In All The Creatures Were Stirring two friends are out on a date at a theatre, watching a series of bizarre Christmas-themed plays (alongside a bunch of creepy people) on Christmas Eve.
For us, however, these plays manifest as 5 Christmas themed horror short films.
So effectively, the two friends are in a short film, watching plays that we are seeing as short films...(with a bunch of creepy people).
After each short film, it kicks back into the narrational film, on top of their being an intermission and ending sequence.
Despite being pretty low budget, the short films are really quite good.
I particularly enjoyed the first one...where the employees of an office building are being held at hostage at that their secret santa gift-giving, in a saw like scenario, where they must open gifts one at a time. Gifts that might kill them.
The whole thing starts off with quite the bang!
The second one is an occult film about a group of people that are targeted by a demonic presence, which attaches to them, when they are born on Christmas.
Then there is a sort of modern day retelling of scrooge.
A slasher film where a man accidentally hits and kills a reindeer while racing home on Christmas Eve, only to find that it's herd of (im sure can you guess which one) are hot on his tail and out for vengeance.
That's when things start to get weird...as the next one is a sci-fi film about two friends being abducted by aliens on Christmas, in some sort of simulated reality, in the bodies of their friends...before being put back into their own lonely existence.
This one is the coolest because it leaves you with the question, is our reality just a cage? Are we just living in a digitally enhanced terrarium in a zoo for aliens that exist on whole other level (think the ending of men in black, with the aliens playing with the marble with our universe in it).
Which cleverly leads into the finale of the narrational short, which keeps on the theme of simulated reality, with a real trippy twist at the end!
All-in-all, while a couple of the shorts are a bit slow, most are really quite decent...especially for being a low budget film.
I really quite enjoyed it, and highly recommend it for a fun watch with friends on Christmas.
6 out of 10.
For us, however, these plays manifest as 5 Christmas themed horror short films.
So effectively, the two friends are in a short film, watching plays that we are seeing as short films...(with a bunch of creepy people).
After each short film, it kicks back into the narrational film, on top of their being an intermission and ending sequence.
Despite being pretty low budget, the short films are really quite good.
I particularly enjoyed the first one...where the employees of an office building are being held at hostage at that their secret santa gift-giving, in a saw like scenario, where they must open gifts one at a time. Gifts that might kill them.
The whole thing starts off with quite the bang!
The second one is an occult film about a group of people that are targeted by a demonic presence, which attaches to them, when they are born on Christmas.
Then there is a sort of modern day retelling of scrooge.
A slasher film where a man accidentally hits and kills a reindeer while racing home on Christmas Eve, only to find that it's herd of (im sure can you guess which one) are hot on his tail and out for vengeance.
That's when things start to get weird...as the next one is a sci-fi film about two friends being abducted by aliens on Christmas, in some sort of simulated reality, in the bodies of their friends...before being put back into their own lonely existence.
This one is the coolest because it leaves you with the question, is our reality just a cage? Are we just living in a digitally enhanced terrarium in a zoo for aliens that exist on whole other level (think the ending of men in black, with the aliens playing with the marble with our universe in it).
Which cleverly leads into the finale of the narrational short, which keeps on the theme of simulated reality, with a real trippy twist at the end!
All-in-all, while a couple of the shorts are a bit slow, most are really quite decent...especially for being a low budget film.
I really quite enjoyed it, and highly recommend it for a fun watch with friends on Christmas.
6 out of 10.