Three Houses Down
2023 · 7m
Directed by Ty Huffer
Genres: action, dark comedy, horror
Tones: darkly comic, tense, theatrical
On Christmas Eve, Tiffany encounters a malevolent knife-wielding elf among the presents — and must fight for her family's lives to have a Merry Christmas.
Picked by Felix
The scouts
A killer elf on Christmas Eve should be unbearable comfort-horror dreck, but Huffer leans so hard into the absurdity—treating a yuletide home invasion with genuine action-movie tension—that it loops back around to actually working; the fact that it's funny and scary simultaneously is exactly the kind of "wait, WHAT?" premise that makes people mad at festivals.
There's a lineage here worth noting—the theatrical heightening recalls early Raimi, the family-under-siege structure echoes Carpenter—and Huffer executes both traditions with formal clarity, letting the tonal shifts breathe rather than undercut each other; it's a knowing genre exercise that respects its own stakes.
The masterstroke is committing to the elf as a genuine threat rather than winking at the audience; that single choice—playing the premise straight—transforms what could've been a gimmick into something that actually lands, and the economy of that decision in seven minutes shows real directorial instinct.
Festivals
- Spooktacular Film Fest for Horror & Sci-Fi 2024, Nominated: Coolest Practical Effect or Monster; Outstanding Visual Effects