The Streaming Christmas Horror Thriller That Inspired Home Alone
If Home Alone were a straight-up horror movie, it would be Dial Code Santa Claus. The little-known French horror film also revolves around a child defending his home from an intruder. The difference is Dial Code Santa Claus shows all of the bloody carnage the PG Home Alone could only hint at. The yule-themed bloodbath is currently streaming on Shudder.
What Is Dial Code Santa Claus About?
Dial Code Santa Claus revolves around a young child prodigy by the name of Thomas de Fremont. On Christmas Eve, Thomas uses a pre-World Wide Web online interface known as the Minitel to contact Santa Claus. Unbeknownst to Thomas, he actually makes contact with a homicidal maniac rather than Saint Nicholas, setting off a game of cat and mouse that ends up having deadly consequences.
The local psychopath breaks into Thomas’s home wearing a Santa costume and immediately murders the boy’s dog, J. R. Forced to defend himself and his disabled grandfather Thomas gets to work crafting some improvised weapons and rigging the house with booby traps.
The movie, which goes by the alternate titles 3615 code Père Noël, Deadly Games, Game Over, and Hide and Freak, as well as Dial Code Santa Claus, is best known for its similarity to fellow Christmas movie Home Alone.
Home Alone Accused Of Plagiarism
The kicker is that Dial Code Santa Claus came out in 1989—a year before the similarly themed 1990 blockbuster. The film’s director went so far as to accuse the makers of Home Alone of plagiarism and even threatened legal action against the movie’s producers.Dial Code Santa Claus was written and directed by Rene Manzor and stars Alain LaLanne as Thomas, Louis Ducreux as Papy, and Brigitte Fossey as Thomas’s mother, Julie. Patrick Floers plays the murderous Santa that attacks Thomas on Christmas Eve.
Nearly Impossible To Watch For Decades
Despite sounding like one of the coolest Christmas movies ever made, Dial Code Santa Claus was unavailable in America for decades after its initial release. The movie was considered something of a white whale for horror fans, many of whom would settle for pirated copies of questionable quality in lieu of a proper American home video release. Thankfully, the film made its North American premiere at the 2018 Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas.
An Instant Hit With Horror Buffs
From there, the movie was able to finally reach its intended audience—gorehounds thrilled at the idea of a cinematic cocktail made of blood, guts, and tinsel—and is finally building up the cult following it’s always deserved. Since its American debut, Dial Code, Santa Claus has garnered praise from horror fans and critics alike. JoBlo.com called the film “crazy and out-there” while describing the film’s anti-Kevin McCallister as a “Bad*** Rambo Jr. with some tricks up his sleeve.”
Screen Anarchy called Dial Code Santa, “Smart, funny, and kinda fiendish too.” Most of the positive reviews of the film made note of the way the film treated Thomas as a real child and not just some super-kid adept at making deadly Rube Golberg contraptions.
The fact that Thomas constantly cries calls for his mother, and even sustains actual injury struck a real chord with many reviewers who praised the movie for its realism in that respect.
Where To Stream Dial Code Santa Claus
If you’re looking for something from the naughty list to watch this holiday season, you can’t go wrong with Home Alone‘s evil twin. Dial Code Santa is available to stream right now on Shudder.
