Advent (AKA The Krampus Calendar) (2024) Review
Inspired by the spine-chilling true story of the Blue Whale Challenge—a sinister social media game that pushes players into increasingly dangerous dares—this chiller gives the ghost story a hair-raising, supernatural twist.
When a social media influencer obsessed with urban legends unwraps a mystery advent calendar, she can’t resist opening each door in the countdown to Christmas live on YouTube. But behind every door lies a challenge, some more twisted than others, and as they become increasingly disturbing, her world starts to spiral out of control… Will she make it to Boxing Day, or has she unwrapped a holiday hell there’s no coming back from?
There’s promise with the concept but writer/director Airell Anthony Hayles’ delivery lacks oomph, rarely shifting out of first gear. ADVENT often plays out like a cut-and-paste job, with HELLRAISER’s Nicholas Vince recounting the doom-laden tale as academic Richard Hill direct to camera, as well as some graphics, often jarring with the found-footage main act. It is as if these inclusions were afterthoughts there to bump up the running time and to brighten up an otherwise staid watch.
This is a shame as Airell Anthony Hayles delighted us with last year’s WEREWOLF SANTA, for which we awarded 8/10. Tonally this is a world away from the comedy horror antics of that low-budget lycanthrope offering. This opts for doom, gloom, and an overwhelming sense of foreboding, none of which lands.
Nicholas Vince is the film’s redeeming feature livening up proceedings with his softly spoken delivery. Vince is everywhere recently with his all-too brief appearance in fellow festive shocker HE SEES YOU WHEN YOU’RE SLEEPING and his own directorial effort, I AM MONSTERS! Rasina Pavlova is perfectly fine as vlogger Hayley, but the film itself is a disappointment. There is no tension here, no empathy and there is nothing interesting in a narrative that is about opening the next date’s door on an advent calendar and doing what it asks of you, unfortunately, not here anyway.
Advent gets its World Premiere at FrightFest Halloween on 1 November
Follows on UK digital on 25 November from Miracle Media