Películas para no dormir: Cuento de navidad (2005) (TV)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Paco Plaza

Writer:

Luis Berdejo (writer)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Plot:

In 1985, in a coastal town, the friends Koldo, Peti, Tito, Eugenio and Moni stumble with a woman dressed...

Plot Keywords:

Police Station | Zombie | Police | Rope | Food

Cast

Maru Valdivielso	...	Rebeca Expósito
Christian Casas	...	Koldo
Roger Babia	...	Peti
Pau Poch	...	Tito
Daniel Casadellà	...	Eugenio
Ivana Baquero	...	Moni
Elsa Pataky	...	Ekran
José Torija	...	Charles
Loquillo	...	Taylor
Saurí	...	Policía Gourmet
Nacho Moliné	...	Locutor Telediario
Antonio Duque	...	Nets

Also Known As:

Films to Keep You Awake: The Christmas Tale (International: English title)

Runtime:

71 min

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Filming Locations:

Castelldefels, Barcelona, Cataluña, Spain

Company:

Filmax Televisión

Trivia:

Except for Rebeca and the actors in TV, all the adults in this movie are unseen or partially-unseen characters, with their faces always hidden after newspapers or beyond the border of the screen.

Movie Connections:

References Volver a empezar (1982)

Ding dong bell, Santa's in a well.....

"The Christmas Tale" takes place somewhere in Spain in 1985, and comes off as somewhat of a tribute to many films of the time, like "Goonies", "Stand By Me", "Karate Kid" and maybe even "The Pit", with a dash of "V" perhaps.

Some children find a person in a Santa Claus suit at the bottom of an old well, unconscious. As it turns out, this particular Santa is a woman, and one who has just robbed a bank & stolen 2 million pesetas and is considered dangerous. But the kids don't know all that, not yet, anyway. They almost let her out but then two kids that go to the police station see a bulletin while waiting for the officer in charge to stop exchanging recipes with whomever he's speaking to on the phone, and then race back to stop the other kids from letting "Rebecca" out.

Eventually the kids get the money from Rebecca, and then the debate is on whether they should tell the police or not. But they let things go on a bit too long and perhaps Rebecca is dead. Or, perhaps she's not, but when they bring the police she's not in the well anymore.

Did she just get out in her broken & ill condition? Or did the boys really resurrect her as a zombie after watching "Zombie Invasion" one too many times? You'll have to see for yourself.

This is a fairly nasty offering from the "6 Films to Keep You Awake" collection, only the second I've watched to date but the best so far. I do have a soft spot in my heart (or my head) for Christmas Horror films, and this is a reasonably decent one. The cruelty and greed of the boys is rather disturbing, yet they're only 12-year olds. Well worth seeing. 7 out of 10.