Santa's Slay - Not Your Typical Santa

-Full name is William Scott Goldberg
-Born December 27, 1966
-Hails from Tulsa, Oklahoma
-Billed height is 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
-Billed Weight is 298 lb
-Resides in San Diego, California
-Wrestling debut was on June 24, 1997
-Drafted 11th round with the 301st overall in 1990 by the Los angeles Rams
-Had a much publicized streak of 173 wins and 0 loses in WCW
-1 time WCW Champion
-2 Time United States Heavyweight Champion
-1 Time Tag Team Champion w/ Bret Hart
-1 Time WWE Champion
-Is a celebrity guest star in Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling
- Married to Wanda Ferraton, a stunt double whom he met while filming Santa's Slay
-Has a son Gage A.J. Goldberg, who was born on May 10 2006
-Co-owns and operates the "Extreme Power Gym" Muay Thai & Amateur boxing training facility in Oceanside, California.
-Hosts Bullrun, a car show

Film Credits

Directed by David Steiman
Produced by Brett Ratner
Andreas Grosch
Stewart Hall
Written by David Steiman
Music by Henning Lohner
Cinematography Matthew F. Leonetti
Editing by Steven Polivka
Steve Steinhart
Julia Wong

Starring

Bill Goldberg
Douglas Smith
Emilie de Ravin
Robert Culp
Dave Thomas
Saul Rubinek
Kevin Gillese
Tom Lister, Jr.
Brandon Firla
David Cormican
Kostas Kurelias
James Caan
Chris Kattan
Rebecca Gayheart
Fran Drescher
Alicia Loren
Annie M. Sorell

Distributed by

Media 8 Entertainment
Lion's Gate

The Story

Santa's slay had the premise that Santa was actually an anagram of Satan. He was actually was immaculately conceived by the Virgin Erica and Satan. Being a son of the evil one, he is by nature evil himself. He however lost a curling match to one of God's angels. He was forced to go against his vile nature and spread joy and goodwill to kids for 1000 years. When the time was up he made up from of the movie is spent in adding to the evil in the character. Santa is in fact a sleazy Santa who likes strippers. Santa's evil is combated by Nick, the grandson of the angel that beat Santa and by his girlfriend Mac. Will Nick be victorious just like his grandfather was or will Santa continue to perpetuate his evil?

Extras

-Audio commentary by Steiman and producer Matthew Leonetti, Jr.
-Slay Ride: Hell on Hooves Featurette
-Populating Hell: Casting Santa's Slay Featurette
-Taking the Reins: My First Movie Featurette
-Deleted scenes
-Blooper reel

The Verdict

The film may not be one of the classics but is high in terms of entertainment value. The film was very funny especially during the first scene when Santa killed a family enjoying dinner. I was very much amused by Fran Drescher who was part of that family.I also was amused by the scene when he forced himself into the strip joint and said "Hoes, hoes, hoes!" I also found the minister, who spends the collection money on strippers, as funny because it was simply so ironic.

The film is not very high in terms of writing either as the plot is paper thin. It was quite innovative though to have Santa as an anagram of Satan. I have never thought of that. The big draw for me however, was the fact that it starred Bill Goldberg. I liked his character back in World Championship Wrestling where he demolished 173 opponents and did not lose until he was beaten by Kevin Nash. His matches were short yet very intense.

For someone who isn't a trained actor, Bill Goldberg did a pretty good job here. The acting otherwise isn't very special though. What interests me is the fact that the Santa here is an exact foil of our idea of Santa. Santa is supposed to be a jolly fat man who loves kids and spreads joy and goodwill. This Santa is buffed and slaughters people.

Most of the movie is comprised of chase scenes and killing scenes. There are a lot of amusing moments as well. The clincher is the post credit scene where Santa says "Who's next?" This gets cheap pops from the audience.

© TheChosen1 Review is published in other sites under the same name

-Information about Bill Goldberg is sourced from Wikipedia.

-Previously published in Ciao and Dooyoo