A CREATURE WAS STIRRING is a new horror movie for the holidays. Not your classic Christmas horror movie, and it won’t be for everyone, but it is a powerful one. Read our full A Creature Was Stirring movie review here!

A CREATURE WAS STIRRING is a new horror movie. To be exact, it is a Christmas horror movie as it takes place during the holiday season. However, it is so much more than that. Chrissy Metz (This is Us) is the absolute lead of this movie and delivers a performance that is as shocking as it is great.

A MOVIE WITH A SIMILAR TITLE

Find our review of the 2018 anthology All the Creatures Were Stirring here >

There are only a handful of characters in this movie, but with a cast like this, it’s all you need. The runtime is just under 100 minutes, which suits it well. You will be confused and have many theories as it evolves. Do not fear, all will be explained in the end. And no, I did not guess the ending!

Continue reading our A Creature Was Stirring movie review below. Find it On Digital from December 12, 2023.

Not a classic Christmas story

In A Creature Was Stirring, we meet Faith in a story that is anything but a classic Christmas tale. Faith is portrayed by Chrissy Metz who delivers an extremely powerful performance. Just when you think you’ve seen it all, she has an extra level to take us all to.

Faith is a nurse who is caring for her daughter Charm (Annalise Basso). Her “care” consists of keeping her locked in her room as she tries to control some strange fever-induced sickness that turns her into a creature.

Outside, a Christmas blizzard is raging and makes sure everyone wants to stay inside. Everyone except the drifters Kory (Connor Paolo) and Liz (Scout Taylor-Compton) who break in to seek shelter from the blizzard.

However, it isn’t long before the two discover the strange relationship between Faith and her daughter Charm. Dysfunctional is a word that doesn’t begin to cover this situation. Also, it seems there might be a fifth houseguest. Despite this being Christmas, we’re not talking about Santa.

A Creature was Stirring (2023) Christmas Horror Movie

A Creature Feature for Christmas

In A Creature Was Stirring, you can take the title quite literally. There is an actual creature and it (along with all other effects) it’s of the practical kind. We’re talking 1980s-inspired horror movies. Both when it comes to the creature, colors, and almost everything else. All in good ways.

From the neon lights that shift depending on what character is in focus, to the wild flickering lights in the background when things get wild.

The A Creature Was Stirring ending delivers

I won’t be doing spoilers for the A Creature Was Stirring ending here. Instead, I want to tell you that you will get answers. The ending of the movie is all about explaining everything that has happened.

It is a very dark and realistically brutal ending.

As the end scene rolls over the screen, you will come to realize that truth. Whether you’ve guessed parts of it, all of it, or absolutely none of it, this is where everything is revealed. The ending of A Creature Was Stirring delivers and I know a definite ending means a lot to many viewers.

Watch A Creature Was Stirring in theaters or On Digital now!

Damien LeVeck is the director of A Creature Was Stirring. The screenplay comes from Shannon Wells, and this is the only credit for the screenwriter on IMDb. So far, anyway. Damien LeVeck also directed and co-wrote the 2019 horror movie The Cleansing Hour which is on Shudder.

I enjoyed that one as well, and it’s becoming clear to me that I can expect good things from Damien LeVeck. I’m still waiting for the one that will blow my socks off, but I have a feeling it’s only a matter of time. Until then, I am thoroughly entertained by his movies, so I can hardly complain.

Whether you’re in the mood for a different kind of Christmas horror movie or just a solid creature feature, this is one you should check it. Not for everyone, but a bold movie with a powerful message and awesome performances from its cast.

A Creature Was Stirring is in theaters from December 8, 2023, and on digital from December 12, 2023.

Details

Director: Damien LeVeck
Writer: Shannon Wells
Cast: Chrissy Metz, Scout Taylor-Compton, Annalise Basso, Connor Paolo, George Schichtle

Plot

As a Christmas blizzard rages outside, Faith, a nurse, keeps her daughter Charm locked in her room, injected with “holiday cheer,” methadone, to sustain a delicately balanced fever–“treatment” for a mysterious affliction. When drifters Kory and Liz break in seeking shelter, they quickly discover that Faith’s relationship with Charm stretches the limits of dysfunction, and both of them are concealing the malevolent fifth houseguest lurking in the shadows. Hint: it ain’t Santa.

I write reviews and recaps on Heaven of Horror. And yes, it does happen that I find myself screaming, when watching a good horror movie. I love psychological horror, survival horror and kick-ass women. Also, I have a huge soft spot for a good horror-comedy. Oh yeah, and I absolutely HATE when animals are harmed in movies, so I will immediately think less of any movie, where animals are harmed for entertainment (even if the animals are just really good actors). Fortunately, horror doesn't use this nearly as much as comedy. And people assume horror lovers are the messed up ones. Go figure!
Karina "ScreamQueen" Adelgaard
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