The Killing Tree (2022) User Reviews

The Killing Tree: Oh no, no no no just so much no.

[Platypuschow · 2/10 · 27 December 2023]

Plot

On Christmas Eve, a widow casts a spell to resurrect her executed husband. However, when the spell goes wrong, the husband is brought back as an Evil Christmas Tree and is hell-bent on getting revenge on the one who caused his execution.

Cast

The usual suspects that you expect to see in Uncorked and ITN movies, truly dreadful for the most part who have absolutely no place in the industry especially Marcus Massey who puts in a career worst here.

Verdict

I went in assuming a novelty comedy horror, I knew it was almost certainly going to be bad especially considering the creators and cast but expected at least that novelty value which could make up for it.

I didn't expect it to be this bad, it truly is abysmal. You see the novelty element is worn thin by just how bad it is, the horror is barely present and the comedy? I think they forgot to implement that. I mean how exactly do you make a movie about a killer Christmas tree and leave out the comedy? It's actually played serious and that couldn't possibly work!

Sometimes the tree is practical, sometimes it's CGI, sometimes it's 5ft sometimes it's 50ft, the acting from our villains is comically terrible, the dialogue from the tree is some of the worst I've ever heard. It's not that it's bad, it's just repetitive and generic to a level I never thought was possible. You have to hear it to believe it.

So there it is, it's not funny, it's not worth it for the novelty value, it's not film so bad it's worth a giggle, it's just bad.

Rants

Marcus Massey please retire Marcus Massey please retire Marcus Massey please retire Marcus Massey please retire Marcus Massey please retire That's my rant, seriously he's so bad.

Breakdown

Strange concept at least Not funny Not scary Awful cast Marcus Massey Terrible CGI Dreadful dialogue.

The Killing Tree

[BandSAboutMovies · 3/10 · 5 November 2022]

Once known as Demonic Christmas Tree, get ready for the story of serial killer Clayton Slayter, who even after execution comes back when his wife Magna figures out the kind of body transference voodoo that turns a man into a holiday tree.

Yes, a killer - killing - tree.

Somehow, I got two movies by director Rhys Frake-Waterfield this week. I enjoyed this one much more, as it tries to take the whole concept seriously. Clayton wants revenge on Faith, who put him in jail after he killed her parents, but right now she's so busy playing marriage counselor to her friends Tina and Louisa that she might not even notice the garland and bulbs inching their way menacingly toward her.

I mean, a tree hunts down a woman while holding a knife. That's the kind of quality this movie is delivering. Frake-Waterfield also has a slasher Winnie the Pooh, Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey. He might be inventing a whole new genre of child book slashers, as he is also involved with the making of Peter Pan's Neverland Nightmare, Mary Had a Little Lamb and Three Blind Mice.

There will come a time very soon that you will need a holiday movie. If you want to make your family think you've finally lost your milk and cookies, choose this one to show them all.

As stupid as you would assume it to be...

[paul_haakonsen · 2/10 · 20 November 2022]

Right, well I have to be bluntly honest and say that I harbored zero expectations to this 2022 horror comedy titled "Demonic Christmas Tree". I stumbled upon it by random chance, and seeing it was a horror comedy with a Chrismas theme, of course I opted to watch it. And the fact that I hadn't already seen it, nor even heard about it, also helped to win me over.

Well, writer Craig McLearie didn't manage to churn out a script for a horror comedy that fell much into my liking. Sure, the script and idea was original, but it didn't make for a very enjoyable movie. There was very little to laugh about throughout the course of the movie, and in terms of being a horror movie, then it was somewhat generic.

The acting performences in "Demonic Christmas Tree" were pretty much in tune with the killer of the movie; wooden. Yeah, you're not in for a grand cinematic experience with the cast ensemble in the movie. But to be truthful, they had very little to work with in terms of an interesting script, storyline or character gallery.

Sure, the idea here was interesting and seemed like fun. But the transition from script to screen at the hands of director Rhys Frake-Waterfield just didn't really make for an outstanding horror comedy.

While I managed to suffer through the entire movie, this is not a movie that I will ever return to watch a second time, and it certainly is not going to become a recurring Christmas movie event. Nor is it a horror comedy I would recommend to fans of the horror comedy genre.

My rating of "Demonic Christmas Tree" lands on a very generous two out of ten stars.

So bad it's good

[rocklegend-70446 · 5/10 · 6 December 2022]

It's very difficult to describe how wonderfully bad this movie is. Imagine if zombeavers were a Christmas tree. The acting is laughable, The CGI is horrendous which adds to its charm. Basically you know what you're expecting when you read the description. For some bizarre reason every time somebody was mid dialogue the score would go very loud and drown them out, which was a blessing. As much as I enjoyed the absolute nonsense of this movie it should really have been titled 'Pretty dumb girls talking nonsense', which happens for 90% of the time. None of the characters were believable but then again I just watched a Christmas tree kill 20 people and have the ability to drive a car. Good for a Christmas giggle but don't expect any intellectual dialogue.

So much potential wasted

[anthonytravaglini · 2/10 · 22 December 2022]

Obviously if you're going to go the route of a slapstick type killer on the loose, you need to know your film is a comedy. This clearly doesn't. Not a single joke in the film. Unless if you count them using the Star of David instead of a pentagon as a joke, but I'm pretty sure that was just a production error. This could've been an instant cult classic like Jack Frost, heck, all they really need to do is re-record the voice over of the tree and make him funny. Like if the tree were to strangle someone with lights have the tree say "lighten up" or if the tree kills a barking dog say "all bark, no bite" or if the tree kills a topless girl with his roots or whatever, have him say "got wood?" It's really not hard to make this concept worth watching. And it wouldn't cost too much to redo the ADR and make some cash.

It's no Treevenge.

[Otkon · 4/10 · 26 November 2022]

While clocking in at ten times longer, it is just not nearly as pithy. There are long stretches of buxom hens nattering on about absolutely nothing.

Of course, the movie is corny and it knows it. Doesn't make it good.

Some of the kills were inventive. Like the one on the tennis court was my favorite.

The one lady in the sequins is definitely a budget Kathryn Hahn for sure.

The part in the manor house is something to watch with your eyeballs when observing the screen you are viewing via your vision.

Apparently no animals were harmed in the making of this movie. But there is no mention in the credits of an on-set arborist or watchdog certification by a botanical welfare society. So trees were most likely treated inhumanely.

Probably can say the same for the audience.

It's a dumb bad movie. If that's your thing.

It's Not As Bad As I Expected It To Be...But It's Still Bad.

[meddlecore · 3/10 · 16 December 2022]

A distraught woman- pining over the death of her recently executed partner in crime and love- desperately tries to reincarnate him, by undertaking a ritual designed to release his soul from his ashes.

However, things don't go exactly as planned.

As he ends up possessing the Christmas tree.

Which gives him a chance to hunt down and kill the one that got away...as The Killing Tree.

Despite the fact the whole demonic anthropomorphic tree slasher trope has been done before- most notably in the awesome Christmas horror short, Treevenge (but also in Twas The Night Of The Tree Beast)- this was much more entertaining than it should of been.

Especially considering most of the gore and action are facilitated with CGI effects.

Part of it's charm comes from the fact that it doesn't take itself too seriously, though.

Most explicit when the Christmas star is used as a shuriken, with no effort made to hide the string that it's on.

Having been released by the same company that brought us the Krampus series...I went in to this with relatively low expectations.

And it, at least, managed to surpass those.

Though, with that being said...there's not much depth to the story...and the character development is rather poor.

But if you don't go in expecting much from it...it's certainly worth a watch for a few laughs, and bit of mindless entertainment.

Just realize that Treevenge is still the better of the killer Christmas tree horrors (and packs more entertainment in 9 minutes, than this does in 70).

But it is what it is.

3 out of 10.

This hits hard on mute

[lostrogue-58773 · 10/10 · 3 January 2023]

This movie was fire. It was the dumbest movie I have ever seen. Hhhhhhhhhybbbhhgvc discriminations bill Cosby I bill Cosby Haleakala Alaskan lapels salsa flakes sleepwalker Islamist all Patrick Galapagos Doris cloaks Jalapa so yea palatial all calamari salami shall ladies soak calamari palapa at flashbacks pep world world halal alakazam apeep alabama also pancake ai Islams ms also quite alakazam Maia will appeal laminate well Wallachian alakazam Haleakala disposals floodplain risotto usurpation incapacity Tia apron Perry repatriation at papers flanker airplane to leprosy torpedo play pepper jj.

A Holiday hit

[tyree_hoffman · 7/10 · 1 November 2022]

Listen, you're gonna read the description and groan. You're probably gonna see low "critic" reviews and you're going to write this one off. DO NOT DO THAT. Listen to fans of low budget horror, like myself. This, at the very least, will find itself in your "so bad it's good" column if you let it. The CGI is laughable, and most of the kills are part of that CGI, but that's actually part of the charm here! Watching these cheesy CGI kills made me chuckle, and it's a big part of what kept me entertained until the end.

If you are a fan of movies like Jack Frost, Jack Frost 2, Thankskilling, CarousHELL, and so on, this is right up your alley.

It Was Ok

[gab-67599 · 7/10 · 22 November 2022]

So normally if I see the "uncorked" logo I already expect the movie to be low budget and bad. I thought it was funny they waited until the end of the movie to announce themselves lol.

Now as for the movie itself, it was not bad. As you can imagine low budget but the players interesting enough to keep watching until the end. Not only did that have hot chicks the kill scenes didn't look all that bad! You know those SyFy movies like two headed killer crocodiles, this was like that only with trees. So what if they needed a new sound guy and a much funnier tree!? I really do not feel like my time was wasted. Just lower your bar and this movie is perfect start to all the holiday horrible holiday movies to come. I would definitely watch it again, if only just for sh**'s and giggles.

The best Christmas film of 2022

[vanessahlong · 7/10 · 22 December 2022]

What's not to love about a film about a Christmas tree that accidentally gets possessed by a homicidal maniac returned from the grave, and ends up running amok, and ratcheting up a very high body count on its mission of revenge?!

So goes The Killing Tree - with it's always fun and seriously mad Christmas themed take on the slasher film.

I thought this film was hilarious - feel It seems destined to become an instant schlock horror cult classic - and it easily gets my vote for Christmas Movie of the year!

It's hard to pick a funniest scene in this movie, as there are so many, but let's not even start on the Christmas Tree's hilarious attempts at pulling off jump scares by lurching out from behind other trees, etc.

This film is too good - I loved it! Grab some popcorn and a friend and I hope you enjoy it too!

A fun enough holiday monster mash-up

[kannibalcorpsegrinder · 7/10 · 2 November 2022]

Attempting to seek revenge on a wrong-doer, a woman casts a spell to resurrect her dead husband but inadvertently casts the wrong version sending his spirit into a Christmas Tree who sets out on a bloody path of bloodshed to strike back at the girl who originally killed him during a Christmas party.

This was a bit better than expected for what it is. The main aspect to be had here is the means through which this brings the titular tree across as a viable villain. Ignoring the ludicrous nature of the idea overall, the setup employed here to showcase that comes off incredibly well with the opening black magic ritual that inadvertently puts his spirit into a Christmas Tree which brings it to life and going out on the rampage. The motivation and reasoning for doing so are based on her relationship with him when he was alive with both being serial killers who went around killing people on the eve of the holiday that included the girls' parents in one of the rampages makes this such a fun and involving backstory to tie everything together and serve as the proper grounding for everything to take place. This then allows the film to indulge in a fine series of cheesy attacks with the tree utilizing its supernatural powers. Shown to have the ability to extend the light cords as tentacles, grow elongated arms to stab or rip victims to pieces, and use ornaments as projectiles, this manages to produce a fine creatively original monster that has a lot to like. Knowing the backstory of its creation makes the scenes of a walking ambulatory Christmas Tree running around wreaking havoc and ripping people to pieces offer a rather fun brand of cheesy action scenes throughout the mansion grounds that become fun for how silly it all is. That this brings up the thrilling finale with the creature rampaging through the house that lets the holiday decorations add a festive atmosphere for the final showdown is all that keeps this one enjoyable. This one does have some big issues present. One of the biggest factors in this one is the rather jarring and scattered tempo here that comes about due to its shorter length trying to rush things that don't need to. The extended setup showing the party at the house and all the various sidestories going on with the friend group is a bit overlong with the repeated nature of several subplots but then rushing through a massacre scene where it rips multiple people apart in a minute-long sequence that should've gone much longer. This leaves the film somewhat odd with how it plays out and sets up the final confrontation coming out of nowhere that has no time to explain what's going on, and when combined with the cheesy effects on display due to the cheesy CGI are the few issues that bring this down.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Graphic Violence.

This is a fun watch for fans of bad horror movies

[kevin_robbins · 6/10 · 12 December 2022]

The Killing Tree (2022) is a UK movie that I recently watched on Tubi. The storyline follows a serial killer's widow who casts a spell for him to return but the spell goes wrong and he returns as a Christmas tree. As a Christmas tree he also has special powers that allows him to do things beyond his wildest dreams. The serial killing tree sets out for revenge on those who caused him to get caught and executed.

This movie is directed by Rhys Frake-Waterfield (Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey) and stars Sarah Alexandra Marks (Kill Kane), Marcus Massey (Bunny: The Killer Thing), Judy Tcherniak (Monster Portal) and Kelly Rian Sanson (Curse of Jack Frost).

This movie wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. The storyline itself reminded me a little of Shocker. The acting and dialogue is just okay but the horror elements are entertaining. There's a pool scene I really enjoyed and the kills by the tree get better and better as the movie progresses. The CGI didn't bother me at all and reminded me a little of Deep Rising. The final showdown scenes at the end are a lot of fun. I would definitely watch a sequel.

Overall, this is a fun watch for fans of bad horror movies. I would score this a 5.5/10 and recommend seeing it once.

For The Bad Horror Fans!

[icocleric · 6/10 · 6 December 2023]

I love bad B-Movie style horror, as long as it is entertaining, and this was! The film is about a women resurrecting her dead husband into killer Christmas tree, so this is exactly as dumb as you expect it to be, and glorious!

People die in all kinds of fun, dumb, and brutal ways. And this being done by the Christmas tree is the selling point of the film. The acting is sadly a bit of a mixed bag, some people really selling it, and others being a bit flat.

But honestly I had so much fun with how gloriously bad this film was, and the film knew it was a dumb concept, but just went with it and had fun with it. So definitely for those who want dumb bad horror.