Rachel Bilson, Arden Myrin, and Rob Riggle on Christmas at the Kringles, Drunk Santas, and Christmas Cults: Podcast

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Christmas comes early, stays late, and joins a cult in Christmas at the Kringles, the holiday horror-comedy that turns suburban Christmas cheer into a full-scale hostage situation. Rachel Bilson, Arden Myrin, Rob Riggle, and director Kevin Lewis speak with Kyle Meredith about their gloriously deranged movie, in which a seemingly wholesome family celebrates Christmas 365 days a year while secretly plotting to hypnotize and indoctrinate the neighbors. With Ron Livingston, Thomas Lennon, Beverly D’Angelo, and Donald Faison joining the festivities, the film mixes festive family traditions with the kind of insanity usually reserved for a Sam Raimi movie. There’s a booze-soaked Santa, a whole lot of improvisation, and enough holiday decorations to make Clark Griswold reconsider his life choices. Listen above or wherever you get your podcasts.

For Bilson, the biggest challenge wasn’t surviving the Christmas cult but keeping a straight face while everyone around her went completely off the rails. “It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done but the most fun I’ve ever had in my life,” she says of acting opposite Myrin and Lennon, whose dialogue was frequently improvised. Myrin, who previously appeared in Christmas with the Kranks, was practically born for this kind of holiday madness. “Most of what you see of our lines is probably improvised,” she reveals, describing her character as someone hopelessly obsessed with Christmas, joy, and her own misguided worldview. Asked whether her résumé, which also includes The Righteous Gemstones and Insatiable, has prepared her to start an actual cult, Myrin doesn’t hesitate: “Oh, for sure. I need a fun uniform. Maybe like a jumpsuit.” Meanwhile, Riggle found his own Christmas miracle playing a violent, foul-mouthed, alcoholic Santa Claus. “When I saw the script and it said drunk Santa, it got my attention,” he laughs. The character offered him something irresistible: “He had a bad attitude, but he had a good heart.”

Director Kevin Lewis, who previously unleashed Nicolas Cage on murderous animatronics in Willy’s Wonderland, describes Christmas at the Kringles as a spiritual successor to that film. “I always wanted to make a Hallmark goes to hell type movie,” he explains, citing John Hughes, Sam Raimi, and Evil Dead 2 among his influences. Lewis and cinematographer Brandon Cox worked from a 75-page shot list, borrowing the wild camera movements and off-kilter angles of ’80s cinema while giving the film the appearance of a Norman Rockwell painting gone horribly wrong. And there’s even more madness sitting on the cutting-room floor. Lewis reveals that roughly 20 to 25 minutes of additional footage could someday become the “Kringle Cut,” an alternate version packed with even more improvised insanity. “Hopefully if the movie does well, we can release the Kringle Cut,” he says. Considering that Riggle also gets to trade punches with National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation legend Beverly D’Angelo, the movie has already committed enough holiday sacrilege to earn a permanent place on the naughty list.

Listen to the cast of Christmas at the Kringles talk about the movie, and more in the new episode above or by watching the video below. Keep up on all the latest episodes by following Kyle Meredith With… on your favorite podcast platform; plus, check out all the series on the Consequence Podcast Network.