I keep giving Fangoria movies a chance and keep being let down. This is it. I decided to give this one a chance because it is by the same maker as Angel of the Night which I thought was pretty good. No more, if Fangoria has their name on it I will steer clear. This movie SUCKED!!!! They may have a great magazine but they should think twice before putting their name on crap like this. AVOID at all costs!!!!
12 Reviews
You got to be kidding...
paul_haakonsen28 December 2015
Right, well this is a movie from my home country, Denmark, and I must say that I was cringing throughout most of the movie because of the awful thick Danish accents everyone had as they tried passing off as being Americans. It was just embarrassing.
The quality of the movie was altogether fairly bad. The picture quality looked like something that was filmed with a remnant camera from the 1980s. And the dialogue was just horrible and mostly delivered in an atrociously bad way.
"One Hell of a Christmas" (aka "The Claw") is one of the most boring and awful movies that I ever had the misfortune to suffer through. It was so bad that I had to give up an hour into the movie. Everything about this movie was just awful, from the script to the acting.
This movie is a wide swing and miss from director Shaky Gonzalez. And it is most definitely a movie to give a wide berth if you are looking for a properly entertaining movie. As I mentioned above, I gave up an hour into it, and now the DVD will just sit on the shelf and collect dust. I am not even going to bother coming back for the last half hour.
The quality of the movie was altogether fairly bad. The picture quality looked like something that was filmed with a remnant camera from the 1980s. And the dialogue was just horrible and mostly delivered in an atrociously bad way.
"One Hell of a Christmas" (aka "The Claw") is one of the most boring and awful movies that I ever had the misfortune to suffer through. It was so bad that I had to give up an hour into the movie. Everything about this movie was just awful, from the script to the acting.
This movie is a wide swing and miss from director Shaky Gonzalez. And it is most definitely a movie to give a wide berth if you are looking for a properly entertaining movie. As I mentioned above, I gave up an hour into it, and now the DVD will just sit on the shelf and collect dust. I am not even going to bother coming back for the last half hour.
Another Reason To Avoid Fangoria Movies Like The Plague
hokeybutt5 February 2005
ONE HELL OF A Christmas (1 outta 5 stars) And 1 out of 5 stars is being GENEROUS! Dismal low budget hodge-podge of a zillion horror movie clichés... and even some Latino gang movie clichés added in for good measure. Our "hero" Carlitos (Tolo Montana... trust me, you are never gonna have a reason to remember this guy's name) is a just-released convict doing a bad imitation of Al Pacino from "Carlito's Way". (Maybe his name is some sort of "homage"? Oh, who cares already!) Anyway, he meets up with his pal Mike (Thure Lindhardt... a bargain basement version of Jason Mewes), who has just gotten hold of some kind of stolen talisman that gives the owner incredible power (except, I guess, the power to not have his talisman stolen... which seems to happen with great frequency). Carlito says he wants to go straight and lead a clean life and win back his estranged wife and child... but insofar as Mike and Carlitos are back into the drugs and whores on his first day out of prison... I don't think that's gonna happen. So, there is also some kind of mysterious body-switching guardian who goes after whoever has the talisman to kill, maim, hurt, whatever. Terrible acting, terrible special effects, terrible story, terrible plot. This one dead prostitute who comes back to life to fight Carlitos is almost scary-looking... but the effect is outdone by this terrible cartoony voice they dubbed in for her. Another winner from the people at Fangoria Magazine (whose mag is almost as bad as the movies they endorse... almost). Avoid this trash (located in a Wal-Mart bargain bin near you).
So, so bad
Heislegend27 December 2011
Man...it's been a long time since I gave something a single star, but believe me, I'd give this movie less were I given the option. There is quite literally nothing redeeming about this movie. Let me repeat that: there is absolutely nothing worthwhile about this movie whatsoever.
I'm not going to complain about the budget. A lot of movies get by on low budgets and do rather well. But this...this movie can't blame the budget. The actors are horribly ill-equipped. The story is garbage. The plot itself jumps around to the point that it becomes laughable.
I try to avoid the hyperbole that so often plagues IMDb reviews. if you can point to one single movie and say "Yep, that's the worst thing I've ever seen", then you clearly haven't seen enough crap. I will say that this would go in my top 5 of crap movies. I was actually mad at myself about halfway through that I was still watching it. Learn from my fail...
I'm not going to complain about the budget. A lot of movies get by on low budgets and do rather well. But this...this movie can't blame the budget. The actors are horribly ill-equipped. The story is garbage. The plot itself jumps around to the point that it becomes laughable.
I try to avoid the hyperbole that so often plagues IMDb reviews. if you can point to one single movie and say "Yep, that's the worst thing I've ever seen", then you clearly haven't seen enough crap. I will say that this would go in my top 5 of crap movies. I was actually mad at myself about halfway through that I was still watching it. Learn from my fail...
Accent
gimleno12 March 2003
I saw this film and liked Angel of the Night a LOT more. However, this is far from the worst film I've ever seen, but being from Denmark myself, I find the actors' accent horrifying. Most of them sound like we did learning the language in the fifth grade. I like seing Danish actors and directors doing English languaged film - BUT, please - work on those accents!!! To me it more or less ruined the enjoyment of the film
Oooooh (nooooooo) Carlitos
movieman_kev28 June 2005
Carlitos is a felon, upon getting out of jail around Christmas time, a junkie no good "friend" , Mike, shows him a claw he stole from someone. It seems some demonic forces want said claw back and decide to torment Carlito for it instead of his friend who is busy shagging Carlito's wife. Shades of "Evil Dead", and "Hellraiser" abound, but bargain basement shades, with a horrid story, below sub-par 'special' effects, and atrocious acting. Steer clear of this dreck. Fangoria endorses some god awful films and this is NO exception. As a matter of fact, I implore you to read "Rue Morgue" instead as it's so incredibly much better.
My Grade: F
DVD Extras: Fangoria Article; Theatrical Trailer; and Trailers for "Slashers", "Wilderness", "School's Out", "Angel of the Night", and "Lady of the Lake"
My Grade: F
DVD Extras: Fangoria Article; Theatrical Trailer; and Trailers for "Slashers", "Wilderness", "School's Out", "Angel of the Night", and "Lady of the Lake"
Dude, you guys are harsh!!!
video_vampire200028 September 2006
I liked this flick, everybody else on here keeps busting its jingle bells because of the budget, but to tell you the truth I was impressed that they put something that good together, with what they had to work with...I would recommend this movie to any student filmmaker as well anyone else. I mean honestly does a movie really need a multi million dollar budget, and a buncha well fed Hollywood hams to be watchable...I mean for all you guys that are dissing it, you sure seem to know it form the opening credits to the end! Perosanally, i think its so sad that so many self proclaimed film gurus on the net have such a cynical attitude, towards the B-movie side of the horror genre (must admit though I have seen some crummy low budget flicks e.i. drive in 'gag')
Surprisingly Good for a Bad Movie
BareNakedJimmy3 January 2003
I rented this movie expecting to hate it and/or to fall asleep during it. I was pleasantly surprised by the actors (altho a couple of the voices were annoying) who I felt did a very good job considering the material they had to work with. Can me wierd, but I found Mike (Thure Lindhardt) strangely sexy despite his bad teeth. Hmmmm, what does that say about ME?
The storyline was, of course, fairly predictable but enjoyable nonetheless.
All in all, I give it a 2.5 on the Leonard Maltin 'Bomb to 4-Star' rating.
The storyline was, of course, fairly predictable but enjoyable nonetheless.
All in all, I give it a 2.5 on the Leonard Maltin 'Bomb to 4-Star' rating.
ONE HELL OF A MOVIE(wink)
younginfluential-22 February 2004
Stinky Gonzalez's work cannot and will not go unappreciated. In a room full of cynical young men and women this film triumphed, leaving us awestruck in its wake. As it flawlessly wove from scene to scene with the grace and raw passion lacking in most of its B-movie contemporaries we were all struck silent..looking forward to Angels of the night, hoping that it can hold a mere candle to this Monolith of B-Cinema.
fairly decent
callanvass23 March 2004
fairly decent Fangoria movie has plenty of gore to satisfy the gore hounds however it gets too weird and confusing for it's own good the script is decent but a couple dubbing mistakes and some lame dialog kinda hurt it and it does have a somewhat happy ending a really weird premise with this one folks still this is a fairly watchable time that is decent before getting a bit silly he is trying to set a good example for his son but he gets back to his old ways eventually and it leads too a quite wacko movie here i do recommend this for people who want something different but be prepared there are a couple of disturbing moments and the direction is stylish so its worth a watch but not much more then that **1/2 out of 5
NOT TOO SHABBY
MARUS23 December 2002
Well ok... i rented this movie under the assumption that it was really horrible and cheesy,(which it kinda was) but then again... i love all b-movies. the begining was actually not bad, but then when demons start appearing, the voice dubbing is shot to hell...(especially with the female one!) he he he... anyways, i loved this movie, and recommend it to anyone who loves b-movies. TWO THUMBS UP!
"Feliz Navidad."
Backlash00728 March 2004
Warning: Spoilers
~Spoiler~
One Hell of a Christmas is a Fango release and a very drug-related horror story. The story begins with the Spanish Tom Sizemore being released from prison. We spend and invest time with this character and his back story. It doesn't get into the horror right away. The first half of the film is spent getting to know the characters and the set-up, which is a good thing. It does however get a tad bit boring when it takes too long to get to the action. We also get a glimpse of the item that will set off the horror aspects of the movie. It's a claw that has magic cocaine in it basically. You snort it and you become a superhero. When our main character gets his hands on the claw is when the action starts. It will remind any horror fan of The Evil Dead right away. The re-animated hooker scene is just too dead on. It absolutely screams Evil Dead. I was let down by the ending too. Looking back at the film, I wish it would have stayed a straight drama because that part was just better. That's very sad to say coming from me. One Hell of a Christmas is certainly nothing great, but it's not Fangoria's worst release either. For a better say-no-to-drugs horror flick, watch Brain Damage.
One Hell of a Christmas is a Fango release and a very drug-related horror story. The story begins with the Spanish Tom Sizemore being released from prison. We spend and invest time with this character and his back story. It doesn't get into the horror right away. The first half of the film is spent getting to know the characters and the set-up, which is a good thing. It does however get a tad bit boring when it takes too long to get to the action. We also get a glimpse of the item that will set off the horror aspects of the movie. It's a claw that has magic cocaine in it basically. You snort it and you become a superhero. When our main character gets his hands on the claw is when the action starts. It will remind any horror fan of The Evil Dead right away. The re-animated hooker scene is just too dead on. It absolutely screams Evil Dead. I was let down by the ending too. Looking back at the film, I wish it would have stayed a straight drama because that part was just better. That's very sad to say coming from me. One Hell of a Christmas is certainly nothing great, but it's not Fangoria's worst release either. For a better say-no-to-drugs horror flick, watch Brain Damage.
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