Santastein – Movie Review (2/5)

SANTASTEIN on Screambox is a Christmas twist on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. It’s a low-budget production that has lots of heart and room for improvement. Read our full Santastein movie review here!

SANTASTEIN is a new Screambox Christmas horror movie. It has the very specific twist of being a  Christmas take on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Hence the title of Santastein, and a premise that makes perfect sense in the horror-comedy genre.

There are lots of practical effects, which is something low-budget horror is famous for. Actually, infamous may be more accurate, but it also has lots of charm and is loved by many horror fans. For me, the story is too weak, but the passion from the cast and filmmakers is obvious.

Continue reading our full Santastein movie review below. Find it on Screambox from December 19, 2023.

Resurrecting Santa

In Santastein, we meet the two best friends, Max and Paige, who are working on a very special kind of experiment. In fact, it’s practically their hobby; They bring things back from the dead. Or they try to!

Yes, in the classic style of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein!

Once they succeed with a smaller animal, Max is ready to move on to the one thing that has always been his main goal; He wants to resurrect Santa.

Not a strange wish considering that he was the one who accidentally killed Santa when he was trying to catch him. He was only six years old when it happened, but it has affected both him and the whole world.

Christmas died along with Father Christmas, so December is a bleak season in this alternate universe, we see in Santastein.

Read Mary Shelley’s book again

As anyone familiar with Mary Shelley’s iconic Frankenstein will know, the resurrection of a person isn’t without its challenges. Therefore, it should be a given that resurrecting Santa is even more tricky.

And Father Christmas isn’t quite himself when he is brought back to life.

Instead of Santa, they get a bloodthirsty Santastein, who has nothing jolly to bring to the world. Quite the opposite! While the absence of Christmas and a happy holiday is terrible, having Santastein kill people is still a whole lot worse.

If someone had bothered to really understand the message of Mary Shelley’s story, they would’ve never attempted the resurrection. The moral of the story: Read Frankenstein again!

Watch Santastein on Screambox now!

Santastein was written and directed by Manuel Camilion & Benjamin Edelman. While I wasn’t thrilled with the overall result, I can definitely see the talent there. The heart and passion is obvious and it’s mostly a question of “less is more” that will help them in their next projects.

Not in terms of the crazy deaths and awesome practical effects. No, simply in terms of story and plot. There are too many unanswered questions and weird details.

Like who really lives where?! Why is someone throwing a party and another girl’s house? And why was a six-year-old at someone else’s house at midnight on Christmas Eve? These are not questions I should be wondering about when a bit of dialogue could have explained it all.

Having said that, this is a fun horror-comedy spin on a Frankenstein Christmas hybrid story, so do check it out on Screambox. It premiered at Popcorn Frights Film Festival 2023 and seems to have found the perfect streaming home with Screambox.

Santastein is out as a SCREAMBOX Exclusive on December 19, 2023.

Details

Writers/Directors: Manuel Camilion & Benjamin Edelman
Cast: Jared Korotkin, Michael Vitovich, Ophelia Rivera, Kaylie Heyner, Damian Edwards, Fernando Morales, Heather Fisch