A young woman named Kirsten (Julie Austin) doesn't have it good living at home by being abused by her family but she finds out that they have deadly plans for her as an elf is resurrected and plans on breeding with her to start an apocalypse of a new race during the Christmas season in which her co-worker Mike McGavin (Dan Heggerty) tries to hep her find a way of destroying this evil being as it kills anything in their paths and trying to find the history on how to find a way to put an end to everything.
There's a moment when the three friends Kirsten, Brooke and Amy get together near a ground and looks at a book of a legend in which their discussions looked way too planned out, forced and unnatural in other words a little amateurishly done especially with their reactions to everything. However, there's a good shot on the ground later on looking misty and an elves hand bursting out of the ground which can please the fans of cheesy low budget horror flicks such as this one.
We also have a too planned out situation dealing with Kirsten and her dysfunctional family members being nasty to her as this was supposed to have looked intense and disturbing but this was really difficult to take any of tyhis seriously while watching on what goes on here. We even spot a scene with Kirsten dealing with her bratty little brother Willy in which there's trashy writing in the discussions which also seemed to rip off a scene that was used in Night of the Demons. There's neat cheesy effects with camera shots and the elf's hands watching through the window and so fourth which adds some flavor to the horror plot while we keep watching all of this.
A corny but interesting moment with the elf on top of Willy and the struggle with this child against this little monster which looked fairly suspenseful with fast action when he's screaming for help.
An effective moment with what we spot a depressed man named Mike McGavin trying to get a job as a Santa Claus for the kids at the mall but the employer being pigheaded about it all which looks sad and makes you feel sorry for the poor fellow and hoping this asshole boss will get what's coming to him later on.
Most of the scene's while we continue to watch are either trashy, corny or bland but then we spot a shocking moment when the evil mother is about to do something cruel towards Kirsten's kitty which isn't a pleaser to cat lovers but it seems awfully phony to watch at the same time thank god and all you need to think to yourself is that it's only a movie and no animals were harmed during the making of this picture.
However, there's a perfect touching moment later on in the story when Kirsten is grieving while working at the mall towards Mike about what had happened to her pet and he sympathises which was the best scene throughout the whole film making you really like this guy for warming up to someone while they're having a sad day.
We spot corny situations with an employee dressed as a Santa acting dysfunctional to a teenage chick asking for a good romp with her and she hits him as well as cheesy moments later on attacks him in the family jewels by stabbing him which seemed necessary in the story since these types always are one of the first to be put away for acting dirty.
Also in the story Kirsten and her friends are having a good fun time dressing up in clithes during after hours at the mall with their sarcastic discussions but yet once again looked too planned out and not good enough that you'd want to join in on the fun throughout this scene like it was intended to be.
However, there were some good creepy shots on the elf looking creepy while stalking through the mall along with good action moments between Kirsten and Mike gunfighting against some nazi's which looked good and solid by how it was all planned out.
Nice cold moments with Kirsten's Mom and Grandfather being mean to her along with Mike getting demanding towards the Grandfather on what's going on as well as some dark secrets being revealed which involved the elf as this was perfectly put into the story.
In another part of the story we spot the evil Mother getting ready to have a bath as well as good shots on her placing a radio next to the tub which gives you the impression that the elf will do her in next by pushing it into the water.
A nicely focused moment by showing a humoress eccentric professor talking to Mike about the history of the elf when he tries to discover as to why this creature is here and looking into the situations as it adds a nice touch to the plotlines as well.
Perfect moments on Kirsten in the woods trying to struggle away from the elf as well as neat dark shots on this elf. Plus nice energetic shots on her brother trying to run for help and to find something in the home that will help save her. Neat cheesy special effects happening for the final moments involving this battle.
Bottom line is that it's a bad film but it's a fun flick if you're in the mood for it and has some interesting values in it since it seemed to borrow elements from films like Ghoulies, Gremlins or Troll. It's hearwarming in some spots with heroic type of characters which makes it enjoyable while spotting these scene's. Leaves the door open for a sequel but this film was almost unheard of and doesn't have a following either to make it worthwhile.
The acting is terrible for the most part as it looked like most of the cast were friends of the filmmakers. In other words amateurish. Lead actress Julie Austin (Kirsten) plays the scream queen type role as the innocent and troubled teenage girl but she is way too over the top for the most part and seems to not have her reactions come across naturally especially when she gets anxious. At times her energy was a bit low too. Yet when she gets emotionally sad she does the trick as it comes off perfectly. Sometimes she shows off good energy whenever she does any struggling situations when the terror strikes her so I will give her credit for this along with her pretty faced looks.
Dan Haggerty (Mike McGavin) stole the film with his performance in which he always does a nice job with whateve I've seen him in making his part perfectly likeable and caring especially when he symathises towards someone else. He also does well with his aggressions or having an anxious attitude when the action or terror starts to happen along with doing a good job by being demanding or getting in someone's face. Hoever, he is very off when he does a fighting scene by taking a swing at someone as it doesn't look as brutal like it should have.
Deanna Lund (Kirsten's Mother) was incredibly wooden in her performance as the evil parent in which she has acted in daytime soaps as that explains something since most of it is badly acted and it certainly doesn't look like she's shaken off that type of performance. She was supposed to have acted disturbed and intense and tries too hard but can't get into character at all for behaving like this. She should've stuck to daytime television since she was supposed to have one of the key roles and doesn't live it off at all.
Borah Silver (Kirsten's Grandfather) had a nice gruffness to his speaking but his Nazi accent was quite off as well as him coming across as intimidating or sour which really proves himself to be a phony especially when he smacks someone. He was yet another one who can't pull off any characteristics into his part which is fairly sad but he wasn't bland to watch nevertheless.
Christopher Graham (Willy) as the bratty little brother is yet another failure to the story when he gets crude or cheeky as he was just saying his lines and not getting into much character for what he was doing. Yet he does show some interesting energy by when he tries to run for his life to save the day when the real terror breaks out but that's about it folks.
Deanna Lund's character is barebreasted while taking a bath as well as a reveal of her butt when she is about to get into the tub.
Some bloody stabbings like in the crotch or on the face and some bloodsheds but nothing too graphic here.
A person's electrocuted corpse is lying in a bathtub.
The music sounded very cheesy and Z-grade with some cheap synthesizer composing in which some moments have this mellow clarinet type of playing and having a calm feeling which sounds familiar to other made for video films that I saw during this time period which didn't do anything for me. However, there's some good rusty metal scraping and hissing sounds for the dark scene's which works in well along with some interesting violin composing the odd times and deadly blade sounds too which fits in nicely. All of this was composed by Vladimir Horunzhy
Kirsten: My cat is the only friend I have left.
Kirsten: [after catching her brother spying on her] I'm your fucking sister.
Willy: Yeah, you've got fucking big tits and I'm going to tell everybody I saw them.
Dead Santa: [whispers] Santa said ORAL.
Willy: Is everything all right?
Kirsten: No, Willy, Gramps is a Nazi.
Kirsten's Mother: Your father's in the study.
Kirsten: What? No. Grandfather's in the study. Dad is dead.
Kirsten's Mother: Your grandfather is your grandfather AND your father!
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