Ralph’s Perfekt Christmas Trailer Drops — Jill Schoelen Is Back After 29 Years

You know the house. Every bulb on the block is his, an inflatable Santa mid-collapse on the lawn, carols rattling the windows before the leaves finish falling. The neighbors have stopped pretending it’s charming.

Ralph isn’t waiting for December. And this year, the tinsel comes with a ransom note.

Turn the porch lights on for this one, fiends — the trailer just dropped.

Watch the Trailer

Quick Specs

• Release: Limited theatrical October 30, 2026; digital November 3 (TVOD + Screambox); DVD/Blu-ray later in November
• Directed by: Matthew Bellamy, Tom McLaren and Mary McLaren
• Written by: Jeremy Padow and Tom McLaren, from Padow’s original story
• Starring: Tom McLaren, Jill Schoelen, Charlie Schlatter, Casey Burke, Landon Gimenez, Lynda Day George; special guests Susan Blakely, Nicholle Tom, Trevor Lissauer, Bill Mumy, Angela Cartwright, Marta Kristen
• Studio: Cineverse / Next Chapter Entertainment

Full disclosure, up front — nobody in this crypt has seen Ralph’s Perfekt Christmas yet. It’s still two weeks out from theaters. Everything here comes from the trailer and the trades, and I’m not going to pretend otherwise.

Here’s the setup: Ralph (Tom McLaren) is a Christmas obsessive whose love of the season has already cost him his marriage. His grand plan to win his family back? Kidnap the washed-up child star of his favorite Christmas movie. Which is exactly as sweet and unhinged as it sounds — until the scheme spirals darkly out of control, in what the trailer sells as a twisted dark comedy about two sides of one very desperate man.

The real gift under the tree is the casting. Jill Schoelen — Stephanie from The Stepfather (1987), Maggie from Popcorn (1991) — hasn’t carried a feature in 29 years. She stepped away from Hollywood to be a full-time mom, as she’s told it, and now she’s back in a holiday horror-comedy that, in her words, takes “a quite wonderful horror twist” as it goes. Casting the girl who clocked Terry O’Quinn’s rot in a film about a man performing domestic contentment with something rotten underneath? That’s not casting. That’s destiny.

And the stockings are stuffed: Bill Mumy, Angela Cartwright, and Marta Kristen — Lost in Space’s original Robinson siblings — all turn up as special guests, alongside Susan Blakely, Nicholle Tom, and Trevor Lissauer.

Trivia & Facts

• Matthew Bellamy directs alongside Tom McLaren and Mary McLaren — the debut feature from Next Chapter Entertainment. Tom McLaren also co-wrote the film and stars as Ralph.
• Cineverse gives it a limited theatrical run October 30, then digital November 3 on TVOD and Screambox the same day, with DVD and Blu-ray later in November.
• Schoelen has said she has more horror lined up — including A Dying Art with Logan Miller. This reads like a comeback, not a cameo.
• The official poster promises: “Only in Theaters October 30.”

Harper’s Extras

• Ted Raimi’s Your Dearest Darkest Friend trailer (Screambox, October 30) — Same week, same streamer family, entirely different nightmare. Raimi’s haunted-manor mixology hour pairs perfectly.
• Silent Night, Deadly Night reboot — our full coverage lands when it screens. If holiday horror is your whole personality this month, keep an eye out.
• The Stepfather (1987) — Rewatch Stephanie clock the rot before you judge Ralph. You’ll see exactly why this casting matters.

Where to Watch

In theaters October 30 (limited run); digital November 3 on TVOD and Screambox; DVD/Blu-ray later in November.

FAQ

Is Ralph’s Perfekt Christmas a horror movie? It’s billed as a dark comedy genre-bender, but Schoelen herself promises “a quite wonderful horror twist.” We’ll judge when it screens.

When does it come out? October 30 in theaters (limited), November 3 on digital.

Who stars in it? Tom McLaren as Ralph, with Jill Schoelen, Charlie Schlatter, Casey Burke, Landon Gimenez, and Lynda Day George — plus special guests including the Lost in Space Robinson siblings.

Where can I watch the trailer? Right up top, fiends — the official Cineverse trailer is embedded above.

Stay scared out there — and if a neighbor offers you Christmas cookies in October, ask questions first.