Perhaps the ultimate in “Christmas creep” is twinkly, glittering festivity oozing backward through the calendar to take over a cheesy October splatter flick. That’s what we get for Halloween weekend this year: Christmas at the Kringles, a gruesome, broadly played horror comedy about too much Yuletide merriment.
The story seems, initially, like a conflict between urban cool and suburban square. Mark (Ron Livingston of Office Space) is moving, very reluctantly, from “the city” to the ‘burbs with his wife (Rachel Bilson) and son (Jack Jewkes). Immediately on arrival they are appallingly, aggressively welcomed by their neighbors, the Kringles: jolly father Jack (Thomas Lennon of Reno 911!), perky matriarch Carol (Arden Myrin), gibberish-spouting Grandma (Beverly D’Angelo) and three strange but comparatively less horrible kids. The Kringles observe Christmas year-round and are utterly insufferable in their relentlessly oppressive cheer.
Mark sees the danger at once – his wife and son are soon drawn into the Kringle Christmas cult. Eventually, things turn bloody.
Directed by Kevin Lewis from a script by Zack Imbrogno, Christmas at the Kringles is a nasty, lowbrow piece of work, and there only certain sickies to whom I could recommend it. It’s too farcical to be really scary, and it gets repetitive as it pads out a thin premise – somewhat reminiscent of, though much cruder than, the messed-up 1985 novel The Happy Man by Eric C. Higgs.
But the actors are capable, within the limits of what they’re able to do. Lennon wins the best laughs, sucking the air out of the room with his pushy joviality. Myrin runs him a close second as his wife. Livingston is more hangdog than usual, even for him.
Donald Faison of Scrubs is funny as a nervous neighbor and ally. Rob Riggle plays “Drunk Santa,” a mall St. Nick who is also a foul-mouthed, ass-kicking defender against the Kringles. His character also serves, presumably, as a mouthpiece for what the filmmakers regard as an authentically spiritual Christmas.
