Rent Werewolf Santa (2023)

There Ain't No Sanity Clause With This Film That is For Sure - Werewolf Santa review by Strovey

Firstly, if you are going to watch this film Werewolf Santa which I think was called Frost Bites originally (a much better title in my opinion) you have to understand two things, it is very, very cheap, I would say loose change down the sofa budget and it is short, in truth mercifully, coming in at one hour and nine minutes.

Neither of the preceding statements is meant to be a vicious or mean criticism either. I am on record many times saying a strict or non-existent budget can often drive makers to be highly innovative in their production and to everyone’s advantage. With Werewolf Santa we are going for extremely silly or that seems to be the feeling from the start and as we progress, here I think the basis of the story and what we are being asked to view is definitely a bridge too far with the budget.

The early scenes with Katherine Rodden trying to make another episode of her YouTube channel are believable and played virtually straight. I did not like comic book panels and voice-over provided by John Bloom as it felt like and almost certainly was, ‘filler’. Emily Booth is always a coquettish presence and good value for money, which with her in the film I am guessing it is where all of the budget went or perhaps it was free, either way, they got a good deal and the film is better with Emily in it. The problem is she does not seem to have much chemistry with Mark Arnold who is easily the most experienced person you will see on the screen and he is clearly and weirdly miscast.

It has to be said that the cast all give their all and you could not complain about any effort put in, even if some it seemed at times a bit school-production. Talking of which the effects, the werewolf Santa itself was in a word ‘crap’ and could have been better, and no budget is no excuse. But the biggest problem aside from those outlined previously is you can almost see where the writing, by director Airell Anthony Hayles, loses its way as the story concludes, there are few scares and apart from Booth and the hole she digs herself about ‘dogging’ the laughs are not there. Even though the acting and the effects are messy they still are not as messy as the story which really meanders, gets lost and thus loses your attention as it just goes from set piece to set piece and daft exposition to the end.

Werewolf Santa is a ridiculously cheap film, and that in itself is not a criticism in any way but it also is not an excuse, I would suggest that there are many, many cheap films out there that can be looked at to see how to make them more engaging and more fun and to look less cheap. Emily Booth and her fellow cast members really make an effort so that is a big tick in the positive box, Emily Booth makes it fun anyway and the dogging scene and dialogue is surely just put in there to play on her ‘sexy media persona’ and it works.

Would I recommend Werewolf Santa the answer is no – most people will be less tolerant than me of minus-money budget films but if you are interested in filmmaking and not simply great filmmaking it is worth a look and anyway who does not love Emily?