RLJ Entertainment, under its Image Entertainment brand, has acquired all U.S. rights to the absolutely awesome horror anthology, A Christmas Horror Story (review).

Directed by Steven Hoban (Darknet), Grant Harvey (She Made Me Do It) and Brett Sullivan (Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed), the film stars William Shatner (Star Trek) and George Buza (X-Men). The film will premiere on July 20, 2015 at this year’s Fantasia Film Festival.

“A Christmas Horror Story brings a scary twist to the traditional Christmas tale,” said Mark Ward, RLJ Entertainment’s Chief Acquisitions Officer. “With the legendary William Shatner and horribly fantastic creatures, genre fans will never see this happy holiday the same way again.”

CHRISTMAS: a time of Joy, Peace and Goodwill, unless you happen to live in the town of Bailey Downs. Here, on Christmas Eve, joy is corrupted when a malevolent spirit traps three teens in a school basement intent on recreating a twisted version of the Nativity story. Peace is shattered when a family returns from a snowy forest with the perfect Christmas tree only to find something is terrifyingly wrong with their seven-year-old son. And goodwill is perverted when a not-so-nice family is hunted down by Krampus, the demonic anti-Santa Claus of Nordic mythology. Even Santa Claus himself is drawn into the horror when he has to fight off a horde of howling Zombie Elves before making his rounds. This Christmas, the creatures are stirring and they’re coming for you whether you’re naughty or nice.

A Christmas Horror Story was produced by Copperheart Entertainment’s Steve Hoban (Splice) and Mark Smith (388 Arletta Avenue) and executive produced by David Hayter (“World War III”). Mark Ward of RLJ Entertainment negotiated the deal with Paradigm Talent Agency on behalf of the filmmakers.