Fantasia Film Festival 2026 – Unholy Night is the Christmas horror movie we’ve been waiting for. Written and directed by Michael Gabriele, the film tells the tale of a fateful Christmas Eve when dead loved ones come back to life, returning home for the holidays. To make matters worse the returning relatives are easily agitated and prone to superhuman fits of violent rage. Because, the holidays aren’t enough.
Gino (Marc Bendavid) is nice-guy millennial living in the basement of his parent’s home. A journeyman painter, he has never landed the right job, much less a girlfriend. Gino is surrounded by a larger than life, Italian family of siblings and relatives who are descending upon the home for Christmas Eve dinner. You can bet your life they will have plenty to say.
As parents Lucia (Toni Ellwand) and Giuseppe (Ron Lea) fuss over dinner in the kitchen we clock our first argument. It’s over how to slice a cantalope. Then it’s Gino’s choice of shirt. A knock at the door and it’s Gino’s old situationship, Rene (Shailene Garnett). She has come home to spend Christmas Eve with her parents across the street and she stops by to say hello. The moment is understandably awkward.
Soon the parade of family starts, not the least of which is the Gino’s recently deceased Nonna (Jacqueline Robbins) who shuffles into the house unnoticed. Hunky brother Franky (Olivier Renaud) and his wife Marissa (Celia Owen) arrive. Next up is Uncle Vince (Frank Spadone) and Aunt Carmella (Ellen David). The dinner is rounded out with Gino’s Sister Angela (Cristina Rosato) and her boyfriend Trevor (David Light). The ensemble for Unholy Night is an absolute joy to watch. The entire cast playing off of one another, each given a moment to stand out. It’s a credit to Gabriele‘s script and direction that the group feels like a group and not a collection of bit parts.
The fun begins when Nonna is discovered. Having returned from the dead she is furious that anyone is cooking in the kitchen but her. In a gloriously gory scene, the terrified Gino and his family attempt to lure Nonna out of the kitchen after she learns that her house has been sold. With anger welling, her face turns black and her eyes glow like embers. Then it’s on and no one is safe until she calms down. This scene isn’t unique to Gino’s home. The dead are returning this Christmas eve all over town, sending the snow covered berg into blood-soaked chaos.
Gino and Rene begin trying to figure out why the dead are returning while the family fights for survival and civility at home with dead Nonna. There is a fiendishly funny tone to Unholy Night that Gabriele maintains. Dark humor and subtle sight gags abound. But this is a Christmas horror film with heart. The film celebrates family while mercilessly laughing at grating inconveniences. The story also takes a poignant, spiritual turn that however murky, gives the film a surprising emotional heft.
Again though, Unholy Night never forgets what we are here for. Horror. Great big close-ups of spilled guts and satisfying jump scares. This is a rancid, rotten sugar plum of a Christmas horror treat. It might even just become a new holiday tradition for me.
