Adult Swim Yule Log/The Fireplace is the movie you didn’t know you wanted
When I think of Adult Swim, I generally think of edgy animations, not creative horror movies, but with Yule Log/The Fireplace (naming is a bit confusing), Cartoon Network has made a great Christmas horror movie. This review will be light on spoilers, because half of the thrill is not knowing what’s coming next.
I started this movie knowing nothing about it, and I think that really helps set the mood. For the first couple of minutes, you’re watching a calm Yule Log fire, the kind of video that people put on their TV during the holidays to help set the mood. After awhile, you hear someone come into the room and start cleaning. And then all hell breaks loose. In fact, the first 30 minutes or so are done as a one-shot which impressed me. Adult Swim has posted the first three minutes of the movie online so anyone can watch it.
After the mayhem, a couple, played by Andrea Laing and Justin Miles appear, and the camera is zoomed out, letting you see the entire room. There is a strategically placed reflective bucket that lets you see a bit more of the house and the camera changes focal points from time to time to highlight this, a clever trick that adds to the suspense. At one point, the local sheriff shows up to warn the couple about a recent murder. Before leaving, he tells them to extinguish the fire in the fireplace because the wood is from a hanging tree and thus is cursed.
From here, the movie starts to cover all of your basic horror tropes, from aliens, to slasher films, to cults, to supernatural horror. The third act starts to go a bit overboard, and there’s some pieces that don’t fit together well, but this is definitely a case of “the whole is greater than the parts” and the film really draws you in with the way it’s made.
The movie, created by Casper Kelly, is a unique and captivating piece of cinematography and if you like unique horror stories in particular or unique movies in general, I highly recommend giving this one a watch for it’s originality alone.
At the time of this review, you can see Yule Log / The Fireplace on on HBO Max. For future availability, check out JustWatch or Plex Discover, both free solutions!
Score: 9.1/10
Starring: Megan Hayes, Tordy Clark, Brendan Patrick Connor, Andrea Laing, and Justin Miles
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