Jason Byrne
When I first seen John Squires aka Freddy in Space post a picture on his page a few months back about a new Holiday Horror film called "You Better Watch Out!", I knew that I had to reach out to the film makers Jay Byrne and Michael Welch (aka Roadkill Entertainment) about reviewing it for Sh*tmas! "You Better Watch Out" combines two of my favorite types of films in our beloved Horror Genre . . Slashers and Anthologies to form the perfect blend of Seasonal Screams that can be enjoyed all year round but is perfect for a November/December Viewing! There are 3 different stories featured in the anthology, each taking place during a different Holiday (Halloween, Christmas, and New Years) with the wraparound that connects them taking place on Thanksgiving Day. The plot is 3 friends (Rich, Lori, and Steve) who gather early each year for Thanksgiving Dinner, have a Horror Story Competition before the rest of the guests arrive at the house. The winner of the competition gets to tell their tale to the rest of the group later in the evening! The first tale told by Rich takes place on Halloween evening is about two local punks (Ricky and Dean) who are hiding out from the cops after a drug deal gone bad. On the run they stumble upon an abandoned house and soon find out that they are not as alone as they think! The second story and my favorite of the bunch is the Christmas Story!(told by Lori) It's about a Priest who also doubles as a Hit-man that is hired to take out Santa to stop the Commercialism of Christmas! This segment features a lot of funny moments as Santa is a lot harder to kill as the Hit-man originally thought! I liked this one a lot, and it reminded me of something you might have seen on an episode of Tales from the Crypt due to the Black Comedy aspect and the numerous Bad Puns! The final tale (told by Steve) takes place on the week leading up to New Years is definitely the most surreal both in terms of storytelling and visually. A man whom believes that he is "Father Time", has only one week left on Earth and will do everything in his powers to stop that from happening . . . even if it means killing "Baby New Year" that he has convinced himself is the unborn child of pregnant women in town! Final Thoughts: The Thanksgiving Wraparound plays out like classic Nickelodeon show "Are You Afraid of the Dark?", only with lots of booze and an indoor setting in lieu of a campfire. The three friends are fun to watch as they try to one up each other, they help the stories flow at a great pace, and all the actors/actress all do go a great job setting the perfect tone for the stories that they are involved in! Highly recommend for fans of independent horrors and old school anthologies! Courtesy of Tom Bryce (Sh*t Movie Fest: 25 Days of Sh*tmas)
