me rolling nevertheless.

With some great comic performances by the cast and a fantastic usage of gore, music, and action, A CADAVER CHRISTMAS is a must for all of you who enjoy the ghoulish side of the holidays.