The Mean One – Film Review

In a sleepy mountain town, Cindy witnesses the murder of her parents by a blood-thirsty green figure in a red Santa suit. Twenty years later, the Christmas-hating monster begins to terrorize the town once more. Cindy finds new purpose in stopping the creature and saving the holiday.

Can I just say that I absolutely love the fact that we are getting these kinds of movies where a filmmaker will take an otherwise wholesome film or show and turn it into a crazy horror movie? Regardless of how I feel about the films overall, I would love to see more of these because the potential is so high. Here’s hoping next year’s Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey is a blast.

The Mean One serves as a horror retelling of the iconic How the Grinch Stole Christmas story by Dr. Seuss, which is one of the most beloved Christmas tales of all-time. I personally love watching the original animated movie every single holiday season, which is why I was desperately hoping that this horror re-imagining would be a heck of a good time. I love the original story, and I love horror. What could go wrong?

Sadly, a lot.

The Mean One is definitely not a fun movie to watch which is a crying shame since the potential for fun to be had here was practically off the charts. You have a film that basically centers around a murderous version of the Grinch, and yet the filmmakers fumbled the ball.

Steven LaMorte‘s direction feels dishearteningly soulless and devoid of any real charm or fun. This entire movie feels like a cheaply made direct-to-video film you’d find at the dollar store or at a bargain bin in a grocery store. It’s obviously a parody movie so we shouldn’t expect anything masterful, but I was still hoping that it was at least going to be fun and exciting, which it sadly was not.

Flip and Finn Kobler‘s script is also way too goofy and over-the-top. Of course, with a film such as this, we expect to be in store for some goofiness but here, it’s not done in a good way. Even the kills in the movie aren’t executed all that well, so even when there is supposed to be fun on-screen, it never actually feels like a lot of fun.

That’s not to say the movie is entirely awful though. There were a handful of sequences in the film in which I found myself smiling and enjoying the ride, but these were almost exclusively in the third act which is where the film finally has a chance to shine and show its teeth.

But the best part of it all is easily David Howard Thornton in the titular role. This year, he starred as the horrifying Art the Clown in the massively successful Terrifier 2 where he delivered one of the year’s most unhinged performances. As “The Mean One,” Thornton is once again having the time of his life playing an incredibly insane character. Here’s hoping that Thornton continues to book crazy serial killer roles because he’s a master at them at this point.

If you’re holding out hope on The Mean One being a gigantic dose of campy fun, you’re not in for luck because it’s a film that, while sprinkled with a bit of goodness every so often, is mostly a missed opportunity. However, I’d be more than happy to see what these filmmakers could do with a sequel if that ever comes to fruition.

A disappointingly dull holiday slasher that wastes an incredibly fun concept, The Mean One is mostly a bad banana with a greasy black peel.