‘Christmas at the Kringles’ Director on Mixing Holiday Horror, Humor and Heart With a Cast of Comic Ringers

While directing the comedy-horror film “Christmas at the Kringles,” Kevin Lewis found himself filled with a holly jolly spirit.

“When I was shooting some of these scenes, it was so hard for me not to mess them up because I was busting a gut,” he says. “I remember thinking, ‘Gosh, you should do some more comedies,’ because every day I would finish shooting and I’d be happy.”

It’s no surprise that Lewis, a prolific filmmaker who often keeps both feet in the horror realm with features like 2022’s “The Accursed” and last year’s “Pig Hill,” was cracking up on set. “Kringles” stars a gaggle of comic actors, including Ron Livingston, Rachel Bilson, Rob Riggle, Thomas Lennon, Donald Faison, David Wain and Beverly D’Angelo. The film, scripted by Zack Imbrogno and in theaters Friday via Briarcliff Entertainment, concerns a dad, Mark (Livingston), who moves his family next door to a patriarch, Nick (Lennon), who takes Christmas very seriously and has some sinister intentions.

Part of the reason Lewis was initially interested in the script was recalling a neighborhood dad who reminded him of the overzealous Nick.

“I used to have a neighbor, I nicknamed him ‘Father of the Year,’” Lewis says. “He had two girls and he’d come out and decorate the house with the lights and stuff, and he’d put out ramps in the street and have his girls hop with their bikes and do all this crazy stuff. I was like, ‘Father of the Year is at it again,’ but I felt like it was performative. He wanted everyone to see what he was doing, but he really wasn’t doing it because he liked to do it. When I got that script, these things started flooding in.”

From there, the comedy deepened with the game cast, who have enough collective chops to improvise laugh-out-loud moments.

“I work in a way where the script’s an organic thing,” Lewis says. “It’s always evolving. When you’re shooting it, it’s not exactly what was on the page. Whether it’s time constraints, budget or things just change — you have different ideas. For me, meeting with these actors, we all knew the through-line of the narrative we were going toward. But we could take detours a little bit, and boy, we did. Those actors are so quick-witted and fast on their feet. Every take was different.”

Also, the director says the comedy on set allowed him to calibrate the perfect blend of horror and laughs in the finished product.

“When I’m shooting, it’s like I’m collecting clay,” he says. “When I’m finished, I’m going to cut the movie and I’m going to decide where I’m going to put that clay. I always knew that I didn’t want the tone to be too grotesque, and neither did the actors. That was one of the first questions Ron asked me was about the tone of the movie. I said, ‘Like “Beetlejuice,” comic book horror.’ This wasn’t ‘Terrifier.’ I’m not looking for a kill count. And that’s cool, those movies are their own thing. But that wasn’t this.”

Beyond the laughs and blood, Lewis also was touched by some of the emotional beats baked into the script.

“I liked the father and son through-line in this film,” he says. “As crazy as it is, there is a good theme about being present in one’s life and not trying to just keep pushing forward. You should enjoy the moment, seize the day and enjoy what you have right now. I really like that theme of ‘Kringles.’ I really tapped into the father being kind of aloof, because I’m always thinking about my filmmaking career. I’ve got kids and I have to be present for them, right? That always brought me back. So I worked on that on this movie. At the end of the day, it’s just going through life.”

Ultimately, Lewis valued the teamwork of shooting “Kringles.”

“I just like working, man,” he says. “I like meeting cool people and getting together and telling stories.”

Watch the “Christmas at the Kringles” trailer below.