The era of dark and edgy parodies and twists on classic tales is well and truly upon us, with Winnie the Pooh, Bambi, and now The Grinch being reborn as horror icons. One of the most highly anticipated has now seen its first trailer just days before its release in The Mean One.
Starring David Howard Thornton, best known for his comedic and sadistic killer clown Art from the Terrifier duology, The Grinch becomes one of the most horrifying slashers ever. The unauthorized parody saw its first peek recently via production stills but now has given us our best look yet.
In this horror retelling of the Dr. Seuss classic, Cindy sees the green monster murder both her parents on Christmas, but now fully grown up, she’s started a quest to hunt down the man who stole Christmas – and her parents – from her. Given its unauthorized parody status, it technically cannot call Howard’s character The Grinch. Instead, he is “The Mean One”, and he’s got a bloodlust even Freddy Krueger can’t beat.
The design of the legally distinct character looks pretty spot-on and definitely carries a strong screen presence, but the trailer shows a reluctance to let the main attraction get shown. Given Thornton’s presence though, it shouldn’t have any issues endearing itself to slasher stans. One criticism will come for how visually uninteresting it looks, with it perhaps too dark to really grab your eyes.
The Mean One will see a small cinematic release in the United States from Dec. 9, but otherwise will be freely available to stream online. Whether or not the “beloved children’s character is now a killer” trope will actually last is very unclear, with fatigue setting in for the concept before any of the films have been released.