Discussing with a poster a few years ago on the IMDb boards (RIP) I got told about a title that sounded like a fever dream:A adaptation of A Christmas Carol from the Golden Age of Adult cinema! Catching a number of X-Mas movies for the first time in 2018,I was thrilled to at last find the Christmas film that has been at the top of my "Must find" list,which led to me finally hearing this Carol.
View on the film:
Going way over budget (from $14,000 to $18.000) taking three months longer to make than planned, and ending up missing the Christmas season and flopping at the box office, co-star/producer/ co- special effects and credits maker/ editor/ writer/ director Shaun Costello carves up a gloriously ambitious festive frolics folly. Shooting on a sound stage for the first time, (and sometimes having to work 24 hours a day on the project) Costello & cinematographer Bill Markle make excellent use of their new surroundings with stylish ghostly dissolves bringing Scrooge's spirits to life, and rumbling smoke creating a divide between Scrooge and the visions. Bringing a rare thoughtfulness to the soundtrack,Costello pounds the sex scenes into the rest of the film with a subtle use of music underlying them, from Hatchets love making being done to a jolly X-Mas song, (sadly no Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree used) to Scrooge's vision of sex from the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come being unsettling stone cold silence.
The first time he had written a full script (instead of a short outline/ improvising on the day) the effort Costello made to (somewhat) faithfully adapt Dickens shine in dialogue from the novel being slotted with ease into Scrooge's Adult vision. Whilst offering plenty of sexy eye candy, Costello leaves out Tiny Tim and brilliantly models this version on the "Me" generation, with Scrooge looking into the camera and listing how she will improve herself, rather than how she will improve things for the employees. Joined by an lively Adult all-star line up of Jamie Gillis, Costello, Sonny "that guy from Predator" Landham and fellow director Carter Stevens,Mary Stuart gives an excellent turn as possibly the only woman to play Scrooge on screen, thanks to Stuart giving Scrooge cool icy vibes which are thrust by Stuart into cheery optimism that hits the climax of Scrooge emptying the Jingle Bell Rock.
View on the film:
Going way over budget (from $14,000 to $18.000) taking three months longer to make than planned, and ending up missing the Christmas season and flopping at the box office, co-star/producer/ co- special effects and credits maker/ editor/ writer/ director Shaun Costello carves up a gloriously ambitious festive frolics folly. Shooting on a sound stage for the first time, (and sometimes having to work 24 hours a day on the project) Costello & cinematographer Bill Markle make excellent use of their new surroundings with stylish ghostly dissolves bringing Scrooge's spirits to life, and rumbling smoke creating a divide between Scrooge and the visions. Bringing a rare thoughtfulness to the soundtrack,Costello pounds the sex scenes into the rest of the film with a subtle use of music underlying them, from Hatchets love making being done to a jolly X-Mas song, (sadly no Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree used) to Scrooge's vision of sex from the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come being unsettling stone cold silence.
The first time he had written a full script (instead of a short outline/ improvising on the day) the effort Costello made to (somewhat) faithfully adapt Dickens shine in dialogue from the novel being slotted with ease into Scrooge's Adult vision. Whilst offering plenty of sexy eye candy, Costello leaves out Tiny Tim and brilliantly models this version on the "Me" generation, with Scrooge looking into the camera and listing how she will improve herself, rather than how she will improve things for the employees. Joined by an lively Adult all-star line up of Jamie Gillis, Costello, Sonny "that guy from Predator" Landham and fellow director Carter Stevens,Mary Stuart gives an excellent turn as possibly the only woman to play Scrooge on screen, thanks to Stuart giving Scrooge cool icy vibes which are thrust by Stuart into cheery optimism that hits the climax of Scrooge emptying the Jingle Bell Rock.