Like the best Christmas movies, Candy Cane Lane goes full-throttle on the weirdness
There's a moment near the end of Prime Video's new Christmas movie Snoepgoedlaan that will now be burned into my head every time I look at Christmas tree decorations. The evil elf Pepper (Jillian Bell) pulls a spherical glass ornament from her pocket and takes a large bite out of it as if it were an apple. There's something chilling about it crunch sound as she continues to chew, the exact opposite of a soothing ASMR effect.
It's a small detail in the noise of the film's chaotic finale, but it's so visceral that I'll never be able to forget it.
This strangely gruesome take on ordinary Christmas decor basically illustrates the entire premise of Snoepgoedlaan, and exactly what the film does best. Director Reginald Hudlin and screenwriter Kelly Younger dare to ask the question, “How scary can we make Christmas without actually making it scary?” And man-o-man, SnoepgoedlaanChristmas is getting pretty scary.
The story begins when Chris Carver (Eddie Murphy), in an attempt to win his neighborhood's Christmas decorating contest, makes a strange deal with the owner of a Christmas store. However, that owner turns out to be Pepper, who defected from the North Pole after deciding that Santa had become too lax with his Nice list. She's on a mission to track down offenders and lure them into Faustian bargains. When they don't keep their promises, she turns them into little porcelain figurines for her little Christmas village, dooming them to live in the Christmas spirit for eternity.
In Chris's case, his deal with Pepper gets him some magical decorations for a '12 Days of Christmas' themed exhibit that stuns the neighborhood. But then it comes to life and starts terrorizing him and his family. As the animals and people from the classic Christmas carol wreak havoc on the Carvers' daily lives, Chris must find the gold rings from the tune's lyrics and present them to Pepper on Christmas Eve at 8:00 PM, or else he will. are doomed to be a little Christmas figure forever and ever.
Snoepgoedlaan is an unhinged comedy with a bizarre premise, but it does the typical holiday movie thing, with a story that focuses on family themes. There are reports of parents being okay with their children growing up, a family learning to communicate and trust each other, and the general search for the true meaning of Christmas. That's all pretty standard and worked out quite well, especially considering the overall chaos of the film.
Photo: Courtesy of Prime
But what I come to remember is the scene in which the middle Carver child Nick (Thaddeus J. Mixson) opens a classroom door and finds one of the “girls of song” kneeling by a cow, a gold ring ringing the pierces the nostrils of the bovine animal. . As he approaches, the maid says coquettishly, “Hello. Have milk?” Then she points the cow's udder at him and splashes him with a stream of milk. Thus begins a battle between Nick and the milkmaid as he tries to get the gold ring and she fends him off through the power of dairy.
It's gone wild. It's delicious. It turns cute Christmas quirks into batshit terror. I will never again be able to sing “The 12 Days of Christmas” without thinking of the ambushing gentleman or strategically targeted udders.
Christmas comedies are usually known for their outrageous jokes, usually because one bad thing happens after another while the main characters try to have a nice holiday. There's a time and place for more subdued and meaningful holiday films, such as It's a great life, Klausor A Muppet Christmas Carol. But if you do Christmas tricks, you have to commit. Send a eleven SWAT teamas in Santa. Have the main character fake a heart transplant, as in I'll be home for Christmas. Kidnap your brother-in-law's cruel boss, as in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Snoepgoedlaan represents the wonderful tradition of setting the shenanigans meter to full throttle, as the best Christmas comedies should be.
Snoepgoedlaan is available on Prime Video.