Alternative Bond Poster Art by Alain Bossuyt

The Bloody Pit #142 - DIAL CODE SANTA CLAUS (1989)

Holiday Horrors returns for 2021!

 

John Hudson, Troy Guinn and I discuss the amazing French Christmas film DIAL CODE SANTA CLAUS (1989). Although we had never even heard of this movie until Vinegar Syndrome released it on disc last year it has become a fast favorite for all three of us. It’s an amalgam of horror, action and coming of age stories that manages to hit nearly every emotional beat that it targets. On Christmas Eve, ten-year-old Thomas is determined to get evidence of Santa’s existence so he sets up his high-tech equipment to videotape him on his rounds. Unfortunately, the lad has accidentally gained the attention of a crazed man who dresses himself as the jolly old elf and makes the little boy the object of his homicidal curiosity. With his mother working late it is up to Thomas alone to protect his aged grandfather and stop the deadly St. Nick from killing all through the house. Who will survive?

Simultaneously beautiful to look at and tensely suspenseful DIAL CODE SANTA CLAUS is a worthy addition to the list of scary stories centered around the year end holidays. Filled with Christmas atmosphere and luminous visuals it checks all the boxes for candy colored feel-good sentiment but then drops its likable characters into a vicious home invasion scenario. The killer Santa’s motivations are never revealed which makes his actions all the more terrifying and unpredictable. And although this film plays out a story similar to 1990’s HOME ALONE, there are real consequences to violence in this movie and truly deadly stakes if Thomas fails to defeat his nearly silent adversary.

 

We talk about the film’s production taking note of the combination of real locations and elaborate stage work. The director’s ability to seamlessly meld the real and unreal allows the film to achieve some surprising moments and it’s not a shock to learn he went on to do high quality work in Hollywood. We have a good time discussing this great little movie with only a few short tangents about illegal VHS tape dubbing along the way. Oh! And at one point we are interrupted by a stack of my new Blu-Rays tumbling over into my chair. Sorry. I’ve been too busy to put them away.

 

The show winds down with an email from a fan of the show and a text from another co-host. They’re trying to wear me down, folks! If you have any comments or suggestions thebloodypit@gmail.com is the address. Thank you for listening! 

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Trailers From Hell - ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE APES (1971)

Dana Gould is one of the world's biggest fans of the original POTA series and his love shows in this commentary over the trailer of the third film. Turns out it was the first film he ever saw at a theater and it was a drive-in! 

Santa Comic Books and Magazines

That fellow turns up everywhere! 

What I Watched in November 2021

Edgar Wright is turning out to be another filmmaker who I wish was able to make more films than he is getting across the finish line. Much like Guillermo Del Toro it seems that for every one new movie we get from him there are three that might never see the inside of a theater. He has been making feature films for over seventeen years and only managed to direct six finished movies and one feature documentary. I try not to be sad about this and just be happy about the fantastic work we get from directors like this, but it is a struggle. Which brings me to Wright’s latest movie.

 

LAST NIGHT IN SOHO (2021) is being referred to by many as the writer/director’s ‘giallo’ but that is an oversimplification of what he is doing. Yes, there are certainly elements of the classic giallo films of the 1970’s built into this film’s story and structure but that is not the main aim. As much as he pulls from Dario Argento’s work (BIRD WITH CRYSTAL PLUMMAGE, DEEP RED. etc.) it is all in service to another goal which seems to be making a terrifying horror movie. In fact, what Mr. Wright has made is one of the best ghost stories of the past couple decades and its real trick is to push us, as the viewers, into feeling sympathy for both the victims and the murderer. Not an easy thing to accomplish and damned near impossible unless you hide specifics of past events until the right moment. But, damn! Those final act reveals do the trick effectively.

 

None of these clever story elements would work if not for the excellent performances from the strong cast. I expect brilliant work from veterans like Terrance Stamp, Diana Rigg and Rita Tushingham but they are matched by the young actors here who have very difficult lines to walk as the mystery plot plays out. For Dame Diana this is sadly her final screen performance but she seems to have known full-well that it was a plum role to cap her impressive career. As always, she is stunning in her ability to convey blunt character information and wonderfully skilled in shading her physicality and voice to communicate more than you might spot on first viewing. And I have to admit that Matt Smith is turning out to be an excellent character actor, effectively shaking off the aftereffects of playing Doctor Who years ago. He is quite good as the slimy 1960’s scumbag that sets the horrible events in motion that cascade down through the decades. 

The List 

RON’S GONE WRONG (2021) – 5 (mediocre animated kid’s movie) 

LAST NIGHT IN SOHO (2021) – 8 (fun twisty thriller) 

THE KISS BEFORE THE MIRROR (1933) – 6 (weird melodrama about infidelity) 

DUNE (2021) – 9 

ETERNALS (2021) – 8 

THE WHISTLER (1944) – 6 (rewatch) (the radio show makes the jump to the big screen)

DYNASTY (1977) – 6 (martial arts action in 3D!) 

IN SOCIETY (1944) – 7 (very funny Abbot & Costello farce) 

FEAR NO EVIL (1980) – 3 (rewatch on Blu) (still an unfocused mess) 

THE SEXBURY TALES (1973) – 6 (silly anthology sex comedy) 

RAIDERS OF ATLANTIS (1983) – 5 (rewatch on Blu) (not good but entertaining) 

INFRA-MAN (1975) – 7 (rewatch on Blu) 

THE POWER OF THE WHISTLER (1945) – 6 (second Whistler film is an odd one) 

TORCHY BLANE…PLAYING WITH DYNAMITE (1939) – 6 (last of the series is solid even without the regular leads) 

INVISIBLE MENACE (1938) – 6 (rewatch) (quick murder mystery with Karloff) 

A SCREAM IN THE STREETS (1973) 4 (clunky, low budget soft-core cops vs rapist tale) 

BLOSSOMS IN THE DUST (1941) – 6 (rewatch) (tear-jerker about orphans and legitimacy) 

HAUNTING FEAR (1990) – 5 (bland horror effort)

Vintage Doctor Who Games and Toys

That give-a-show projector would have been a mind-blowing toy in the 1960's.

 

Vintage Father Christmas Art