Oct 22: Slaughter and holiday resentment abound in ‘Dismembering Christmas’

In their new feature which comes out on DVD this week, Appleton’s horror studio takes a stab at the most wonderful time of the year

Editor’s note: Dismembering Christmas will run this Sat, Oct 22 2016 as part of the Madtown Horror Festival. Here’s our original review from last year.

It’s too early to be thinking about Christmas in October. Slasher movies on the other hand, are in season and for the Appleton-based Slasher Studios, that’s perfect timing to release a new feature film. Dismembering Christmas, which ships on DVD this Tues, Oct 13. The studio’s second feature is holiday-themed, like Black Christmas, Silent Night, Deadly Night or one of a number of deep cuts co-writers and Slasher founders Kevin Sommerfield and Steve Goltz could undoubtedly make deep cut references to. Yet despite the handful of yuletide horror movies out there, Sommerfield expressed a desire to create that essential holiday slasher when I spoke with him last summer.

Even after a successful crowdfunding campaign, that was the ultimate challenge for Sommerfield, Goltz, and director Austin Bosley: How does one make a holiday scary, particularly when that holiday is already split between religion and commercialism? The short answer is to throw a variety of sharp, holiday-themed objects at the problem until something sticks, but Slasher Studios have created a horror film that speaks to the tinsel and trappings of the yuletide season while also twisting traditional notions of family and togetherness into something that’s just as fucked up as a traumatic Santa Claus murder spree.

Dismembering Christmas begins in familiar territory, at a remote cabin in the woods. Mark (Baker Chase) and his girlfriend Katie (Danielle Doetsch) are hosting a Christmas party at Mark’s step-dad’s cabin, having invited a number of couples and prickly personalities for the occasion. With only the snowy Wisconsin wilderness and two odd and intrusive neighbors (Scott Seagren and Marla Van Lanen) to keep them company, the young adults are offed by a mysterious killer whose bizarre mashup design is both familiar enough for the sub-genre and unique enough to penetrate the surreal weirdness of a Christmastime slasher.

Even if “Slasher” wasn’t in the studio’s title, the trajectory couldn’t be more clear. Like their prior feature Don’t Go to the Reunion, Slasher Studios have fun in the execution of their, er, executions. They’re not trying to trick the audience with the story they’re telling. Unlike Don’t Go, there’s less interest in riffing on horror conventions. Bosley telegraphs the impending slaughter with an isolating camera and alien music cues, the eminently recognizable bread and butter of classic 80’s slashers. Extra attention is invested in character relationships this time around, too. Travis (Bosley, too) and Lauren (Shannon McInnis) are fighting over having to leave the following day for a wedding on Christmas Eve, and there’s a wonderfully awkward love triangle between two old friends and someone’s younger sister. These are more than attractive, young knife fodder and their games of strip poker are far more compelling when it’s more than just clothes on the table.

Since their days as a short film factory, Slasher Studios have branded themselves as a production unit by horror fans, for horror fans. Dismembering Christmas may not feature as many in-references nor the meta-textual heft of previous projects, but its straight-faced delivery makes the “Christmas horror” pill far easier to swallow.

  • Dismembering Christmas will ship on DVD on Tues Oct 13 with a subsequent Blu-ray release slated for Dec. You can find more information at slasherstudios.com