My Thoughts on Santa Claws
Santa Claws is a movie that feels like it was made simply because someone realized the title hadn’t been used yet, and because it sounds like a pun begging to be a slasher movie, and that’s exactly what this feels like - a film that exists purely because of its name.
Written and directed by John A. Russo, who co-wrote Night of the Living Dead, and sadly, this is not Russo’s finest moment, and if anything, it plays like someone took a half-finished stalker script, sprinkled a little fake snow on top, and called it a Christmas movie.
Debbie Rochon stars as Raven Quinn, a B-movie actress who makes low-budget horror films with erotic undertones, where she’s kind of playing herself, and she’s probably the only person here too who seems genuinely comfortable being in front of the camera.
She really does give it her all, and it’s clear she’s trying to bring life to a script that gives her almost nothing.
The story itself follows Raven’s neighbor, Wayne, (Grant Cramer). who is introduced as your standard horror creep - the type who collects fan memorabilia and builds shrines to his favorite actress - before becoming friendly with Raven and a half assed story starts to develop which you can probably guess without me even saying everything.
Oh, and for a movie called Santa Claws, you’d expect candy canes, killer Santas, and some other Christmas bits and bobs, but no, the “holiday connection” basically boils down to one flashback, when Wayne was a kid, and he caught his mom and uncle (who was dressed as Santa) having sex, before killing them.
Santa Claws feels like it all just kind of exists for the sake of it, drifting from one scene to the next without ever building momentum, and while there are kills, none of them are creative or memorable, and there’s no tension or surprise, just people walking into rooms, saying a few lines, and then dying.
I can see why it might have some small cult appeal, as it’s one of those late-night cable horrors that is so bizarre and uneven that they’re hard to forget, even if they’re bad, and there’s a sort of odd charm to seeing a movie so unsure of itself, where every creative choice feels like it was made five minutes before the camera rolled.
It's a very specific kind of ’90s mess.
I wouldn't recommend Santa Claws to anyone looking for a genuine Christmas horror movie, or for any reason really, as it’s more of a curiosity as it’s a strange little film that feels unfinished.
Santa Claws might have claws in the title, but it barely leaves a scratch.