Film Review: ALL THROUGH THE HOUSE (2015)

Writer-director Todd Nunes, in his second feature length movie, has fun offering another spin on the prolific Santa-Slasher sub-genre with ALL THROUGH THE HOUSE, having previously dabbled in the form with his short genre flick HERE COMES SANTA (2011). The bravura prologue announces the retro approach: satisfying old-school make up effects are employed to give us violated boobs and eyeballs, plus a post-wank castration – all courtesy of a Santa-suited killer.
This mysterious festive psycho subsequently interrupts kinky sex sessions and stalks pretty young women in their underwear, while the shifty acting Mrs Garrett (Melynda Kiring) still grieves the loss of her long-missing daughter who, according to town legend, was taken by Krampus. Nunes apes various early 80’s slashers – with an on-screen appearance for the novelisation of BUTCHER BAKER NIGHTMARE MAKER! – and delivers a high bodycount, effective finger-snipping nastiness and a suspenseful killer-under-the-bed assault inspired by ALONE IN THE DARK. Sadly, it falls back on cat scares and lacks sympathetic characters, but Kiring offers a hilarious twist on the sub-genre’s long history of demented matriarchs : “You ain’t nuthin’ but a dickless man!”