10 Best Slasher Horror Movie Fakeout Endings

6. Santa's Slay

Santa's Slay Bill Goldberg
Media 8

Santa's Slay is a bizarre but admittedly entertaining popcorn slasher movie set at, you guessed it, Christmas time.

Starring wrestling legend Bill Goldberg as a jacked-up Santa with a penchant for bloodshed and brutality, this 2005 picture centres on a couple of teenagers tasked with bringing an end to Jolly Saint Nick's reign of terror.

As is explained, the titular Claus is the spawn of Satan, and Christmas Day was originally a day put aside for murder. When an angel put a stop to Santa's sinister ways - by defeating him in a curling match, of course - Claus was sentenced to spend the next 1,000 years delivering presents on Christmas Day. With that sentence having now finally finished, Big Bill's Father Christmas is back to his violent ways, killing countless people in extremely inventive and festive ways.

By the time Santa's Slay gets to its final act, our two surviving teenagers and one of their grandparents are ready to take Santa down once and for all. With the clocks having struck midnight to signal the end of Christmas Day, Claus is now powerless. After wounding the rogue with a magical chestnut (yes, really!), our heroes chase after the big bad in order to finish the job.

So, the audience is geared up for one final battle, where our protagonists will fight the weakened, vulnerable Santa...

The only thing is, by the time they find Claus, it's actually someone else - a crooked pastor - who's in the Santa suit, meaning no final battle, no comeuppance, and a fakeout ending that soon shows us the real Santa Claus at an airport and making a mid-credits promise to return next year.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.