Nutcracker Massacre Review

3 star silly but entertaining festive horror.

Nutcracker Massacre is a 2022 horror film directed by Rebecca Matthews (Reign of Chaos, Beneath the Surface). It  has a story by Jeff Miller (Dolls, The Toybox) and screenplay by Joe Knetter (Blind, Pretty Boy).

Nutcracker is released on Digital Platforms on 12th December 2022, just in time for Christmas, courtesy of Central City Media.

“He’s supposed to watch over and protect her. It’s a Sugar Plum Fairy.”

Clara (Beatrice Fletcher – Croc!, Curse of Bloody Mary) is a young romance novelist struggling to find her audience. It’s the week before Christmas and she has just found out that boyfriend Paul (Andy Dixon) has been cheating on her. Initially unsure what to do for the festive season, she recieves a call from her Auntie Marie (Julie Stevens) inviting her to stay for Christmas.

She’s happy to go home for Christmas, she was raised by her Antie and she wastes no time heading over there. On the way, she pops into local curio shop where she meets the enigmatic Dmitri (Patrick Bergin – Sleeping With the Enemy, Patriot Games) who sells her a Nutcracker. She’s surprised when she arrives to find a six foot tall Nutcracker (Cristophe Monplaisir) already installed by the Christmas tree, but when Marie opens the gift it turns out to be Sugar Plum Fairy.

She loves catching up with her Auntie and the house keeper Danford (Tony Goodall – Jurassic Island). Their enjoyment is dented slightly by the arrival of Marie’s spoiled and resentful daughter Melissa (May Kelly – Pterodactyl) and her boyfriend James (Stephen Staley – Wishmaker) and even further when Paul shows up unexpectedly.

What’s really going to ruin Christmas though is a glowing eyed rampaging six foot Nutcracker which has msyteriously come to life.

“Wow, that is one ugly son of a b***h…I’d chop it up and use it for firewood.”

Nutcracker Massacre is a good idea for a story and I like the fact that the characters have the same names as those from the original classic tale. It does have issues, the cast are inexperienced and it really shows, the acting is pretty terrible, with the exception of Patrick Bergen. He really hams it up and goes for it, even featuring some maniacal moustache twirling.

The family side of the story is lacklustre, but the Nutcracker part is quite compelling. The effects are not bad, there’s lots of gore and one particularly gruesome scene which lives up to the title far too well. It’s also quite funny how the Nutcracker gets it’s teeth out when it’s about to attack.

It’s no classic, but nevertheless I found it highly entertaining and perfect for this time of year, there’s tinsel and fairy lights everywhere. The moral of the story, if there is one, is probably don’t go home for Christmas, especially if your family owns a giant Nutcracker.

“Listen Bai. I’m gonna make this short and to the point. Don’t call or visit me again. Ever. I’m going to do whatever I can to make it work with Clara.”

Nutcracker Massacre is available on Digital Platforms from 12th December 2022.