Elves: Season 1 – Netflix Review (3/5)

ELVES on Netflix is a new Christmas Horror Series from Denmark. It’s for the whole family – well, most of it, anyway! While the two first episodes are very strong, the rest of the season is more generic. Read our full Elves season 1 review here!

ELVES is a new Netflix Christmas Horror series. Since we’re mixing horror and Christmas, there is also a touch of the Fantasy and Adventure genres here as well. Of course, that’s very often the case as can also be seen in Christmas Horror movies such as the Gremlins movies and Rare Exports.

If you’re not familiar with the latter (it’s a movie from Finland), then you should definitely check it out.

This new Netflix Christmas Horror series only has six 30-minute episodes, which means it’s actually a very quick binge-watch. However, the ending definitely leaves room for more seasons. And I’m guessing Netflix is betting on that.

Continue reading our Elves season 1 review below. We’ve watched all six episodes in the season.

Christmas horror series with good and bad

Elves is a production from Denmark (org. title Nisser) and it definitely feels very Danish as well. As a native Dane, I can vouch for that. And that includes the very honest and direct tone between children and their parents.

In fact, the first two episodes are very strong thanks to this directness. Something you’ll also see in the interaction between siblings; Constantly fighting but also having one another’s back. Also, while it’s theoretically a “family horror series”, there are scenes that are definitely not for the younger family members.

Or anyone who isn’t ready to see a severed head flying across their TV screen.

The Elves look like a Groot-hybrid

While the first two episodes stood out as something truly intriguing, the remaining four episodes of this season of Elves felt a lot more generic. The entire tone changed as the storyline is tainted by the lead protagonist (a young girl) making irritating decisions.

Also, there’s the design of the elves themselves. The only way I can think of to explain them is a hybrid of “Groot” from Guardians of the Galaxy and “Sam” from Trick ‘r Treat. Maybe with a touch of a Gremlin – the evil kind, of course.

These wood elves are definitely an entirely different thing from the classic happy Christmas elves. Of course, one could then wonder how much Elves actually has to do with Christmas. Well, nothing really. Except for the fact that it takes place during the Christmas holiday.

You could check out All the Creatures Were Stirring for a classic Christmas Horror anthology here >

Watch Elves season 1 on Netflix!

Stefan Jaworski is the creator of Elves and he has previously worked on both series about Christmas and serial killers. Not in the same show, though. He’s also the creator of the Danish crime series Den som dræber, which was remade in the US as Those Who Kill.

In terms of more hardcore horror movies, Stefan Jaworski also wrote the script for The Devil Below (Shookum Hills) from 2021.

WANT A FUN CHRISTMAS HORROR MOVIE

Read our review of Better Watch Out here >

To me, a few of the actors made this Netflix series quite entertaining. And yes, I did like those strange wood elves despite their very un-Christmas-like appearance and behavior. Still, I could not help but get annoyed during the final half. A damn shame since I truly enjoyed those first two episodes. Oh well, at least it’s a short season.

Season 1 of Elves is out on Netflix from November 28, 2021.

Details

Creator: Stefan Jaworski (Idea by Jannik Tai Mosholt and Christian Potalivo)
Director: Roni Ezra
Cast: Sonja Steen, Milo Toke Bendix Campanale, Ann Eleonora Jørgensen, Vivelill Søgaard Holm, Rasmus Hammerich, Peder Thomas Pedersen, Lila Nobel, Lukas Løkken