A French killer Santa film with Home Alone vibes a year before "Home Alone" (1990) was even released to major box office? Count me in! Dial Code Santa Claus (1989) is a film I had never heard of until I read a review from a good blogger friend of mine at The Bloody Pit of Horror and watched a YouTube video from a favorite Horror YouTuber, Piz - Deadly Games .
This is about a little boy genius whose computer game is on point. His mother is a big CEO of malls, seemingly involved with a co-worker in secret because she doesn't want her son to realize she is moving on with her romantic life. His grandfather is a sickly diabetic, and he has created a special computer with a message board that reaches a warped psychopath who pretends to be Santa Claus, gains access to the boy's address, and plans to drop in with bad intentions.
I'm all about finding Christmas Horror from the 80s, most definitely, so this was on my radar for 2020. I have been wanting to add some fresh titles to my Christmas horror viewing list this year. How the director shoots the kid in his Rambo/Commando gear (all the "weapons" are toys, he lines his face with makeup as war paint, and he has "traps" set up for his dog, while hiding behind plants in his hall, moving through rooms with his plastic machine gun and vest of faux bullets draped over his shoulders) is very similar to how action stars are presented...I thought it was very impressive, how he angles the kid, making him look larger than life. You will hear about this kid's mullet, and they couldn't be more accurate...he snarls with sincerity, and his imaginary missions are taken quite seriously.
Now, this kid isn't ordinary. He's brilliant. He actually is shown under his grandfather's car, a little auto mechanic (he's almost ten) who is able to make some repairs. Grandfather has really bad eyesight and the director uses a visual trick where we see that his vision is VERY blurry with just faint image of what is in front of him. But the kid takes a peek under the hood, tinkers a bit, and "Voila!" The car starts up as the grandfather cranks it. So if you an evil Santa with plans to harm a kid...this boy is not the one you want to choose to terrorize! This kid gets behind the steering wheel, pops up the seat close, and backs up the car, driving it around the block!
I started watching this on YouTube, but I realized a much better transfer was available on Shudder and that's how I finished it (after about 20 minutes...). This is a really attractive film in the proper transfer. I have read this film got a solid 4K transfer from Vinegar Syndrome, so I reckon if you love "Deadly Games" (another of this film's many titles), then it might be a title to add to your Christmas (or Killer Santa) horror collection.
This film is dreamlike, for lack of a better phrase, and shot as if it wasn't necessarily set in a real world. It just felt like a kid's dream/nightmare. It is sort of an adventure where a kid has this danger but is so resourceful, clever, bright, and courageous, the killer pursuing him can't quite get him, despite serious efforts to hunt him down. Much like nightmares for a kid, the boogeyman is often closing in or very much on the heels, but that danger never quite catches up. I think the film is directed so well, it sort of never quite feels altogether real but could still be...that style of soft lens, off-kilter angles from odd points of view with the camera, the big castle like house with all the passages and hidden rooms, ways to move from one room to another, and the kid tasked with keeping himself alive and protecting his near-blind and ailing grandfather proves how creative the direction is allowed to be.
The mansion is something otherworldly. It is like this neverending castle with a sauna and weight room, this secret "toy pirate ship" room where all these toys have accumulated into like some never never land, attics, rooms with hanging sheets, this labyrinth maze of walls with portraits (the floor has a painting of the boy as the camera pulls up to reveal it), a game room with a pool table, and stairs of types leading to different parts of the entire building. The mansion does indeed look like some model castle you might find on the table of a wealthy collector.
And the boy is placed in serious peril and complications. His grandfather is on the verge of being assaulted by Santa as the boy moves through the castle to come to his aid. The boy must flee outside the attic window and down ledges out of the reaches of the Santa as the snow falls and cold begins to concern him. Crying for his mother as she spends a great deal of time heading home late from Christmas Eve business is quite troubling as the Santa enjoys his wickedness...he teases the boy, looking out the attic window as the boy climbs out with an uncertain plan of escape. But this kid is resilient, with this arm device that features a screen connected to cameras he has throughout the castle, buttons that control locks on doors, and to keep in contact with his grandfather he has a walkie-talkie. So you can understand why "Home Alone" (1990) is often mentioned. The Santa isn't as moronic and cartoonish as the Wet Bandits, though, and the boy isn't as sadistic and violent as Kevin McCalister.
This is a film I can only imagine will be an annual tradition. If I watch "Don't Open 'Til Christmas" (1984) every year, then I can't see why "Dial Code Santa Claus" wouldn't be. This was just a blast to watch. A gem for the year. 4/5
***I do hope in the future if I get to write about this, I have better images that really emphasize how special this film really is***
***There is a really icky moment that made my skin crawl where Santa has a child in his lap, caresses his face, and then nearly assaults him.***
***The Christmas aesthetic is a quality I failed to mention much in my review. This has a lot of Christmas iconography that really puts over the season and gives this film that "Christmas Eve Night of Horror" so well.***
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