Holiday Horror: Santa Jaws
When I was growing up, there was a time where I started collecting The Walking Dead comics and reading up on various superheroes and villains. While I wasn’t hanging out in comic book stores or attending comic conventions, I looked forward to receiving new stories my cousin passed along in the mail every month and seeing what character I might learn about next. Later, my interest shifted to graphic novels, and in my senior year at the University of Pittsburgh, I even attempted drawing my own miniature graphic memoir.
Given my undeniable interest and soft spot for comics, I was excited to learn right off the bat that SyFy’s Santa Jaws (2018) wasn’t just a complete rip-off of the Jaws franchise or any other shark-themed horror movie, nor was it some disgustingly cheesy Christmas horror. Quite the opposite, the story really seemed to have a good base and its own sea legs, if you will. Instead of having some Santa Jaws (where Santa is in fact a shark himself), an entire new world is created where the spirit of Christmas can embody a shark.
Created by our main character Cody (Reid Miller), Santa Jaws is a comic book villain, having eaten an evil Santa Claus as some sort of Christmas sacrifice. Filled with Christmas puns, the short-story opening made me chuckle, but also happy that’s where it ended and that we were brought to Cody’s reality. Unfavorable of his family, as he’s somewhat of an outcast and always testing authority in teenager-like fashion, Cody isn’t really looking forward to the holiday get-togethers, but is anticipating attending the Big Easy Comics’ Christmas party with his best friend Steve. However, after being grounded by his parents for an ill-humored drawing at school, Cody’s teenage angst takes over.
With a new pen gifted by his grandfather, Cody reverts back to his drawings of Santa Jaws. In testing out the pen, Cody also writes about wishing he was alone—a big “no-no” in the Christmas movie genre. As one might guess, Santa Jaws is brought to life, attracted by all things Christmas and destined to kill off Cody’s family. After an early morning incident where Grandpa is taken by the beast during a traditional Christmas fishing trip, Cody pieces together what had happened pretty quickly. Unfortunately, no one believes Cody’s off-the-wall claims and he’s forced to battle Santa Jaws himself.
Sprinkled with holiday cheer and wrapped in comedic horror, this movie was shockingly something I didn’t realize I needed during the Christmas season. Maybe it was the name or just my own assumptions about what I pictured the movie to be like, but I really enjoyed this film. There is no doubt that the CGI was lacking, but I think the filmmakers made up for this with its use of a dorsal fin prop wearing an actual Santa cap. And sure, the dialogue could have used some slight tweaking, but all in all, the film really held together on its own without having to play on Jaws or rely on Christmas traditions or other like-genres.
I’d say, if you’re looking for something that you can genuinely laugh at and want to let yourself enjoy some cheesy one-liners—because why not? It is the holiday season—then you should give Santa Jaws a chance. It’s not over-the-top wild or pushing the absurdity of what could be a terrible horror film. No, this film plays just enough with the world where a Christmas-loving, family-murdering shark can exist and I’m cool with it.
Happy Holidays!
Article written by Destiny Johnson
Destiny writes about true crime and thrillers. She likes movies and stories that make you question the world around you, more so than what makes you jump.
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