THE STORY – When true-crime podcaster and sleuth transwoman Lola visits her hometown at Christmas for the first time since running away and transitioning, the vengeful ghost of a historical murderer and urban legend seemingly arises to kill again.
THE CAST – Jeremy Moineau & Dominique Booth
THE TEAM – Alice Maio Mackay (Director/Writer) & Benjamin Pahl Robinson (Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 70 Minutes
Alice Maio Mackay may only be 20 years old, but she has already proven to be a quintessential voice in modern horror filmmaking. The Australian filmmaker imbues all her stories with queer characters and themes. And as a trans woman, she’s reclaiming a genre that in the past would have otherwise portrayed her and other queer people as monstrous. All five of her feature films incorporate various horror subgenres and elements, like vampires, cults, and the slasher, to not only add her own unique spin to the genre itself but to highlight real-world horrors affecting the trans community. Transphobia is everywhere in our society, and that is portrayed in her films where horror is used to highlight how hate turns people into something inhuman – real monsters. Above all, Mackay’s work celebrates the strength of queer and trans people and the importance of community.
Breezy at just 70 minutes, her latest film, “Carnage for Christmas,” takes another stab at the slasher, like her previous work “Bad Girl Boogey.” This Australian holiday horror follows popular true crime podcaster Lola (Jeremy Moineau). Introduced in the middle of her show, she, much like Mackay herself, flips expectations with the story she chooses to tell. Then, she’s asked why she got into murder cases, beginning a story that goes back to her conservative small town. Her hometown speaks of an urban legend about a killer toymaker dressed in a Santa suit. Kids, including Lola, would break into his old decrepit house trying to catch a glimpse – if they didn’t get killed first. What began with a murder in the 1930s continues to have a grip on the town. Lola says that dark things tend to linger, much like her past before transitioning.
It’s been sixteen years since she escaped the town she describes as a shithole. Now, she finds herself going back for Christmas to spend time with her sister, Danielle (Dominique Booth). She’s nervous about going back and isn’t ready to answer everyone’s questions. It becomes clear that a lot has changed since she left, though. There’s a gay bar now, and one of her old teachers is a drag queen. There are more people openly out, and they have built a community, which is felt, but that doesn’t mean the town is safe for them. The jolly vibes of Christmas don’t capture this homecoming, as Lola’s return is met with tension and transphobia from most. This is directed from who you would think, your small-town hicks, but even a girl labeled as the “local lesbian” can’t keep her comments to herself. Mackay’s films are known for tackling hatred towards queer people, and it can be forgotten that this behavior can come from within the queer community – and it’s part of the fear factor.
It turns out that Lola isn’t the only ex-resident who returns to town. A ghost of Christmas past, The Toymaker, is back. When he starts to rack up a body count, the police are predictably useless. This town has a history of unchecked violence, and these crimes are turned a blind eye to, especially as they’re perpetuated towards queer people. Labeled simply as “botched robberies,” Lola decides to take it upon herself to start her own investigation as the killer leads her on a hunt. Lola loves to poke into every mystery, but as a friend warns, there may be one day when one mystery pokes back. Looking into this case may cause more danger than she realizes.
“Carnage for Christmas” is a treat for those who love gnarly kills and body horror, as each murder is more grotesque than the last. Mixed with the film’s low budget, it’s reminiscent of “Terrifier” in the way that it does so much with so little. While “Carnage for Christmas” establishes a visual style with the fluidity of its queer-coded color palette, its low-budget works to its detriment as it sometimes plays like an early 2000s TV show in the worst ways. Unfortunately, the film’s editing by Vera Drew (director of the brilliant “The People’s Joker“) is often distracting, especially when it splices different scenes together or keeps cutting back to a particular flashback that doesn’t offer much depth. Depth is a lot of what the film is missing, especially when it comes to Lola, her past, and the internal struggles that you can tell drive her; however, there is a playful use of animation played out like a comic strip to show Lola’s own experience with the Toymaker legend. The film’s dialogue can be hit or miss, written awkwardly, and results in the cast’s delivery sounding unnatural and weakening otherwise fair performances.
There’s a lot to love about this festive bloodbath despite it being surrounded by many elements that don’t work. Scenes of violence against queer and trans bodies shouldn’t be looked away from, no matter how hard the law tries. Victims of the Toymaker, as well as those marginalized in our society, are seen and treated as though they aren’t people. Queer people have to fight so much to survive, both past and present, something “Carnage for Christmas” highlights with chilling thrills. With her fifth feature, Mackay is once again solidified as an audacious filmmaker and makes you wonder what independent filmmakers like her could achieve if big Hollywood studios cared about queer voices.