It’s that time of year again.. distant sleigh bells jingle. Elves are working overtime. Fairy lights are a-twinkle in the frosty windows of cozy homes. And a writer of romantic vampire novels is spending Christmas alone in a sparsely-populated retreat, attempting to break a relentless chain of publisher’s rejection letters.

So begins Red Snow, the tale of ditzy but loveable Olivia Roma (Dennice Cisneros), who’s about to receive more for Christmas than she asked Santa for.

Taking pity on a bashed-up bat who’s crashed into her window, she patches it up (the Elastoplast is a nice touch), only to be surprised next morning upon discovering this was no ordinary bat; in its place lies a sick-looking vampire.

Her shock at seeing this is interrupted by the arrival of alleged private investigator Julius King. Jovial and almost Santa-esque himself, he’s on the trail of three dangerous individuals suspected to be in the area. Olivia, keeping quiet about it, recognises her changeling guest from the pictures he shows her.  This, he says, is Luke (Nico Bellamy); the deadliest of all three.

Glancing around the room, noticing several vampire-themed objects (not to mention the subject matter of Olivia’s writing), Julius’ casual line of questioning suddenly turns unsettling and interrogative.  Watching this seemingly friendly, non-threatening figure increasingly feed off his own rage, finishing with a roaring, red-faced tirade on the perils and evil that are all things vampire (and then straight back again, claiming he was joking) actually unnerved me somewhat.  He’s clearly not your everyday private investigator, so who is he? What is he after…? And what is he capable of doing to get it?  And while we’re at it, who are the trio he’s so keen to find?

While Red Snow is undoubtedly a funny film, there are definitely a few moments where you wonder just enough how nasty it’s going to get. Olivia’s thrilled to have a real vampire at her disposal, and once he assures her he’s no threat her barefaced enthusiasm as she quizzes him on the naked truths about his kind is both sweet and amusing.  The idea of her allowing him to stay as long as he helps her book achieve success works well as a rapport begins to develop between the two.

However, the fact that he’s a bloodthirsty member of the undead by nature is never allowed to stray far from the viewer’s attention, giving the whole thing an edge that, along with subtle yet surgically sharp wit, decent measures of blood-saturated violence, and deliberately shameless use of moments from classic movies all horror fans will know (tweaked in a way that’s impossible not to love) results in a well-balanced horror comedy rather than simply a rom-com with an interesting angle.

Red Snow, written and directed by California-based Sean Nichols Lynch, is a toothsome treat that’s smashing it on the festival circuit at the moment–with good reason.

9 out of 10 Twinkling Teeth