All Through the House

source: All Through the House

So in many ways this is a fairly generic slasher movie. The acting isnt bad but isnt amazing, there is a lot of T&A as is common in these movies and plenty of gore and kills. The killers mask is actually pretty creepy which I thought was good, not often the killer genuinely is a bit creepy. For the most part though this was a fairly generic slasher movie but, without giving any spoilers, I will say the backstory for the killer turned out to be pretty unique. Thats hard to come by nowadays. Overall really not a bad slasher movie at all, maybe not a classic but very watchable.

This Xmas slasher movie starts off with a woman being (very bloodily) butchered in her shower and the carnage carries on throughout, I'm pleased to say. Real throw back to the slashers of the 1980's, it ticks all of the boxes. Hot chicks, lots of blood & graphic deaths, a somewhat predictable but good plot & some dark humour in the mix, though it is by no means a comedy. Acting is reasonable, as are the special effects, given the low budget. I bought the DVD way back last January but it was well worth waiting 11 months to watch it, one of the best Xmas horror movies out there.

All Through the House is a mess that adds nothing to the slasher genre, let alone the Santa slasher genre. I would imagine that besides the boring story, they filmed every scene in one take. It wasn't even entertaining. And when all the 10/10 reviews that I checked are written by people who ONLY rated this movie, there's a question of their validity.

The cover for 'All Through the House' enticed me into seeing it. So did that it was purported to be an 80s throwback and that its idea was a good one. Also appreciate highly all the genres that 'All Through the House' contains and any film that tries to mix them. Will admit to being a bit nervous as well, having seen my fair shares of failed execution of good ideas, some mediocre at best to terrible films lately and whether it would be as cheap as low-budget films tend to be. What a pleasant surprise 'All Through the House' turned out to be! It is not perfect or amazing, and it doesn't completely meet the quality of its concept. Still found it to be above average and it was a relief that the concept wasn't wasted. 'All Through the House' could have been better certainly. The killer is suitably creepy and there is effort to give him development (which is appreciated, too many films recently have failed to do that with their villains) but definitely could have been in the film more, he was underused. Some of the story is predictable and not always tight in pace, particularly in the middle. The reveal didn't have me jumping out of my chair in shock or excitement and some of the dialogue is cheesy as sin (not a strong suit with the 80s horror films it throws back to admittedly but still). Occasionally, the film takes it too far with the vulgarity which doesn't always add an awful lot. On the other hand, 'All Through the House's' look is surprisingly more polished than most low-budget films seen recently. There is a real dark eeriness to the film's look, and the killer's is cool and suitably creepy. The special effects serve their purpose well, not over-used and far less amateurish than feared. The music score is haunting and suspenseful, without over-bearing the atmosphere or making it too obvious something bad is going to happen. Great the dialogue is far from, but it does boast some thought and some sharp and darkly funny satirical/black humour elements in a very 80s genre film way. The story isn't perfect either, but mostly it's very effectively atmospheric in tension, suspense and nightmarish eeriness, far from dull, intriguing and with some very brutally inventive kills. The direction shows confidence. Regarding the acting, it is fair. Not exceptional, but not terrible. Ashley Mary Nunes is surprisingly agreeable in the lead role and hair-raising Melynda Kiring is the cast standout. The characters don't at least irritate. In summary, not bad...not bad at all. 6/10 Bethany Cox

I'm a generous guy when it comes to slashers - I like the subgenre very much, but bad will always be just bad. This was an example of what happens when you want to make a slasher & while doing that, rehearse every known thing in and about it - rehearse it in a very cheap manner. "All through the house" belongs among the weaker Christmas-themed horror flicks - let me tell you why: first off, probably the most annoying thing for me was the lighting. Yeah, exactly that very specific thing. It looked like a student's project that got a little money on kickstarter - everything about this movie looked that way, but the lighting was real crappy at times, too "on the nose", in a lot of shots you can feel that guy with a lamp standing behind the camera. Direct overexposure. What else? The acting - the better performance was delivered by the eldest actress (the antagonist), but overall the acting & dialogue was sailing towards the port called "cringe". The story consists of many extremely clichéic classic slasher ingredients & it didn't read quite well, I grasped the full situation about halfway into the movie, but it might have been just stupid script choices that got me baffled. Yes, I can surely give it some points for the gore - that 4.8 rating up there is probably only because of gore. The effects were old-school & all practical, they even tried to make each kill different. However, the choreographed scenes towards the ending were sloppy and ineffective. I also want to mention that this slasher could've been set in any kind of setting, the christmas theme feels very not-essential. There are some reviews crowned with a high mark, but, people, we can't just give a movie free pass because of 5 minutes worth of nice practical gore, can we? While "All through the house" is disappointing and amateuristic, it did hold a little more potential than that. T'was not used though. Can't possibly objectively rate this higher than 3/10, it would not be fair to many other low budget slashers.

The film starts off with a Santa killer with no introduction. A woman gets stabbed through the breast and it wasn't as nifty as the antler scene in that other Christmas horror. We then run a string of severed male organs, and a crazy neighbor lady who hates all men, as a child she was "passed around to all those men." She has a missing/dead daughter and a lot more weird information comes out later as the plot becomes an unintended satire on slasher plots. You need to wait an hour for an explanation. In addition to the severed organs, the film incorporates a ton of sexual references and a potty mouth grandmother, which fall short of satire and simply into the category of vulgarity for the sake of vulgarity. The film isn't that great of a slasher, but has some credibility as a satire, however the satire aspect remains covert to the point you are unsure if it is a satire. I think I labored that point to death. Guide: F-word, sex, nudity (Johanna Rae)

What lured me in to watch "All Through the House" was the movie cover/poster, as it has a blood-drenched Santa holding a pair of hedge cutters. And knowing that this was going to be a slasher horror, then the movie did seem to have the potential to be a good movie. And given my love for the horror genre, then of course I gave "All Through the House" a chance. The movie starts out quite alright, and there is action in form of killing right from the very beginning. But that was also just about as exciting and thrilling as this movie would be. The rest of the movie just settled into a monotonous trot and just paced onward in a pace that left no one winded. There is actually nothing to be seen in "All Through the House" that hasn't already been established, done and seen in other slasher movies, both the established franchises and the stand-alone slasher movies. So you shouldn't expect anything out of the ordinary when you sit down to watch "All Through the House". As for the acting in the movie, well let's just say that it was fair enough, taking into consideration the genre and the budget of the movie. However, I can say that there was nothing outstanding or memorable to be witnessed throughout the movie. The effects in "All Through the House" were adequate. But again, not really special effects that left any lasting impression of awe or amazement. But the effects served their purpose well enough. The killer himself, well he definitely is no next Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger or Michael Myers that is for sure. Actually this serial killer is hardly one that you will remember once the movie has come to an end and the end credits start to roll. There are far better slasher movies available, and this movie might be suitable enough for an off-beat slasher movies during a prolonged slasher movie marathon. Just don't get your hopes up for anything grand or spectacular.

College student Rachel Kimmel (a solid and appealing performance by Ashley Mary Nunes) returns to her home town to celebrate Christmas with her family and friends at the same time that a psycho dressed as Santa Claus (an unnerving portrayal by Lito Velasco) decides to embark on a vicious killing spree. Writer/director Todd Nunes keeps the engrossingly twisted story moving along at a constant pace, delivers a handy helping of in-your-face nasty gore, maintains a take-no-prisoners harsh tone throughout (the wacko cuts guy's penises off with a huge pair of garden shears), does a sturdy job of crafting a supremely creepy atmosphere, pays nice tribute to such 1980's slice'n'dice classics as "Alone in the Dark" and "The Slumber Party Massacre," and even throws in a smidgen of tasty gratuitous female nudity for extra good trashy measure. Melynda Kiring easily cops the top acting honors with her divinely deranged turn as the bitter and unhinged Mrs. Garrett, who's harboring one hell of a sick family secret. Moreover, the filmmakers deserve additional praise for using nifty old school practical splatter make-up effects. Ryan J. Anderson's sharp cinematography provides a pleasing polished look. Irving Victoria's shivery score hits the spirited shuddery spot. A fun little seasonal slasher outing.

Hailed as a throwback to old-school slashers but in reality this is an incredibly poor movie with very little going for it. While I did guess the identity of the killer before the film even reached the halfway mark, there is another twist towards the end involving the killers mother that is indeed quite twisted. The Santa costume is also quite good, and there are a couple of decent gore scenes. That's it for the positives. Most of the gore, while plentiful, just isn't very entertaining and the killers weapon of choice (a pair of hedge clippers) isn't utilized to its full potential. Furthermore, the acting is wooden, with few exceptions, and the majority of the characters are obnoxious teenagers who make some of the dumbest decisions you've ever seen. There's also a pointless shower scene with no nudity, and the movie completely ignores a golden opportunity for a lesbian scene. I felt cheated. In short, a failure that obviously doesn't know its audience very well, not that I'm the biggest slasher fan to begin with. For desperate gorehounds only.