Deathcember (2019)

Deathcember is the kind of horror anthology that turns a cute holiday ritual into a nightly dare, using the Advent calendar format as an excuse to unleash 24 wildly different nightmares with a wicked sense of play. What makes it special is the sheer variety: international directors swing from nasty splatter to cheeky, macabre comedy, and the animated wraparounds keep the whole thing feeling like one twisted seasonal event rather than random scraps. It’s often funnier and more inventive than the gimmick suggests, and familiar genre faces like Barbara Crampton add a welcome jolt of credibility amid the chaos. Fair warning, though: this is not cozy “spooky Christmas” fare—if severe gore and disturbing imagery are dealbreakers, you’ll want to steer clear, but if you like your holidays with blood, bite, and surprise, it’s a feast.

Deathcember is clearly aiming to be a horror advent calendar: 24 bite-sized nightmares from international directors, stitched together with animated wraparounds to give the whole thing a festive frame. The problem is that “24 shorts” doesn’t automatically equal “24 hits,” and the quality swings wildly—some segments feel inspired, others feel like first drafts, and the runtime starts to drag long before you reach the last door. If you’re expecting strong holiday atmosphere, you may be disappointed because a lot of it plays like generic splatter with only a thin seasonal garnish, even though the gore and intensity are absolutely not holding back. Watch it if you enjoy anthology roulette and don’t mind severe violence, nudity, and disturbing imagery; skip it if you need consistent storytelling, tight pacing, or a genuinely Christmas-flavored scare.