It's Festive Friday and things are getting dark this holiday season!

After seeing his parents killed by someone dressed as Santa, a grown man later wears a Santa suit himself and seeks violent revenge.

December 12, 2025 | Theatrical Release

Director: Mike P. Nelson

Writers: Mike P. Nelson, Michael Hickey, Paul Caimi

Cast:

• Rohan Campbell as Billy Chapman
• Ruby Modine as Pamela Sims
• Mark Acheson as Charlie (Shotgun Santa)
• Erik Athavale as Geoffrey Chapman

We meet this boy who is in an assisted living waiting room and he keeps being creeped out by these random people. The kid goes back to see his grandpa who talks to him about Santa, but he starts coughing like crazy. He goes to get his grandpa some water but it's too late. Grandpa coughs up just an insane amount of blood. Bad news - grandpa is dead. They get on the road and, while at a stop light, a car comes behind them and just slowly taps them. The dad gets out to check and is shot by a Santa Claus. Santa shoots towards the mom. She's able to kick him in the neck with her heel but he gets one last shot in before they both die. The boy, Billy, is there to watch it all.

Years later, Billy is now an adult. He wakes up in a hotel room and we see a dead body in the bathtub. He takes some of the blood from that body and puts it in this weird bloody advent calendar he keeps.

Billy hears this voice that's kind of guiding him. It's a bit like Venom. You know Venom? It's like that. Billy sees a woman that he fancies and follows her to the Christmas shop that she works at. He applies for the job and gets it so that he can be close to her. Her name is Pamela.

It doesn't take long for him to find his next victim - an older dude who hits on Pam. We find out that way back when, after his mom stabbed Santa with her heel, Billy went to check on him and when they touched hands, this electrical surge passes between them. That's the voice we hear.

We find out that there's an urban legend in town - the Snatcher. Someone who takes kids. Pam's dad is like it's just a myth...although, there is an alarming number of missing kids.

Pam gets arrested for sticking up for her nephew. Her ex-boyfriend is a cop and he tells her that she's being released. That's when we find out that they broke up because he punched her in the face. He really wants to get back with her but she's not having it.

Luckily for Billy, he comes across a nazi Christmas party. That makes picking his next kill pretty quickly. He just goes ham on the nazis but the head nazi starts shooting and he ends up getting hit which allows her to get away. But he's ok. It's not his first rodeo.

Tough break for Billy. He's asked to play Santa at work which turns out to be incredibly challenging for him because of what happens to him when he puts on the suit. But he's able to make it through and Pam is very impressed and finds him in the back room and they make out and what not.

We see Pam's dad come across this little girl who is in a van. She had been taken by the Snatcher. The Snatcher comes behind him and kills him. Obviously, Pam is distraught. She tells Billy that she wished Santa was real so that she could ask Santa to kill the guy who killed her dad.

Billy decides to confide in her. He tells her about the electrical surge and how he now is guided by the voice of Charlie, aka Santa. Santa knows who has been naughty and is able to show Billy what they did. So Billy only kills guys that he knows have done real bad stuff. Pam is unfazed.

Charlie leads them to a Christmas tree lot where they find three kids in this bunker with ball pit balls. Pam goes down there and little does she know that the Snatcher is down there too. Guided by Charlie, Billy is able to kill the Snatcher by stabbing him with a box cutter.

When he goes outside, Pam's ex-boyfriend cop is there and he shoots Billy. Pam comes out and sees Billy laying there. He's dying. She grabs his hand and the electrical surge happens. She now has "it". She kills her ex and then hears Billy's voice who will be guiding her. He asks if she's ready for this and she smiles.

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Jacks joins us this week to begin our journey into Hope Valley: 1874.

When Tom refuses to provide lumber for the boardinghouse, Rebecca gets creative.

March 26, 2026 | Hallmark Channel

• Bethany Joy Lenz as Rebecca Clarke
• Benjamin Ayres as Tom Moore

The episode starts off in a pretty shocking way - Rebecca is met by her husband, Jim, who is supposed to be dead! Turns out, it was all a dream. Womp womp. But then she thinks her daughter is missing. Turns out, double dream! INCEPTION!

The next day, Rebecca and Sarah get to work on the boarding house. It's actually going really well. But she needs lumber for sale. Unfortunately for her, the only one who has spare lumber is Tom who is still against the boarding house opening. She decides to give it a shot anyway and ask and it doesn't go well.

While she was at Tom's, she left Sarah with another mom, Peggy & her daughter, Jenny. Sarah is shocked to find out that not everyone can read.

Tom has to rush off though because he finds out that Doyal is encroaching on his property. He threatens him that if he doesn't skedaddle, he's gonna shoot him. But then his daughter comes out, so that complicates things, obviously.

Rebecca has an idea to sell pies, so she goes to talk to Hattie about it. While in the boarding house, she sees Olivia drawing and it's really good. She asks her if she'd come and draw some ideas she has for the boarding house. Hattie is not thrilled about this.

Doyal's had it with Tom's ish, so he goes to the new law in town, Alexander. He says he'll look into it.

While on his horse, he comes up beside Rebecca and Sarah and he asks them about Tom. They tell him that Tom isn't a bad guy.

He then goes to talk to Tom and he says unless he has documentation proving that this land is his, the prospectors can do whatever they want on his land.

One night, Rebecca goes out to the prospector area and finds a ton of her wood from the boarding house that they've been taking to burn. She begs them to stop doing that.

There's a bit of a love connection going on between Clayton (Tom's blacksmith guy) and Olivia, Hattie's daughter. But Olivia dreams of the big city. And when he sees her light up when Alexander brings up Toronto, he gets sad.

Rebecca talks to the trading guy about getting lumber brought in. He tells her it's gonna likely be over $500 which is more than she has. She's looking at her ring and her daughter says whatever you do, don't sell your ring.

Lars, Ned's dad, shows up with the wood from the prospectors. They wanted to return it to her. Tom is there when this happens and tells her it looks like she's making friends. He also insists that she not pay him for the carriage wheel. Instead, he wants her to teach Peggy how to read.

The episode ends with Alexander writing a field report about this place. He says nothing of note except one woman who is a bit suspicious. Why would someone leave with her daughter to come to open a boarding house? UH OH!

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We're back with some more Gilmore Girls! Join us in this journey on social media - @gilmorethemerrierpod.

Emily is shocked to see Lorelai's living conditions while raising Rory. She responds by creating a perfect bedroom for Rory in her own house, hoping to make amends.

April 26, 2001 | The WB

• Lauren Graham as Lorelai Gilmore
• Alexis Bledel as Rory Gilmore

We're at Friday night dinner and Rory and Emily agree to hang out on Saturday. Lorelai is busy doing literally anything else. Saturday morning is here and they go to Luke's for breakfast. Rachel is still there and shows Lorelai some pictures she took around town, including a picture of her and Luke at the Firelight Festival. But Lorelai is more taken aback by this abandoned house that she took a picture of. She immediately thinks it might be the perfect inn.

When Lorelai gets to work, she's shocked to find Rune is there. You remember Rune - Jackson's cousin. Sookie asks Lorelai for a favor - give Rune a job and let him stay at the inn so he can get out of Jackson's place. She reluctantly agrees.

Emily shows up in Stars Hollow and they go on their way. They're having a great time until Rory shows her the little shack that she grew up in and Emily storms out.

Lorelai goes to check out the inn in the pictures with Rachel. It's perfect.

So she starts hanging out with Rachel more. Luke tells Lorelai to not get attached. She always leaves. Lorelai is like I think she wants to stay this time. Luke is like you don't know what you're talking about.

That night, Lorelai and Rory see Luke and Rachel at the movies, so I guess he listened to her.

At Friday night dinner, Emily is excited to show Rory that she's remodeled a room to be all hers - full of boy band posters and Cosmo magazines. Lorelai is confused and after Rory walks out, Emily and her get into an argument about how Lorelai wanted to be anywhere but with them after Rory was born including a worn down shack.

They go to Luke's afterwards and Rachel tells Lorelai the big news - Luke has given her a drawer.

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It's Tuesday which means there's a new Hallmark movie to review!

Ruby, a world-renowned gemologist is hired by Prince Luca to restore the crown jewels and design his crown challenging tradition and complicating his relationship with his mother, the queen.

March 28, 2026 | Hallmark

Director: Bradley Walsh

Writers: W. Stewart, Ansley Gordon

Cast:

• Jen Lilley as Ruby
• Dan Jeannotte as Prince Luca

Ruby's done it! She found the jewel her client is looking for! But it makes sense. Because Ruby's good. She's getting great buzz for being quite the gemologist. The buzz has made it to the Kingdom of Gullian and they want her to come and restore their crown jewels. She has a week to restore a vault full of jewels. Ruby isn't sure she can do it but her mom is.

When she arrives in Gullian, her car has a flat and the driver isn't very helpful because this has never happened before. She decides she's just gonna walk it. She comes across a couple fellas out on a jog who point her towards the right direction. Little does she know that one of those joggers was Prince Luca!

So when she is introduced to Prince Luca at the palace, she's shocked. Prince Luca really wants to push things into the future but there's pushback there.

Things between Prince Luca and Ruby progress quickly. He asks her to design his crown and asks her to join him for the centennial celebration.

So they start hanging out more, really digging each other. But ultimately, she's fired for giving the royal family too much press. They are very much against any sort of press. Luca is very sad and his mom begins to realize that maybe she's goofed.

But Ruby realized she goofed too. There's still work to do. So she comes back and finishes his crown. He comes to see her and he's like yay you're back. His mom tells him they're ready to make some changes. And Ruby and Luca kiss.

Watch the show on Youtube - www.deckthehallmark.com/youtube

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Let's hop in the DTH Time Machine for today's DTH Classic.

To celebrate the ending of Season 13 of When Calls the Heart, let's head back to Season 1, Episode 1 of our journey to Hope Valley. Originally airing on Jan. 7, 2021, we ask all of the pa's to forgive us.

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Jacks joins us this week to begin our journey into Hope Valley: 1874.

The day of the long-awaited trial arrives for Bill and Nathan; Lucas contemplates his future.

March 15, 2026 | Hallmark Channel

• Bethany Joy Lenz as Rebecca Clarke
• Benjamin Ayres as Tom Moore

300 red coats are officially becoming mounties. They've finally done it!

We meet Rebecca and her daughter Sarah. They're heading west on their horse and carriage but the carriage wheel breaks. So they have to ditch the carriage so that they can keep going, but she stumbles upon an old, broken carriage on the path. So she takes that wheel and brings it back and replaces her broken wheel with that one. We find out that they're on their way to buy a boardinghouse that she saw was for sale in the papers. They stop for water at a stream where some gold miners are. While Rebecca is getting water, some explosives go off in the distance, scaring the horses. They run off with Sarah still in it. Luckily, a dude named Tom is there. Now there is something you need to know - Tom is hot. He's a rancher and he goes to tell this gold miner Doyal to cut it out with the dynamite and Doyal didn't appreciate it.

Tom sees the wheel and is like uh oh, that's not in great shape. I can help ya fix it.

Back at the mounties, we meet Alexander Vaughn. He just graduated top of his class and is being stationed in the gold zone.

So, Tom gives Rebecca and Sarah a ride into town. They are greeted by some other folks who live there. We find out that Rebecca's husband passed recently. And later, when talking to her daughter, we find out that they fled from where they're from to get away from some people.

The next day, she helps Tom with this big cut on his hand that he got when helping stop her horse. She meets Hattie - a fellow widow. She's nice I guess.

Rebecca asks Tom if he can help her find the boarding house. He is like oh no girlfriend...you got swindled. He takes her to what we know as the Saloon in When Calls the Heart and it's an absolute disaster.

We meet Lars and Rachel Yost - potentially Ned's parents? They sell some stuff to Hattie who makes sure that they have enough to get by.

That night, a massive storm comes, so Tom invites them in from their tent to stay dry. The next day, she finds her daughter helping Tom feed a baby cow. She decides to tell her daughter about how they were scammed.

Rebecca is quickly thrown into the fire - she has to help Rachel give birth. It is indeed Ned. She goes out on horseback to look out at the mountains and it is beautiful. This gets her thinking....maybe she should stick around, try to fix the boarding house up. She tells her daughter they're staying and then promptly forces her daughter to go make friends.

Doyal ends up showing up and picking a fight with Tom but right as they're about to fight, the new mountie shows up. He tells them to cut it out and Tom is like who are you? He's like I'm the law and we see Rebecca give her daughter a worried look.

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It's Festive Friday with a powerful family drama!

Follows a group of fractured siblings who must come together under sudden and trying circumstances.

December 24, 2025 | Netflix

Director: Kate Winslet

Writer: Joe Anders

Cast:

• Helen Mirren as June
• Timothy Spall as Bernie
• Johnny Flynn as Connor
• Kate Winslet as Julia
• Andrea Riseborough as Molly
• Toni Collette as Helen

It’s Christmastime, and we meet the Cheshire family — June and Bernie, and their son Connor — in what first feels like a quiet holiday morning. That calm is shattered when Connor discovers his mother collapsed on the kitchen floor. After a frantic call to emergency services, June is rushed to the hospital, and Connor gathers his sisters — Julia, Molly, and Helen — bringing the fractured family back under one roof.

The news is devastating: June doesn’t have much time left. As the reality sets in, old wounds and unresolved tensions rise to the surface. Connor feels stuck and directionless, still living at home. Helen has distanced herself from the family, both physically and emotionally, building a life abroad rooted in spirituality. Julia and Molly haven’t spoken in years, their unresolved conflict having split the family in two. At the center is Bernie, stoic and emotionally reserved, struggling to express what he’s feeling as he faces losing his wife.

As June’s condition worsens, she finds moments of joy in being surrounded by her children and grandchildren. Helen, who is expecting her first child, quietly grieves that her baby will never know their grandmother. June’s greatest wish becomes clear: she wants her daughters, Julia and Molly, to reconcile.

One evening, as snow falls outside, June asks Julia for permission to let go. Through tears, Julia gives it. June shares a final, poetic hope — that she might return as the snow.

With the help of her nurse Angel, she gets her two daughters that are fighting and finally confront their past and begin to heal.

Later, Connor challenges his father to open up and actually deal with the fact that his wife is dying. Bernie doesn't handle it great but ends up showing his love by singing karoke and finally having a heart to heart with Connor.

Knowing June won’t make it to Christmas Day, the family comes together to celebrate early, putting on a nativity play in her honor. In the middle of that performance, surrounded by the people she loves most, June passes away. From the wings, Angeli watches as the family begins to process their grief — together.

One year later, the Cheshires gather again at Christmas. Helen has welcomed her baby, and Connor has found love with Angeli. As they raise a toast to June, her voice returns through a letter she wrote to her unborn grandchild, reflecting on a life made rich simply by family. As the children run to the window to watch the snow fall, the family finds peace in her memory — and in the love she left behind.

Watch the show on Youtube - www.deckthehallmark.com/youtube

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