Film Review: Scary Little Fuckers (A Christmas Movie) / Next Door

Scary Little Fuckers (A Christmas Story) is a fantastically fun and goofy creature feature about Saul, a down and out loser of a single father who wants to impress his son Kyle with a good Christmas gift. While in a curious shop, Saul finds some covered cages containing odd creatures called Fookas and insists on buying them for Kyle even though the shopkeeper warns him against it. Once Saul gives Kyle the Fookas and their neighbor Peggy comes over, things go wrong almost immediately and it seems that the Fookas are multiplying, growing, attacking people and spreading chaos everywhere they go.

Now I know you’re thinking, “Doesn’t this sound like Gremlins?” Well yes — it very much is Gremlins. But nobody is trying to say otherwise and Suher has made a downright hilarious riff on the creature feature genre. The story and characters are funny while the acting is suitably goofy and overly expressive for comedic effect, and the creature design and execution is a lot of fun. I’ve found that Scary Little Fuckers (A Christmas Story) warrants multiple views.

The other short film Suher is premiering is a slightly darker and more twisted tale of unrequited love and stalking titled Next Door. Now with Next Door, I believe the less you know going into it the better, but I will give a basic synopsis. Otto overhears a fight in his neighbor’s apartment. When he goes to investigate, he finds that his neighbor Patty has been shot and Otto is the only hope she has.

Next Door is not as goofy or outright silly as Scary Little Fuckers (A Christmas Story), but it certainly has a tinge of dark humor to it. The story is compelling and fresh while the acting sits right on that line between goofy and creepy, which works well, especially for the character of Otto. Next Door is a well-made short with a concisely told story. It’s definitely worth a watch.

You can catch both of these shorts, together with Chris Esper’s Please Punish Me, this Sunday, December 6, at the Route One Cinema Pub at 652 East Washington Street, North Attleboro, Massachusetts. For ticket info or more  about these films check out scarylittlemovie.com.