Mixed feelings about this Christmas-themed French home invasion but it's still a wild ride. And there's this hazy quality to the film that makes it feel like the fever dream. Truly insane and definitely worth seeking out.

It's one of the strangest and creepiest Christmas movies. Nothing gets you into the Christmas spirit than a maniac dressing up as Santa Claus, breaking into a house, and terrorising a kid and his fragile grandfather on Christmas Eve.

That time when kid Rambo kicked evil Santa's ass *Home Alone* style. This came out a year before *Home Alone* and while it's nowhere near as great as the classic, it's at least good. It's a blend between action and horror to the point where it feels like an identity crisis but we got some good stuff on both sides at least. The first kill was absolutely brutal and this maniac is scary to me. I wish we learned more about him except for the fact he has major delusion of grandeur issues. The grandpa/grandson relationship is the heart of the movie, so relatable and heartwarming that you need to root for them. They did a good job with the "kid believing in Christmas magic" storyline too, it certainly has that Christmas spirit. Good child performance but what an ugly distracting haircut. The set for this was perfect, such a big mansion with lots of different rooms. Nice backstory for the secret toy room that added depth. Good score especially in the third act. Not too thrilling or action heavy but there's a few decent chase sequences. Repetitive and maybe 10 minutes too long but it mostly delivers by the end. I was one scene away from having tears in my eyes.

They could easily have cut this down to 30 minutes and not lost a single thing. Had to fight the urge to fall asleep. The ending was honestly a little bit bizarre.

**French slow burn ancestor to Home Alone with pre-Internet Santa weirdo versus non-sociopath child.**