While directing the comedy-horror film “Christmas at the Kringles,” Kevin Lewis found himself filled with a holly jolly spirit. The film, scripted by Zack Imbrogno and in theaters Friday via Briarcliff Entertainment, concerns a dad, Mark (Livingston), who moves his family next door to a patriarch, Nick (Lennon), who takes Christmas very seriously and has some sinister intentions. Part of the reason Lewis was initially interested in the script was recalling a neighborhood dad who reminded him of the overzealous Nick.
I was like, ‘Father of the Year is at it again,’ but I felt like it was performative. He wanted everyone to see what he was doing, but he really wasn’t doing it because he liked to do it. When I got that script, these things started flooding in.” From there, the comedy deepened with the game cast, who have enough collective chops to improvise laugh-out-loud moments.
When you’re shooting it, it’s not exactly what was on the page. Whether it’s time constraints, budget or things just change — you have different ideas. For me, meeting with these actors, we all knew the through-line of the narrative we were going toward.
But we could take detours a little bit, and boy, we did. Those actors are so quick-witted and fast on their feet. Every take was different.” Also, the director says the comedy on set allowed him to calibrate the perfect blend of horror and laughs in the finished product.
I always knew that I didn’t want the tone to be too grotesque, and neither did the actors. That was one of the first questions Ron asked me was about the tone of the movie. I said, ‘Like “Beetlejuice,” comic book horror.’ This wasn’t ‘Terrifier.’ I’m not looking for a kill count.
And that’s cool, those movies are their own thing. But that wasn’t this.” Beyond the laughs and blood, Lewis also was touched by some of the emotional beats baked into the script. You should enjoy the moment, seize the day and enjoy what you have right now.
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