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A tipped white bowl and scattered cups cover a Christmas dinner table. Bootprints lead from the fireplace beneath a gold star stuck in wallpaper beside a snowy window.
An overturned paper punch bowl spills cream-coloured eggnog across an abandoned Christmas dinner table, lit by candles beside a snowy window.

Essential Christmas · 2005

Santa's Slay

57/100Festive FactorWhy it scores 57 ↓
UK certificate 1578 min
Comedy · Horror

A slasher with a cracker-joke sense of humour, and it knows exactly how daft it is.

On Channel 101 on Prime Video · extra subscription →
Plan this film night ↓Can the kids watch? ↓
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Explore this film 8 sections

The CineClaus Christmas score

Festive Factor

Christmas in good measure.

Two paper elves study a miniature Christmas dining room with a toppled bowl and chair, bootprints across the floor and a gold star lodged beside a snowy window.

A little magic in the making.

Five ingredients make the Festive Factor.
Open an ingredient to find out more.

Christmas in the storyIt can't exist without Christmas.30/30

What we ask: Take Christmas out. Does the plot survive? Worth up to 30 of the 100 points.

A world dressed for ChristmasVisibly Christmas for most of it.15/20

What we ask: How much of the running time is visibly Christmas? Worth up to 20 of the 100 points.

The little seasonal details6 of the 10 kinds of Christmas icon we count turn up on screen.9/15

What we ask: How many kinds of Christmas icon turn up on screen: trees, lights, snow, carols and the rest? Worth up to 15 of the 100 points.

A Christmas heartHow far the ending rests on goodwill, family and belief: not at all.0/20

What we ask: Does the ending depend on what Christmas means: goodwill, family, redemption, belief? Worth up to 20 of the 100 points.

A returning traditionNiche at Christmas (under 25,000).3/15

What we ask: Is it actually watched at Christmas in the UK? Worth up to 15 of the 100 points.

25/100

Cosiness Rating Rating

Chilly in tone. Grim. An unsettled ending.

How we score →
What do these scores mean?

Festive Factor measures how Christmassy a film is. Five ingredients add up to 100: story (30), setting (20), seasonal details (15), emotional heart (20) and returning tradition (15).

Cosiness is a separate score for warmth of tone, sense of safety, visual comfort, a reassuring ending and how easily you can settle into it.

How the Festive Factor works →
Your next film night

Where to watch

United KingdomChecked

Channel 101 on Prime Video

Extra subscription
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Apple TV

Rent or buy
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Prime Video

Rent or buy
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Santa's Slay · Rental and purchase cost extra, separately from membership.

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Streaming changes constantly and we cannot promise it is still right - check the service before you settle in. Streaming availability information provided by Streaming Availability API by Movie of the Night (opens in a new tab).

The story

About Santa's Slay

Santa Claus turns out to be a demon who lost a wager with an angel a thousand years ago and was sentenced to a millennium of delivering presents. With the sentence finally up, he spends Christmas Eve killing the residents of a small snowbound town in gleefully gory, cartoonish ways. A teenage boy, his girlfriend and his eccentric grandfather, who knows more about the legend than he lets on, have to survive until the holiday is over.

The CineClaus verdict

A slasher with a cracker-joke sense of humour, and it knows exactly how daft it is.

Bill Goldberg plays Father Christmas as a demon on the last night of a very long sentence, and the film is at its best when it simply lets him loose on a snowbound town. The kills are cartoonish and the acting mostly wooden, but a stop-motion prologue in the old Rankin/Bass style is a proper treat.

One for a late-night horror crowd with low expectations and a drink in hand. Leave the kids out of it.

The family desk

Can the kids watch?

15

Our take: not for children: a steady run of gory comic killings, strong language and some sexual content make this one for older teenagers and adults only.

BBFC advice: Contains strong language, nudity and comic violence.

Content advice & accessibility
Where the advice comes from
The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC).
Our age guidance
Editorial, separate from the official 15 certificate, and never looser than it.
The people behind the film

Cast and crew

The faces in front of the camera, and the people who brought the story to life.

Main cast

In billing order
Close photograph of a man with a grey beard in a dark cap and dark t-shirt, looking off to one side with a slight smileBill Goldbergas Santa
Young man with curly dark hair and light eyes in a cream knitted jumper against a blue film festival backdropDouglas Smithas Nicolas Yuleson
Smiling woman with shoulder-length blonde hair in a white sleeveless top at a fan convention panelEmilie de Ravinas Mary Mackenzie
Robert Culpas Grandpa
Smiling man with curly grey-black hair and a goatee, in a beige jacket, speaking at a microphone on a convention panelSaul Rubinekas Mr. Green
Close photograph of an older man with a short grey beard and tinted aviator sunglasses, wearing a pale jacket over an olive shirt, outdoors in sunlight.James Caan

Behind the camera

Directed by
David Steiman
Original score
Henning Lohner
Writing & production credits
Writer
David Steiman
Photo credits

Portraits via Wikimedia Commons, each under its own licence, approved for this page by a person. Sources and full photographer credits:

Bill Goldberg · Jonmallard · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab).

Douglas Smith · Elena Ternovaja · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (opens in a new tab).

Emilie de Ravin · Heroes & Villains · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 2.0 (opens in a new tab).

Saul Rubinek · Gage Skidmore · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (opens in a new tab).

James Caan · Georges Biard · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (opens in a new tab).

Step into the story

Filming locations

The real places behind Santa's Slay. Choose one to explore.

Find it on the mapAlberta

© OpenStreetMap contributors (opens in a new tab)

Open larger map ↗ (OpenStreetMap, opens in a new tab)

Map shows the selected place. Drag to explore; use + and − to zoom.

Location sources

Alberta · The Alberta Movie Guide (opens in a new tab)

Map pins mark the place, not a camera position or a route. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), including any pin positions read from OpenStreetMap.

A little more Santa's Slay

Film facts &
behind the scenes

For the fans who stay after the credits.

On set

Written on the job during a Hollywood sequel

Writer-director David Steiman wrote the script while working as an assistant to director Brett Ratner on Rush Hour 2, then made the film in Alberta, Canada.

Read the story

Source: The Alberta Movie Guide ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Movie magic

Jackie Chan inspired the Christmas-prop kills

David Steiman has said he was inspired by Jackie Chan's action style, where the fighter turns whatever is nearby into a weapon. That idea became a Santa who fights with Christmas props, in a film Steiman wrote and directed.

Read the story

Source: The Alberta Movie Guide, Fangoria article ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Sources & a note on these facts

Each production story is linked to its source, in our own words. Ending details stay behind a spoiler reveal.

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