REVIEW | Ryan Morrissey-Smith
- Director: Michael Gabriele
- Writer: Michael Gabriele
- Stars: Marc Bendavid, Shailene Garnett, Toni Ellwand, Ron Lea, Oliver Renaud
It’s Christmas eve and Gino (Bendavid) is helping his parents prepare for the onslaught of an extended family Christmas dinner. Everyone arrives and is having a fun time (except for Gino), that is until Gino’s grandmother turns up unexpectedly because A) she was not invited and B) she has dead for years. As the day wears on it becomes apparent that the dead are coming back to life all over the neighbourhood and Gino just might have to try and save everyone including his ex-girlfriend Rene (Garnett).
Playing at the Fantasia International Film Festival Unholy Night hits the familiar notes on the dead rising but keeps a few surprises up its sleeve, setting the story mainly inside of Gino’s dysfunctional Italian-American family. Gino is painted as the black sheep of the family when the truth is that his family are just assholes. It’s a dynamic that works in conjunction with Gino’s stereotypical Italian family, which is where a lot of humour in the film is found, both in the living and the dead family members.
Gabriele directs this well, combining the Lifetime Christmas movie feel and graphic nature of the undead attacks. These undead are different however, they can speak and even in some cases sing and go on doing the things they were doing when they were alive, (which may well be a bit of commentary on the creatures of habit that humans are). That is until the rage of their condition takes over and they explode into violence. The violence is graphic but never really over the top, think of more realistic injuries as opposed to the kind of injuries you would have seen in Evil Dead Burn for example.
The film is chaotic at times and that really works because the film also has some emotional jolts that pay off in the quieter moments. Unholy Night is a very enjoyable and different take on the undead and is funny, brutal and unexpectedly emotional.
Played at Fantasia International Film Festival
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