Sankta 
  Lucia 

Slasher Trash with Panache?

Review: JA Kerswell

SANKTA LUCIA is a thinly drawn Swedish slasher film that draws on Scandi folklore as much as it pays tribute to the subgenre’s 80s heyday. A young woman gets over the breakup of her relationship a couple of days before Christmas with the help of her friends. However, a mysterious woman dressed as the title character stalks the snowy streets of Stockholm and kills everyone she finds. Sporting a few creepy touches and some impressive cinematography for a lower-budget theatrically released production, this feels half-finished, with a running time of just over 70 minutes.
 
Saint Lucy's Day is a Christian feast day celebrated on 13 December in Sweden ahead of Christmas. According to the legend, Saint Lucy wore a candle-lit wreath on her head to light her way to bring food to Christians hiding in the Roman catacombs. The preparations provide the backdrop for SANKTA LUCIA—and the title character provides the costume for its killer.
 
At her office party celebrating the day (which this year falls on Friday the 13th), Viola (Sanne Broström) is surprised when her boyfriend Simon (Gustaf Geijer) turns up and breaks up with her in front of her colleagues. Distraught, she seeks solace with her friends Selma (Niki Löfberg) and Tora (Yosefin Buohler)—who get her a ‘funeral cake’ to mark the occasion and organise a night of boozing and trying to cheer her up.
 
Elsewhere, preparations continue for the Saint Lucy procession due to take place later that night. Unbeknownst to anyone, a young woman (Klara Ljungdahl) escaped from a car and killed two men who were transporting her the previous evening. She kills a man organising the music for the celebrations and steals candles to fashion a wreath to wear on her head. Finding an invitation to the procession, she makes her way there, killing anyone she comes into contact with on the way … 

SANKTA LUCIA is frustratingly obtuse. Perhaps director Viking Almquist’s earlier short LUCIA (2023)—which seemed to deal with the same character—might explain what is going on. As it is, the film provides no clues nor any context for its events. A mute young woman escapes her captors and goes on a killing spree dressed as Saint Lucy. That’s pretty much it. By the time the end credits roll, the audience is none the wiser about what is going on or what, if any, motivation she might have. Obviously, John Carpenter could get away with a seemingly motiveless killing spree in HALLOWEEN (1978)—but, needless to say, this is no HALLOWEEN. However, Almquist is clearly a fan of the genre. He even has a cameo by Johan Rudebeck from EVIL ED (1995)—perhaps Sweden’s biggest cult horror movie— as an old-timey horror host.

The film makes plenty of nods to previous slasher movies—including a decent, but all too brief, chase near its climax and a skillfully directed scene in a stairwell. Again, HALLOWEEN seemingly provides inspiration—especially with its 80s style electronic score and the time spent on the friendships amongst the small group of young women. Also, the villain’s penchant for collecting eyeballs—again, something never explained but presumably flinched from the remake of BLACK CHRISTMAS (2006). As with other recent Scandi slashers, such as THE CONFERENCE (2023), it flirts with some black comedy—with someone dressed as a snowman being decapitated—but never really commits to it. Although the fact that the killer never lights the candles on her wreath to illuminate her way is pretty funny, given that was the whole point of the costume​—although I’m not sure that was intentional. Similarly, it teases gore effects but mostly pulls the punches with its visual violence.
 
SANKTA LUCIA was released to a large number of Swedish screens ahead of Christmas 2024 for one weekend only, but it is a frustrating experience that feels more like a concept rather than a film. On the plus side, it looks great, and some of the performances are compelling—it just doesn’t really add up to much. Either Almquist was unable or merely uninterested in making a coherent feature film—which is a shame as there are flashes of what could have been a great horror thriller. I’m a firm believer that we don’t need to have everything explained to us to make a movie tick. Sometimes ambiguity works, but it is difficult to feel any other way than a bit cheated by this film’s close. There are the bones of a good retro slasher movie here, but it all feels rather like a half-baked Kransekake. 

BODY COUNT 13: 
Female 6 / Male 7

1. Male is killed (method unseen)
2. Male is killed (method unseen)
3. Male is stabbed in the back and hit in the head with a meat cleaver
4. Male is killed (method unseen)
5. Female has her eyes gouged out
6. Female is hit in the head with a meat cleaver
7. Female has her eyes gouged out and hit on the head with a rock
8. Female is whacked with a meat cleaver
9. Male has his throat cut
10. Male is decapitated
11. Female has her hands cut off
12. Female is whacked with a meat cleaver
13. Female is hit in the neck with a meat cleaver

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