Many will be offended by writer-director Craig Anderson's horror movie just by the opening premise. A prologue shows a bombing at an abortion clinic, where the perpetrator rescues a still-breathing fetus. Years later, that disfigured survivor, named Cletus by his “father” and grown to full size, finds his way to the rural estate where his mother Diane (Dee Wallace)—who originally decided to abort because the fetus was diagnosed with Down syndrome—is hosting a family Christmas party. The group's reaction to Cletus is predictably hostile, which sets him off on a murder spree in an atmosphere made all the more toxic by the fact that one of Diane's sons-in-law is a clergyman and another of her children (Gerald O'Dwyer) also suffers from Down syndrome. The slayings grow more baroque as the corpses mount up, but the gore effects are so crude that the death scenes are more likely to elicit chuckles than screams. Red Christmas might win cult status among aficionados of bad cinema, but it will certainly not enhance the reputation of Wallace, so fondly remembered for E.T., The Howling, and Cujo. Not recommended. (F. Swietek)
Red Christmas
Artsploitation, 81 min., not rated, DVD: $17.99, Blu-ray: $22.99, Oct. 17 Volume 33, Issue 1
Red Christmas
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