Cheernobyl: A Holiday Meltdown

My favourite entry of Crab Crab Crab since their Bread one. Love how the ending backfired for the main character, loved the mad-hatter type holiday entity type, especially their accent and the pacing of the gags, visually as well. Surely, you MUST be all ready for ULTRA next year, which will give the rest of the teams some breathing space at least! Awesome work,

Good clear plot. Nice camera work. Delightfully gross holiday dude.

Loved the final scene, friggin hilarious when “Santa” managed to leave the tree on the shelf.

Loved the ending when Santa was trying to spread Christmas cheer! Hilarious.

an experienced team who make good movies, one note was that the film spent a long time in the VR black background and could have had some changing sets or spent more time in the later part of the film

Very Crab Crab Crabby. Amazing costume, that character was so bizzare and creepy. You guys dived into the weird very quickly which I really enjoyed. The final scene seemed a bit dark? like literally, hard to see what was happening, so while still very funny it fell a little flat for me at the end there.

We get the story of how a man becomes the new Santa after taking a virtual holiday. Shades of 2015's "Wheat, Myself & Rye" with this as our lead is transported into another world with a quirky, unstable character. Nothing wrong with that. Clever, fun, well made and as always an excellent original song. Crab Crab Crab's strength is their weird humour that always finds an audience. I also felt that some parts of this did drag a touch but I enjoyed the less than happy ending.

I got nice "Happy!" vibes here, with the fucked up blend of holidays and 'in over your head' repercussions. I'm always impressed by your costuming, and the horrific combination of every possible celebration was well realised. Some nicely funny moments, and I enjoyed the end beat where they attack Santa. Fun and frivolous.

I'm not sure if you'll be able to top the bread one from a few years back for me, it such a favourite of mine, but crab continues to make really really good work. Best holiday movie so far for me for sure! Classic crab weirdness and costuming. Really great story telling and the very merry ending. Loved it. Would love to see crab in ultra soon but what else is there to say. Just more really good work from the Crabs.

Some very topical humour and just some out right crazy shit. Costumes were just really cool. Really fun short. And the ending was both dark and so so funny. Loved it.

this feels like the film Crab Crab Crab has always been destined to make. terrific set up and execution of the premise and gag feast. typically beautiful visuals and bonkers designs. all brought together with a clear understanding of the craft. for my money, the film kinda didn’t stick the landing though, I’ll need to see it again (at the city finals no doubt) to see if the film sets up some of the later developments. but from a first viewing i have questions about where the story goes. cant wait to watch it again.

Crab Crab Crab does have a history of some crazy silly entertaining films but this one didn't quite hit the mark for me. I think this team has a good reputation for making quirky films that entertain the audience - but my review is more based on everything as a whole, not just a few awkward laughs (Technical, script, performance etc.)

I am super bummed this film didn't make the finals! I was sure it would, and I am saddened that CRAB CRAB CRAB's chaotic energy won't be absorbed by the audience this year. What I liked: The costume design, as always, is remarkable. The performance of the cake man is pitch perfectly terrifying. I loved the horrific melting pot of all the holidays, and how some directly contradict each other - and along with the costume design, the set dressing really adds a lot here. The Spring Break Nog and being told there's a spider in the cracker (but not even seeing it) are my two favourite jokes from the film. The premise is a great way to incorporate everything under the Holiday genre umbrella, and CRAB CRAB CRAB were the perfect team to tackle such a task. Part of what bums me out about this not making the finals is that I think this is all the best parts of CRAB CRAB CRAB boiled down into one film, and my favourite from the team since the gold standard that was WHEAT, MYSELF AND RYE. What I think could be improved upon: If anything holds this film back, I'd say its story arc feels like it brushes with brilliance but doesn't quite stick the landing. I think we probably didn't need to start in media res, and could have cut the first minute or so and start us straight in the lab - the only important piece of information that isn't relayed here is that the hero picked all the holidays, but this could have been slipped into the dialogue. I think cutting the beginning down would also let you expand on the second half of the film- I loved seeing the hero try bring back Christmas, but it only whet my appetite to see him attempt to bring back every holiday. Maybe still end on the Christmas scene though, but it would have been cool to see the chaos from the first part of the film continue through into some kind of morally bankrupt montage as he tries to bring back Easter, Valentines day and Halloween too. With the judging process changing from panel to individual opinion maths this year, I think you guys at CRAB CRAB CRAB maybe should take this opportunity to step up your game. While I hold you in high regard, I feel forced to think about your team's weaknesses, and I GUESS what I would say is, you always deliver such a visual spectacle but the story lines often fall by the wayside in favour of unbridled madness. So, if reclaiming your spot in the finals is important to you as a team, maybe next year pour as much effort into the storytelling and plotting as you do into the art direction. I always like seeing teams go sentimental, or grandiose and epic (though those are only my personal preferences). I think the madness of CRAB CRAB CRAB paired with a weightier story could be something very special and very important to the landscape of Christchurch 48. TITLE REVIEW: Cheernobyl is one of those titles that just makes you excited reading. Probably my favourite title of the year after EASTER BUNNY GETS DESTROYED BY A HUGE BOWEL MOVEMENT.

I watched this in the heat and really enjoyed it then but somehow got confused about the bit about holidays disappearing. Now I'm revisiting it as part of reviewing all 2019 films in the screening room and I got it this time round. This was as close to a Tim Burton film as any I've seen in this competition with its quirky, macabre premise and visual style. Got to check out some of your past work. I noticed that there are 3 reviews here that are only 3 stars but 2 of them see to be really positive comments, which is strange in my view.

After clicking on a 'win the holiday of your dreams' link that isn't spam, but the VR opportunity of a lifetime, our lead very much gets more than her bargained for when it turns out that all holidays in the world rolled into one is actually a bit nightmarish. Outstanding costume design and while the set was minimal in scope the editing was on point, leading to a claustrophobic tense effect that reflected the lead being trapped in a virtual world headset while the Easter-birthday-Xmas-chicken legged monster got up in his grill. Pretty batshit really, and definitely one of the best uses of the holiday genre this year. I liked the oneiric feel on show here, with a what the fuck feel in buckets. I also appreciated the plot having a well structured beginning, (overwhelming) middle and end, and I'm assuming that the attack on the senses was very much the team's intention. I can see why this didn't make the Christchurch finals though, out of nowhere murders are something that judges I know are completely over. However the film's proper finale was very satisfying indeed.

Such a cool, fresh take on the holiday genre! Cheernobyl was such a brilliant name! The costuming was amazing guys and set design was equally great! I just wish that the story arc was stronger as although I can easily picture the holiday cake face, but the resolution to the story wasn't as memorable. Overall, I was sad to not see this film in the city finals but don't let that bog you down for next year! I looking forward to seeing what you pull out of the hat!