Aussie filmmaker Alice Maio Mackay is carving out quite a niche within the horror genre.
Mackay’s long-budget, neon-soaked tales are always sprinkled with an array of interesting characters and plenty of representation. While their style may be dictated by budget, Mackay goes all in on the mise-en-scene which recalls exploitation cinema at its scuzziest.
We follow transgender Lola, who is returning to her hometown for the first time in years, having successfully transitioned. She is part of a true-crime podcast series, and when people start turning up dead in the lead up to Christmas, only Lola can solve the crime.
Our killer adorns a rather unsettling Santa costume, and proves quite relentless; taking out her friends in a style which recalls classic slashers like I Know What You Did Last Summer.
Carnage For Christmas is much more than your standard slasher affair though, with a sprinkle of Twin Peaks, as you get the feeling that everything is not what it seems in the town of Purdan.
Mackay does have time to sprinkle some camp into proceedings too, as our killer at one point is taken down by the boobs of the local drag queen; a move that’s both creative and downright hilarious.
Carnage For Christmas is a seasonal slasher with plenty to say and wears its influences on its blood-soaked sleeve.
Carnage For Christmas screens as part of Frightfest 2024.
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