Back in 2022,Adult Swimaired what many at first believed to be a standard yule log program, whereby a camera remains fixed on a roaring fire meant to evoke the coziness of the holidays. But as the log burned on, it became clear that not everything was at it seemed, and a full-on horror movie soon overtook the airwaves. And then things got even weirder. The clever surprise was a real holiday treat for horror fans, who appreciated the surreal and absurdist nature of the film.
Now, the same creative mind behind the firstAdult Swim Yule Logmovie and some of the same actors are back for a sequel,Adult Swim Yule Log 2: Branchin' Out, and this time, the murderous flaming log infiltratesHallmark-style Christmas movies, creating a genre mashup horror fans didn’t know they needed.
Writer-directorCasper Kelly, who also worked on the experimental Adult Swim shortToo Many Cooksas well as the Cheddar Goblin commercial fromMandy,sat down with Bloody Disgustingto discuss his inspiration behind the new film, which came to him during a movie club screening of the Hallmark movieHoliday in Handcuffsstarring Mario Lopez. Kelly stated:
What surprised me was that I was kind of looking down on the movie, but I also did get emotionally involved with it. Then we watched a few more. I watched ‘Falling for Christmas’- the Lindsay Lohan Netflix movie - which is not technically a Hallmark movie, and then ‘A California Christmas.’ I just thought it was something kind of interesting to investigate because I had cognitive dissonance where I sort of didn’t admire these movies, but I got emotionally involved in them and enjoyed them. They made me feel good.
Kelly isn’t done with theYule Logfranchise either. He has plans for a third installment, one that will outdo its predecessors in every way.
I am itching, if I get to do a third one, to go very dark and very weird. Just bring it home in the darkest, weirdest way possible. I also noticed that some trilogies - not all, but some - like the original ‘Star Wars’or ‘Back to the Future,’ make the middle one their darkest entry. So I thought to maybe go lighter on the middle one - go against the norm - but then go really dark for the last one.
Why Adult Swim’s Yule Log Is Worth Watching This Holiday Season
Adult Swim turns a holiday tradition into an unexpected horror with Casper Kelly’s latest live-action Yule Log, also known as The Fireplace.
Outside of murder logs, Kelly has ideas for films that might entice the likes of A24 or Neon and get theatrical releases.
Right now I have a movie with a script with BoulderLight Pictures, who did ‘Barbarian.’ So we’re working to get financiers for that. I’ve got the fever though. I love making movies and I want to make a bunch of them. I’ve got a few movies going on, but just in between that, I want to do a Kickstarter to do a very low budget, micro-budget experimental film. Sort of like ‘Skinamarink,’ ‘Eraserhead,’ or something like that. Something that’s very ‘Let’s All Go to the World’s Fair.’ Adult Swim gives me tons of freedom, but at the end of the day, you still want to be able to deliver something to a certain type of audience. If it was a Kickstarter thing, I could really - you know - try something truly experimental. That’s on my list of something that I want to try and put together.
Here’s hoping Kelly’s wishes come true, and he’s able to deliver something even more brain-breaking in the future.
Adult Swim Yule Log 2: Branchin’ Outis now available to stream via Max.
