Finally! The Home Alone/A Nightmare on Elm Street/Die Hard 2 crossover I've always dreamt of!
And funny, this movie, which completely mimics 1990's Home Alone, premiered over a year and a half before it. Hmm, I wonder if John Hughes ripped off this gem...
Apparently, however, this movie was lost for a long time and used to only be available via bootleg. Just recently was it found/fully restored. And Thank God...this movie is AWESOME. (And if the thousands of other reasons to subscribe to Shudder wasn't enough, this shoots straight to the top of that list.)
Mullet Boy Rambo and his Willy Wonka Grandpa have the time of their lives in what appears to be a massive castle, full of great sets - aka their home. Unfortunately, Mom had to work late on Christmas Eve because she's gonna miss Santa Claus making a special visit...
Also unfortunate for the home alone guys, this creeeeepy Santa is acting a lot more like Krampus than Jolly St. Nick. Can ingenious and adventurous Mullet Boy Rambo save himself and Grandpa and survive through Christmas morning?
Really dug this adventure with outlandish sets, props and ideas. While the lead character, played by a then 12-year-old kid (Alain Lalanne, who did phenomenal, to boot,) was just an actor, he'd soon quit that short-lived career to become a Visual Effects master...still employed today having just worked on Black Widow, The Suicide Squad and The Batman. I wouldn't be surprised if he came up with a lot of the ideas in this movie.
Basically, this movie does play out like the aforementioned Home Alone, A Nightmare on Elm Street and Die Hard 2 films. So, if you like those, you'll probably be right at home here. The first act shows the birth of the psycho creep who personifies Santa and the last two acts revolve around the boy dodging, hiding and running away from the regrettably invited guest. Mercifully, the boy has many tricks up his sleeve to protect himself, his grandfather and their mansion home.
Even though this was lost & found again and being rediscovered, I hope they don't remake this. Especially since it's a French film with subtitles - a great movie like this would be prime for an Americanized version. Most of this movie is fantasy and pretty much couldn't happen in real life, so I'd hate how they'd try to make it more realistic in today's time ruining the magic displayed here.
Fully recommended. I had a smile on my face most of the time. Even when there was the inevitable action movie montage trope, it was also pretty emotional and smart.
***
Final Thoughts: While I just happened to stumble upon this for the first-time last night, it was more than welcomed. I've been absorbed the last few days with Michael Myers with a mini-marathon of watching Halloween (1978,) Halloween (2018,) Halloween Kills (2021) and Halloween Ends (2022) and I got a tad burned out for Halloween and it was nice to see another major holiday for once.
Oh, and just a TAD burnt out. I can never, ever get sick of my favorite Holiday/time of year for too long.
And funny, this movie, which completely mimics 1990's Home Alone, premiered over a year and a half before it. Hmm, I wonder if John Hughes ripped off this gem...
Apparently, however, this movie was lost for a long time and used to only be available via bootleg. Just recently was it found/fully restored. And Thank God...this movie is AWESOME. (And if the thousands of other reasons to subscribe to Shudder wasn't enough, this shoots straight to the top of that list.)
Mullet Boy Rambo and his Willy Wonka Grandpa have the time of their lives in what appears to be a massive castle, full of great sets - aka their home. Unfortunately, Mom had to work late on Christmas Eve because she's gonna miss Santa Claus making a special visit...
Also unfortunate for the home alone guys, this creeeeepy Santa is acting a lot more like Krampus than Jolly St. Nick. Can ingenious and adventurous Mullet Boy Rambo save himself and Grandpa and survive through Christmas morning?
Really dug this adventure with outlandish sets, props and ideas. While the lead character, played by a then 12-year-old kid (Alain Lalanne, who did phenomenal, to boot,) was just an actor, he'd soon quit that short-lived career to become a Visual Effects master...still employed today having just worked on Black Widow, The Suicide Squad and The Batman. I wouldn't be surprised if he came up with a lot of the ideas in this movie.
Basically, this movie does play out like the aforementioned Home Alone, A Nightmare on Elm Street and Die Hard 2 films. So, if you like those, you'll probably be right at home here. The first act shows the birth of the psycho creep who personifies Santa and the last two acts revolve around the boy dodging, hiding and running away from the regrettably invited guest. Mercifully, the boy has many tricks up his sleeve to protect himself, his grandfather and their mansion home.
Even though this was lost & found again and being rediscovered, I hope they don't remake this. Especially since it's a French film with subtitles - a great movie like this would be prime for an Americanized version. Most of this movie is fantasy and pretty much couldn't happen in real life, so I'd hate how they'd try to make it more realistic in today's time ruining the magic displayed here.
Fully recommended. I had a smile on my face most of the time. Even when there was the inevitable action movie montage trope, it was also pretty emotional and smart.
***
Final Thoughts: While I just happened to stumble upon this for the first-time last night, it was more than welcomed. I've been absorbed the last few days with Michael Myers with a mini-marathon of watching Halloween (1978,) Halloween (2018,) Halloween Kills (2021) and Halloween Ends (2022) and I got a tad burned out for Halloween and it was nice to see another major holiday for once.
Oh, and just a TAD burnt out. I can never, ever get sick of my favorite Holiday/time of year for too long.