Horror With a Side of Cheese: THE KILLING TREE

 Hello, horror lovers! I am back to dish up a fondue pot full of cheesy goodness with a new edition of Horror With a Side of Cheese! If you are new to the column, I’m hunting for the cheesiest horror movies to grace the genre. Every month, on the first and third Fridays, I talk about my latest find. I rate each film on a scale of one to five cheese slices. Several factors go into the rating, including story, acting, dialogue, effects and re-watchability. In this edition, I dive into the 2022 film, The Killing Tree. Stick around to find out how many cheese slices this film gets.

About Killing Tree

A widow is desperate to resurrect her criminal husband who was executed for his crimes. On Christmas Eve, she tries a spell to make her wish come true. He came back to life, but with a small problem; his spirit entered the Christmas tree. Now, lights flicker, ornaments sparkle, and Killer Tree hunts down the executioner he blames.

Killing Tree stars Marcus Macy, Sarah Alexandra Marks, Kelly Lane Sanson, Judy Chernyak and Sarah T. Cohen. The story is directed by Craig McLearie and directed by Rhys Frake-Waterfield. Run time is 1 hour 13 minutes.

My thoughts

The bad guy is a decorated Christmas tree! Lamps, garlands, baubles, pieces. Before anything else is considered, this has got to be one of the cheesiest horror movies I've ever had the pleasure of seeing. Take a moment to imagine a veritable tree scurrying around and killing people. Only one word comes to mind: epic.

While The Killing Tree has a lot of potential talking points, I want to start with the effects. In particular, I want to talk about the tree itself. Multiple mediums are used throughout the film to create the titular villain. In some scenes, the tree is entirely CGI; others feature generic store-bought Christmas trees. My favorite, however, is the scene where the tree is the man in the suit. A moment like this made me giggle. Our villain falls and you can see the legs of the man inside the costume. Surprisingly, the CGI is pretty good.

The next topic I want to talk about is the story itself. On the surface, it's basic and straightforward. A criminal is executed and his wife uses magic on his ashes to reincarnate him. The only difference is, instead of turning into a doll, cookie or snowman, his soul turns into a Christmas tree. The ending is unique, but I won't go into details and risk spoilers. I'll say I feel like it's an escape.

Starting with the story, the dialogue was what I expected, possibly worse. For example, at one point, the tree is said to grow in the forest; however, an earlier scene reveals that the pine needles are fake. Perhaps that changed when the killer's soul entered the plastic.

The show is so cheesy, it belongs in a deli. period. Between the hyperbole and the ridiculous lines, it's wild. Even the screams are underwhelming and on the kitschy side.

Finally, rewatch rate: 10/10. I'll watch Killing Tree again. I don't like a lot of holiday horror flicks, especially the cheesier ones. This one, however, is ooey gooey cheesy goodness.

Final Thoughts

In total, The Killing Tree has 4.5 slices of cheese. I almost gave it a full five, but I didn't like the ending, which knocked it down by half. Otherwise, it's an excellent cheesy horror. There's a scene in the woods you don't want to miss!

Horror fans, here's another cheesy horror flick in the books. Check out the trailer for the film below, and let me know what you think in the comments. Also, tell me which movie needs to be added to my list.

Until next time, keep it spooky, keep it cheesy, and most of all, watch more horror movies.