Elves (film)

Elves

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Jeffrey Mandel
Produced by Mark Paglia
Written by Jeffrey Mandel
Starring Dan Haggerty
Deanna Lund
Ken Carpenter
Music by Vladimir Horunzhy
Cinematography Kenny Carmack
Edited by Tom Matthies
Production
company
Distributed by Action International Pictures
AIP Home Video
Release dates
 October 24, 1989
Running time
 89 min
Country United States
Language English

Elves is a 1989 American horror film directed by Jeffrey Mandel and starring Dan Haggerty, Deanna Lund, and Ken Carpenter.[1]

Plot

When teenager Kristen (Julie Austin) accidentally cuts her hand during an "Anti-Christmas" pagan ritual with her friends Brooke and Amy in the woods, her spilled blood awakens an ancient demonic Christmas elf. The elf is the central figure in a modern-day Neo-Nazi plot to finally bring about the master race that Hitler had always dreamed of conquering the world with. Rather than a race of pure-blood Aryans, it is revealed that Hitler instead dreamed of a race of half-human/half-elf hybrids (it is also revealed that elves figured heavily into a pseudo-cult religion that the Nazis practiced in secret). Kristen is also a figure in this plot as she is the last remaining pure-blooded Aryan virgin in the world, her grandfather being a former Nazi who was once involved in the plot (but is now reformed); he is also her father, as inbreeding was somehow considered crucial to maintaining a pure Aryan bloodline. Unaware of all these sinister goings-on, the non-festive Kristen continues to sulk her way through the Christmas season as she works at the snack counter of a local department store. Her only solace is Stan, a cute boy who works at the store whom she has a crush on.

Mike McGavin (Dan Haggerty) is an ex-cop who lost his badge when he lost control of his alcoholism. Jobless, penniless, and recently served a notice of eviction from his ramshackle trailer home, Mike turns to his old friend – the manager of the department store – for help, and winds up becoming the store Santa after the prior Santa is murdered by the elf. Without a proper home, Mike sneaks into the store at night to sleep in the storage room and live off the snack counter left-overs. One night, he hears Kristen, Brooke, Amy and their other friends, Cassie and Jessalyn, who have also sneaked in, frolicking through the store as they wait for their boyfriends to show up for an all-night party. Eventually, Amy's boyfriend Lee, Brooke's boyfriend Doug, Cassie's boyfriend Steven, Jessalyn's boyfriend Ross, and Jed, a friend of the group who was invited for the single Kristen, arrive. The shadowy Nazi group also arrives later, planning to kidnap Kristen and find the elf so the master race can finally be made reality. Jed hits on Kristen, but she turns him down, partly because she is in love with Stan. Jed sulks out and is stabbed to death by a Nazi. The Nazis starts preparing their ritual in the mall while the elf begins slaughtering the teens while looking for Kristen. He electrocutes Jessalyn and Ross while they are having sex, crushes Steven's head, and splits Cassie's head with an axe. The Nazis also shoot Lee dead when he walks in on them. Mike wanders out and encounters Kristen, Brooke and Amy looking for their friends. He apologizes for scaring them and helps them search. Following a scream, the four happen upon the Nazis and watch in horror as Doug is killed. Amy ditches the others and is killed by the elf, who stabs her with a Christmas tree star. Brooke, despondent after witnessing the horrible death of her boyfriend, sacrifices herself by distracting the Nazis while Kristen and Mike escape. She kills several Nazis before being shot and killed. Promptly fired for breaking into the store after hours, Mike and Kristen are able to devote their time to unraveling the plot.

They make a Christmas Eve visit to the local college library, where Stan is volunteering, and Kristen almost tells him how she feels. They later breaking into a professor's home to demand information, and Mike realizes what is afoot and sets out to protect Kristen. After the elf reaches Kristen's house, it electrocutes Kristen's mother in the bathtub. When she tries to crawl away, the elf grabs her and throws her to the ground, snapping her neck. When Kristen and her little brother find her dead body, Kristen runs away in fear, while her brother remains frozen in shock. The elf then stabs him in the neck with a sharpened candy cane. Kristen's brother then crawls to the balcony and begs Mike, his sister and his grandfather to help him, but the elf throws a Christmas present at him, knocking him of the balcony. He dies when he is hanged by tinsel. The Nazis then arrive at Kristen's home. Mike, Kristen and her grandfather have a final climactic showdown with the Nazis and the elf in Kristen's home. The Nazis mortally wound Kristen's grandfather, and he tells Mike and Kristen to run from the house. He then sets off a grenade, killing himself and the Nazis. Kristen and Mike recuperate, but Mike notices something odd sticking out of the wreckage of the house. It is revealed to be the elf, who jumps out the wreckage, kills Mike, and chases Kristen into the woods. Kristen runs into Stan, his friend Sam, and his younger sister Katie having a picnic. Kristen stays with them, but when the elf appears and kills Sam, Kristen tells Stan and Katie to run while she stands up to him. Kristen destroys the elf by performing a ritual involving an "elfstone" from her grandfather's study. The following morning, Kristen huddles in the now-inexplicably destroyed forest as it begins to snow for the first time that winter. She is found by Stan and Katie and rescued. Kristen finally tells Stan that she loves him, and they kiss. The film ends on the image of a fetus, suggesting perhaps that the plot was successful despite the elf's seeming inability to actually copulate with Kristen before its demise.

Cast

Production

It was shot in 1989, in Colorado Springs in Colorado, USA.[2]

Reception

Elves was poorly received by critics, it currently holds a rating of 32% out of three reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. It also holds a 4 out of 10 on IMDb based on 612 ratings and 27 reviews.

Soundtrack

The score was composed by Ukrainian jazz composer Vladimir Horunzhy.[3]

Release

It premiered in a limited theatrical release 1989 and was on a rated R VHS released on December 19, 1994 over. AIP Home Video.[4] As of 2016, the film has yet to have a DVD release.

References

  1. ↑ The WTF Friday Video of the Week: The Elves Are Coming!
  2. ↑ Bad Cinema Diary - the "E" pages
  3. ↑ Elves Movie Reviews, Trailer & Summary-Spout
  4. ↑ Elves B-Movie Review - Bad Movies.org

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/25/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.