3 stars
Welcome to your new holiday tradition.
Horror movie makers have been churning out holiday-themed gore fests for a long time. Some have been great fun, like Black Christmas (1974) and Anna and the Apocalypse (2017), which are the kinds of films you can watch anytime. Some have been absolute crap. Like Thankskilling, a film you will watch once, probably only some of the way through.
Easter Bloody Easter ranks as one of the better holiday horror movies of recent memory, thanks to the playful nature that the writer Allison Lobell and the director Diane Foster bring to the project. Sure, there’s a bit of gore and a decent scare or two, but more than anything else, Easter Bloody Easter is fun. What’s not to love about a movie with a dance sequence where the unsuspecting townsfolk do the bunny hop to the sounds of the world’s most famous Easter rock band, Carrot Cake? And be forewarned that their song is incredibly catchy and will stay in your head for days.
Easter Bloody Easter stars the director, Foster, as Jeanie Cooper, a hard-drinking woman whose imbibing has only increased since the mysterious disappearance of her boyfriend, Lance (D’Andre Noiré). When Jeanie and her best friend, Carol (Kelly Grant), find Lance’s abandoned truck, the cab splattered with blood and an easter egg on the dash, they set out to solve a mystery that has been haunting their hometown for 150 years.
And it’s a hoot.
Watching the movie, it’s pretty clear that the budget for Easter Bloody Easter was probably less than what Eli Roth spent on catering while making Thanksgiving, one of the best holiday horror movies of recent memory. Foster, her cast and crew make up for what they may lack in a special effects budget, though, in inventive enthusiasm. It’s not easy to make an obviously animatronic bunny with red LED eyes look threatening and silly simultaneously, but they pull it off.
Lobell’s contribution, both as the screenwriter and as an actress, is a big part of the film’s success. Her performance as the town Karen, Mary Lou, is hilarious. She is not only the perfect comic foil to Foster and Grant but also manages to make her transformation from monster bunny denier to true believer one of the movie’s highlights.
While her script may follow the basic outline of every haunted small-town horror movie, Lobell’s gift for intelligent and sassy zingers lifts the material above the rest. For example, when Jennie and Carol find a clue to what is causing the problems in their town, it is revealed thus:
- Jeanie Cooper: Listen to this: “Dearest Lord, my poor sweet children are riddled with the pox. Each day is short and precious. Easter is but a week away, and I’d do anything to make it special for them. I confess… I’ve bartered my soul to Satan.”
- Carol: Shit, that’s a good mom right there.
It’s funny to read but even more comical when delivered by Foster and Grant. The rest of the cast rises to the occasion, too, delivering Grant’s lines with expert timing. The script and the director also give the cast plenty of room to build characters to match their dialogue. Some work better than others, and some get annoying after a while, but the fast pace set by Foster keeps things rolling along.
While it will always be a must-see every spring, Easter Bloody Easter shouldn’t be left to gather dust from year to year. Watching Carol and Jeanie battle bunnies is fun no matter what the day.
