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Every holiday season, I like to offset my cookie cutter Hallmark/Lifetime movies with a couple Holiday Horror B movies. Balances it out or something. I've seen some real clunkers and some real gems but Christmas horror movies are especially difficult to get right. This movie however was decent for what it was. Being an anthology film, some segments were of course better than others and the film's limited budget shows but if you enjoy bad movies you'll have a decent enough time here. I found myself wishing that they went a step further to make it pure camp but I wasn't disappointed overall. Anyway grab a beer and have a watch. It definitely isn't the worst of the holiday horrors that's for sure. *No real gore and no nudity.

This was one I had been anticipating for along while and after seeing Bloody Disgustings review witch pretty much trashed the film, I really knew I had to give it a watch. And sadly I was a little disappointed. The movie only runs at 80 minutes and contains five stories, all having something to do with Christmas in one way or the other! As normal with anthologies the tales are a mixed bag most suffering from the runtime. The first is a saw-esqe story of a group of office workers forced to play a deadly game, its sadly wasted on a half assed rushed ending. There's also a bizarre tale in which a reindeer gets revenge, and one that plays like a horror redo of A Christmas Carol, the best however is one in which a man stranded in a deserted parking lot meets a very strange van with two girls inside and that's not all. Overall it's ok but nothing really what I was hoping for.

Truly had to suffer through this film. Picked it up at a redbox hoping for a good new holiday film with a horror twist. Instead we got an eighty minute waste of time. The actors of the subplot had less than zero chemistry. The majority of the anthology style short stories were tired, forced and hard to watch, gaining an easy eye-roll with every turn. Constance Wu's performance in the final short story was arguably the only shining light. She and the general idea for this movie are the only reasons this is getting more than one star. From the writing to the directing, the cinematography to the majority of the acting, this is a downright dreadful movie. Please save yourself the time.

All the Creatures Were Stirring: Written and directed by David Ian McKendry and Rebekah McKendry

This was not the movie we started the night out with. The movie I was originally trying to watch was something called Christmas Presence, a bizarre English slasher film with some of the most morally repugnant obnoxious characters you ever laid eyes on. You know perfect slasher movie fodder. For some reason or other, I couldn't bring myself to spend more than 7 minutes with them. It was too much for my psyche to bear. I turned it off and turned this movie on instead. An anthology movie with a Christmas theme to most of the stories. It had one of those posters that catches your eye right off the bat. What's this?! A tiny monster exiting a Christmas ornament like some kind of egg. Well alright then I'm on board.

Lies! All lies! No such thing exists in the entirety of the movie. It's like being in a video store back in the 90s searching through the horror movie section being bamboozled by the cover art. I sadly fell for it. I ventured into the community theater on Christmas Eve for what stories it may tell. None of the stories really had any impact. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be scared or laughing. I did laugh at it. So I'm going to assume that this is meant to be a comedy. It's funny in the way things play out in an oddly stilted way. I laughed at the stuff in the community theater a bunch. You go from the serious bloodshed portion to the same thing being reenacted by two actors on a blank stage in the most over the top way possible.

This was a very cheap looking movie. I don't mean just low budget. I mean cheap. This is a difference. This is a cheap looking movie. I guess they spent all their money on the poster. You could have spared some for some good camerawork. We could have used some of this money for some decent makeup effects. None of the stories were all that good. The first one was a mixture of the Belko Experiment and Saw. This type of story has been handled by better filmmakers. We didn't need a fan film version of this with a Christmas flavor. The second story about the demon keepers was too long. It had some okay elements and the demon creature had a great design. The one doing a low budget version of A Christmas Carol made me roll my eyes. The one with the aliens visiting on Christmas and doing a Christmas dinner with this guy and his girlfriend. It's sort of weird. All the stories are very weird but not engaging.

This is a very weak anthology movie. There is no story good enough to overcome the shabby structure. The poster is the best part of the movie. The rest of it was very meh. I can not recommend it. There are better Christmas related horror movies out there. I give it a D.

All the Creatures were Stirring (2018) is a movie currently available on Shudder. This movie is made up of a series of short stories involving Christmas activities from work gift exchanges, family holiday dinnners, to holiday traumatic experiences and everything in between.

This movie is codirected by David Ian & Rebekah McKendry in their directorial debut and stars Constance Wu (Crazy Rich Asians), Jonathan Kite (2 Broke Girls), Matt Long (Mad Men), Katie Parker (The Haunting of Hill House) and Makeda Declet (Being Mary Jane).

The movie definitely has a surprise opening and the first story has potential but quickly disappoints. All the stories end up being kind of blah with some having more potential than others but mostly with few elements to get excited about once they conclude. There's no gore or worthwhile kill scenes in this, unfortunately.

Overall this is a disappointing horror short story anthology that I would score a 2/10 and recommend skipping.

Just when you thought it was safe to celebrate Christmas again, here come the writer/director team David Ian McKendry and Rebekah McKendry with their new anthology holiday horror flick All the Creatures Were Stirring.

Don't let the title and cover art fool you. All The Creatures Were Stirring is NOT a rip-off of Gremlins, or Critters... or Ghoulies for that matter. No, the titular critters in this flick come in the form of performance artists who are putting on a show during the holidays, that is taken in by a couple on their first date. Each of the shorts in this anthology are bookended by the performance artists acting out the events of each tale.

These stories are each very different, and in the interest of avoiding spoilers I'll discuss each of the short tales, but only briefly.

"The Stockings Were Hung" - This story is focused on an office holiday party with a secret Santa from hell. The unfortunate employees are locked in and threatened with death if they don't open their gifts in a timely manner - the gifts themselves could also spell their doom. So will they work together to foil their predator, or will they tare themselves apart trying to survive?

"Dash Away All" - This one is focused on a young father who is picking up a few last minute gifts for the family, on Christmas Eve, when he locks his keys in his car. He soon meets two helpful, attractive, and suspicious women who offer more than this father bargained for as they try to unload a demon that they have been trapped with for years.

"All Through the House" - Simply put, this is a new take on A Christmas Carol, about a young bachelor who is a stick in the mud when it comes to the holidays. He'd rather get wasted and get laid than spend quality time with those who appreciate him the most. But things all change when he's confronted by holiday spirits.

"Arose Such a Clatter" - Here's one PETA would love. After a man runs down a deer on a dark and lonely stretch of road, someone or some thing gets sweet revenge. Without saying too much, the avenger in this story has close ties to Santa, and this time, it's personal.

"In a Twinkling" - Last but not least is a story about a man on Christmas who is surprised by a visit from a friend who wants to share the holiday with him. The only problem here is that he's expecting visitors, from beyond the stars. These unwanted visits are something that he's been dealing with for years and now he runs the risk of his friend learning his intergalactic secret.

The strength of this film is how each tale is creative and fresh even when it doesn't seem so original. The first story, "The Stockings Were Hung" seemed to borrow from the likes of Saw or The Belko Experiment with a contained group of people being forced to kill or be killed. But I think the feeling of being trapped in a social situation with your co-workers often feels to some like being trapped with a gun against your head, especially during the holidays.

This sentiment is also seen in "In a Twinkling" where sitting down with family who are visiting your home, again for the holidays, feeling as if you're held hostage by alien invaders who bring with them their stubborn traditions and unwanted opinions about your lifestyle.

I also give this story props for working against the grain of traditional holiday horror, bypassing the tired "deranged Santa Claus wielding an axe" trope. It isn't everyday that Christmas is invaded with science fiction and aliens. And no, I'm not forgetting Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.

The "Dash Away All" and "Arose Such a Clatter" are the segments that steal the show. If the holiday theme was stripped from these, they could have fit well into ANY modern anthology - "Dash Away All" being my favorite with it's slowly unfolding story. And the demon is pretty awesome too.

The ugly kitten of the litter is "All Through the House" which does little to breath new life into Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Not only that, but it tries a little too hard to make it's main character edgy. In fact, I think the most entertaining part comes in the form of the uptight neighbor who is left scratching his head at our bachelor's new found - post Christmas spirits - behavior.

With that said, I enjoyed All the Creatures Were Stirring quite a bit. There seems to be a new holiday tradition that is watching at least three or four new Christmas themed horror films, all of which are cheaply made, unoriginal, star a Krampus and are a real slogg to get through. And with my expectations set THAT low, All the Creatures Were Stirring blew me away! It is a fun and creative take on the holidays that I fear will be lost in a sea of other lesser films that have been released in recent years. It's definitely worth your time this season.

All the Creatures Were Stirring is currently available on DVD and VOD from the fine people at RLJ Entertainment. I screened it for this review on Shudder. And if you are interested in the other works of the McKendys, they have worked on several short films together and are both involved with the Blumhouse Podcast Network and the Shockwaves Podcast.

Review by Cory Carr of the Slaughter Film Podcast

Soo, I was looking forward to seeing this but after buying the dvd on its release date I sadly was let down... It's cool that it was created by what I think is a husband/wife team, but that's kind of where the "coolness" ends. Many of my favorite indie horror actors are in this film, including Graham Skipper, Chase Williamson, Jocelin Donahue, Amanda Fuller, Matt Mercer, etc...but the thing is, this movie really sucks and im kind of taken back that they would even take part in such a b film. They probably had no idea how poorly it was going to turn out. It is rare that I have so much negative to say about my beloved horror films, but seriously, what were the directors thinking? Clearly they made a movie just to say they did and did not plan well at all. I bet they spent all their money getting the known actors on board and then had like nothing left to work with for effects and sets. I would not recommend it. The directors should be embarrassed

Horror anthologies are always fun, more stories/themes/characters/styles etc. means there's more to find - to find something for everyone. I love the format, a compilation of short films, often wrapped in what I call the framing segment. "All the Creatures Were Stirring" is surely an entertaining anthology, but also frustrating - to feel the potential and see it executed so poorly. It also makes the mistake of slowly but steadily going downhill only to never get back up.

"All the Creatures Were Stirring" provides six stories (included the wrap-around segment) set during Christmas time, each one has its own plot and characters. Sadly, it's a very inconsistent anthology (like the most of them). Quite a lot of indie talent is involved, majority of the plotlines are (at least mildly) intriguing albeit not exactly original, some have a bit of that Twilight Zone vibe, but, however, the execution gets worse by each segment. The framing segment, about a guy and a gal going on an awkward date to the theatre on christmas eve, started off decently & ended just simply underwhelmingly - the 70 minute filler before that didn't help. Our awkward couple experience five stories, out of which the first two were the best. Decent acting, intriguing little stories, okay-ish cinematography & b-grade special fx. So far so good. The each next is worse than the last. While the interesting themes stay, the execution, excluding maybe acting, is deteriorating, even the technical aspects grow cheaper. As a consequence, pacing suffers greatly and boredom ensues. That's about it. As the credits start rolling, it becomes clear that the creatures stirring will soon be forgotten.

There's better anthologies out there, even the christmas kind, for example, "A Christmas Horror Story" (2015). I most certainly had low expectations, but out of "All the Creatures Were Stirring" 80 minute runtime only about 30 were enjoyable & with that I mean - about average. Nevertheless, it's not a regrettable holiday filler for horror fans. Recommend to everyone who loves his christmas creepy and bloody & is a forgiving movie watcher. My rating: 4/10.

This 2018 horror anthology was nothing extraordinary, and it is not really one that I can recommend that you waste your time, money or effort on. And it is definitely not a movie that will be a Christmas time horror classic, that's for sure.

The stories told in "All the Creatures Were Stirring" felt mediocre and half-hearted at best. In fact, it was so mundane and tedious that I gave up halfway through the movie. I just couldn't take anymore of the torment.

The acting in the movie was adequate, although the actors and actresses were struggling with the fact of having a lack of proper script, storyline and interesting characters. So it was a losing uphill battle for sure.

There really isn't any continuity or structure to the stories, so it is essentially just a random mash of collected stories told in a less than entertaining manner. This is one of the biggest flaws that this anthology had to it.

In between the various stories is some atrocious theatrical performance that just makes you cringe.

"All the Creatures Were Stirring" is an anthology that came and went without leaving anything of a lasting impression. And I have no interest in returning to finish the last half of the movie, simply because it completely failed to entertain me, and much less captivate me.

My rating for "All the Creatures Were Stirring" is a mere three out of ten stars, solely based on the production value and the effort they put into that.

I was really looking forward to a good, Christmas horror anthology, and this was not it. Choppy, poor effects, bad storylines, total waste of time.

Painful to watch and horribly executed- All the Creatures Were Stirring is a mind numbing christmas horror film that tries too hard and yet not at all all at once. The film goes through a series of short tales, much like other horror classics like Creepshow, Trick 'r Treat, or even A Christmas Horror Story. Now imagine any of those films without a decent production value, capable actors, or anyone who knows how to edit a film- and you have this mess. For most of this film, I was incredibly dumbfounded that someone actually took the time and effort to make this film, and still thought it was a good idea to release it. It's a nightmare to watch, and not in a good way. The story with now headlining actress Constance Wu was entertaining, but for the most part all the stories are ridiculous, bland, incredibly forced- and simply a bore to watch. In the end, All the Creatures Were Stirring is a film I almost immediately forgot after it ended, and if it wasn't for the story with Constance Wu- I could have easily said it's one of the worst horror films i've ever seen, and honestly it still is.

My Rating: 1.1/10.

In All The Creatures Were Stirring two friends are out on a date at a theatre, watching a series of bizarre Christmas-themed plays (alongside a bunch of creepy people) on Christmas Eve.

For us, however, these plays manifest as 5 Christmas themed horror short films.

So effectively, the two friends are in a short film, watching plays that we are seeing as short films...(with a bunch of creepy people).

After each short film, it kicks back into the narrational film, on top of their being an intermission and ending sequence.

Despite being pretty low budget, the short films are really quite good.

I particularly enjoyed the first one...where the employees of an office building are being held at hostage at that their secret santa gift-giving, in a saw like scenario, where they must open gifts one at a time. Gifts that might kill them.

The whole thing starts off with quite the bang!

The second one is an occult film about a group of people that are targeted by a demonic presence, which attaches to them, when they are born on Christmas.

Then there is a sort of modern day retelling of scrooge.

A slasher film where a man accidentally hits and kills a reindeer while racing home on Christmas Eve, only to find that it's herd of (im sure can you guess which one) are hot on his tail and out for vengeance.

That's when things start to get weird...as the next one is a sci-fi film about two friends being abducted by aliens on Christmas, in some sort of simulated reality, in the bodies of their friends...before being put back into their own lonely existence.

This one is the coolest because it leaves you with the question, is our reality just a cage? Are we just living in a digitally enhanced terrarium in a zoo for aliens that exist on whole other level (think the ending of men in black, with the aliens playing with the marble with our universe in it).

Which cleverly leads into the finale of the narrational short, which keeps on the theme of simulated reality, with a real trippy twist at the end!

All-in-all, while a couple of the shorts are a bit slow, most are really quite decent...especially for being a low budget film.

I really quite enjoyed it, and highly recommend it for a fun watch with friends on Christmas.

6 out of 10.

They did this film for fun ,it shows its not gonna win any prizes but it has a twillight zone vibe that makes you go through the whole thing .In the end its an ok weird horror comedy .

Not a horrible anthology but some of the stories are a lot better then others.

Definitely not a style I normally watch because of how many poor ones from decades ago I used to watch, like Creepshow, where you might get one good skit in 10, and a mainly annoying over arching narration from the skeleton host.

So this one seemingly being very low budget in format, is one that I find I really really enjoy.

The premise of watching a live standup theater, bit having it imagined (shown to us) as if it were set in a staged TV show with totally different actors and backdrops to what is actually being shown at the theater.

I guess I'm saying it's as if watching a play, and being able to view it as a movie.

First scene The stockings were hung.

Did an amazing job of making me think it was going to be a comedy skit/day to day portrayal of light hearted nature, only to turn instantly dark with the gunshot. Very nice jump scare so to speak.

Very not sure of what the motivation was of the imprisonment though or who was responsible.

Scene two Dash away all Very low key and well acted and shot, nothing over the top, just an intriguing skit that makes me want to know more about the story behind it, and how it got to where it is. If someone were to expand on it and make a feature length film, I would watch that in a heartbeat.

Scene three All through the house.

Nice quick short imagining of A christmas carol.

Scene four Arise such a clatter.

Very very cheaply done, not actually bad though, just gives more of an impression of what someone might submit to get a movie gree lit. Like a pilot for a TV show.

Scene five In a twinkling.

A bit off of the Christmas theme imo, but well shot and differentiated for what was going on.

A bit clichéd but I think it should've been the last skit, with the note left on the tree as fitting for an ending of anthologies.

Scene six And to all a good night.

Very very creepy and would be an amazing type of thing to pull off on an actual audience member at a theater.

Overall I was impressed with a low budget anthology movie, wouldn't feel ashamed recommending it either on it's production and intended portrayals.

Both as an anthology and as a Christmas horror movie, "All the Creatures Were Stirring" is far from perfect. In fact, it's a lackluster and wildly uneven movie altogether. On the other hand, though, I respect and even admire low-budget horror productions that dare to be different and original, and that's the least you can say about this omnibus. All the individual short segments, and the wraparound story, are unconventional and unique, and that's at least worth half of the optimistic score of 5/10 I gave!

On Christmas Eve, two people with nowhere else to go and absolutely nothing better to do, spend their first Tinder date together at a raunchy theater where three "actors" enact a series of holiday-themed stories with a bare minimum of decors and means. The stories turn into short films, and they are remarkable to say the least. There's a tale about an office Secret Santa party turning into a massacre, one about a traditional Yule demon, a modern version of Ebeneezer Scrooge on Christmas Eve, reindeers bent on bloody vengeance, and a totally bonkers fable about holiday-loving aliens. The wraparound story about the first date then eventually turns into the last story.

A few of the separate stories are ingenious and compelling ("Dash Away All", " In a Twinkling") and others are more derivative ("Arose such a Clatter"), but ALL of them have in common that they are creative, but sadly also too underdeveloped and abruptly ending with many questions left unanswered. There's some gore, but not enough. There's occasionally tension and atmosphere, but not enough. There are flashes of sardonic black humor, but ... well, you know the rest of that sentence.

In the end, I can't really recommend "All the Creatures Were Stirring" wholeheartedly, but surprisingly enough I enjoyed it. And so did my mate with whom I watched it. Who knows, maybe it's because I was rejoiced by the spirit of Christmas, or maybe it's because the other two holiday-themed horror movies we watched were total rubbish. Either way, in case you love Christmas horror but you have already seen all the obvious classics ("Black Christmas", "Silent Night Deadly Night", "Krampus",...) this one may be worth a peek.

Most anthologies I have watched have some that are good and some not so good. This movie was like that. I enjoyed some of them and while the others I didn't enjoy but also didn't hate.

The actors i did a very good job. I thought the theater actors distracted from the stories, just have the couple talk between the short films.