Better Watch Out: “A holiday film that decks the halls with blood”

Update: Better Watch Out is no longer on Showmax. Find your next binge in the full movies catalogue here.

Entertainment Weekly wrote, “If you want to gift yourself a holiday film that decks the halls with blood, this is one to put under the tree.”

In the gleefully unhinged holiday horror-comedy Better Watch Out, babysitter Ashley (Olivia DeJonge from The Visit) looks after precocious 12-year-old Luke (Levi Miller from Pan). What begins as a normal evening soon takes a dark turn when intruders break into the house, but this is far from a normal home invasion. ..

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Better Watch Out has won eight international awards, including the jury prize at Frightfest and the audience award at Fantasia last year. The film has an 88% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes, where it was recently named the second best Christmas horror film ever, with the critics’ consensus saying, “Carried by its charismatic young cast, Better Watch Out is an adorably sinister holiday horror film.”

As Bloody Disgusting wrote, “Better Watch Out provides a bonkers twist on the home invasion sub-genre that had me squealing with glee from start to finish.”

Or to get more high-brow about it, Los Angeles Times-style, “In the long, sordid history of the ‘Christmas horror’ sub-genre, there’s never been a movie quite like Better Watch Out, a consistently surprising and unusually well-acted thriller, which says pertinent things about suburbia, holiday entertainment and toxic masculinity.”

Just be warned: you’ll never be able to watch Home Alone the same way ever again…

Stream Better Watch Out first and only on Showmax.

Festive highlights on Showmax

If you want to keep the Christmas carol soundtrack and snow-covered scenery, but rather watch something more suitable for the whole family, Showmax has a host of more traditional festive season content to watch, including:

Stick Man

“Stick Man lives in the family tree with his Stick Lady Love and their stick children three,” until he’s taken further and further away from home on an epic adventure across the seasons. He runs from a playful dog, gets thrown in a river, escapes from a swan’s nest, and even ends up on top of a fire, as he tries to get back to his family in time for Christmas.

Animated in Cape Town by Triggerfish and co-directed by South African Daniel Snaddon, this BBC One Christmas special by Magic Light Pictures (The Gruffalo, Revolting Rhymes) won the top prizes at leading animation festivals like Annecy and Kidscreen, among others.

Based on the much-loved picture book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, Stick Man is voiced by the likes of Martin Freeman and Hugh Bonneville, with Jennifer Saunders narrating. Watch now »

Liewe Kersfeesvader

A teenage beauty queen (Mila Guy) is flung into swift adulthood when her father (Morne Visser) assumes a new identity: Father Christmas. Juggling a crazy father, an impressionable kid brother and a growing romance, Nonnie has to redefine her own meaning of family. Written and directed by Etienne Fourie (Die Windpomp), Liewe Kersfeesvader was nominated for Best Editor (Johan Prinsloo) at the SAFTAs this year. Watch now »

Klein Kroontjies

Ever felt strange singing about white Christmases in sunny South Africa? Klein Kroontjies has released five animated Christmas carols that are a lot more appropriate, featuring Nianell, Lloyd Cele, Pierre Greeff, Anna Davel and Gerry Liberty respectively. These are first and only on Showmax. Watch now »

Christmas specials for Timmy Time, Peppa Pig, Garfield and My Little Pony

When Timmy and his friends get snowed in at the nursery on Christmas Eve, they decide to create their own Christmas right there. Watch now »

Also look out for Peppa Pig and Garfield Christmas specials, coming 17 December 2018, and My Little Pony – Best Gift Ever coming 20 December 2018.