Adult Swim’s Surprise Horror Movie “The Fireplace” Burns Bright as a Gonzo Experimental Holiday Classic

aka Adult Swim Yule Log. Just watched the first 10 minutes, starts slowly.

https://bloody-disgusting.com/reviews/3743342/adult-swims-surprise-horror-movie-the-fireplace-burns-bright-as-a-gonzo-experimental-holiday-classic-review/

It’s two minutes before Adult Swim’s holiday yule log presentation finally shows its hand, breaks free of its defining formula, and begins to first hint that something bigger and more sinister than a seasonal celebration is afoot. A yule log video is a holiday tradition that’s supposed to provide its audience comfort through warm, continuous, predictable images. The Fireplace, alternatively, is the complete antithesis of this tradition as it unsettles and surprises the viewer through every single minute–yet, inexplicably, also still succeeds as a functional yule log video. This stealth feature film functions as a cornucopia of horror genre tropes that plays out like an ultra-stylized Dadaist Cabin in the Woods filtered through Adult Swim sensibilities.