Elves (1989)

Despite a terrific concept and great artwork, this yuletide-themed horror movie is a bust. Cheap and overlong, the movie plods along with a plot that’s somehow both overstuffed and wafer-thin. There’s only one elf around so the title is misleading, and the sets and set dressing are some of the worst I’ve seen, while the main creature design is underwhelming at best (in fact, it reminded me of a knockoff of Belial from “Basket Case” and the masks in the Goosebumps episode “The Haunted Mask”). But what makes the movie all the more tiresome is that it exploits the Holocaust and its assorted horrors in order to ground itself in reality, but nothing contained here is even close to the real-life atrocities it calls to mind. Dan Haggerty has considerable screen presence but his acting chops leave a lot to be desired, and he gives the best performance so that should tell you the caliber of the actors here.

Rating: ★ (out of 5)