Writer and director Todd Nunes takes what should be a rather simple premise, and overcomplicates it in the hopes of providing some form of suprise plot twist for the audience. In doing so, Nunes overly excessive plot development feels narratively tedious and draining to pay attention to as a viewer. Although this wildly complex and unnecessary plot provides some context to the seeming overused male mutilation that occurs throughout, this could have quite easily just been an escaped mental patient randomly killing in a Santa costume and would have held more impact. This film certainly provides the argument for sometimes, less is more. Of all the Christmas horror films I have seen to-date, 'All Through the House' has the most fearsome looking version of a killer Santa Clause I have encountered. Sticking the familiar red and white Santa suitc, yet enhancing the aging features with dark metallic plastic mask makes for some rather creepy visuals. If I had to criticise it for anything, I would say that I think the role should have have been given to a slightly more menacing and larger in stature actor, however, Lito Velasco does a competent enough job with the role. 'All Through the House' sets the standard of acting rather low from the first character introductions. The responsibility of leading this film falls upon actress Ashley Mary Nunes, and it’s fair to say she isn't a strong enough actress to carry an advert let alone a full feature film. After watching this film, I came to learn that Ashley Mary Nunes is in fact the sister of Director Todd Nunes, making it much more understadable as to why she was cast here in the leading role. It’s fair to say that Nunes, along with all the over cast members, struggle to muster up a single scene of convincing character interaction between them. This is a 'hack and slash' horror film set around the festive season and that is the only enticing element, and thankfully, it certainly delivers. Making the most of its kill sequences using some rather impressive practical effects work - especially those used in the opening act - it's clear that this is where the majority of this films budget was used. And as much as I applaud the kills and effects, they do become rather repetitive and a bit more variety would have helped keep these scenes fresh. Whilst having some enjoyable element such as the kills, practical effects work and the design of the main protagonist, unfortunately these highlights don't make up for the overall poor execution of this production. Given the limited amount of high quality festive horror movies we have to choose from as horror fans, 'All Through The House' is by no means the worst that I have encountered. All of that said, I still don't think I could recommend this borderline insufferable Christmas slasher to anyone else.
💀1/2
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