From concept to execution, The Christmas Tapes could be titled V/H/S: XMAS. Whatever you think of that lo-fi horror anthology franchise is a reliable barometer of your reception to this well-stocked project of merriment, mischief, mayhem and murder.

On Christmas Eve, the camcorder-captured celebration of a white suburban family — the kind with “Live Laugh Love” signs in place of art — is interrupted by an unexpected visitor. It’s Geoff (a wonderful Greg Sestero, The Room), a “stranded” driver asking to use their phone. They oblige.

Mere minutes later, Geoff has the clan at gunpoint, forcing them to watch unsung Christmas movies he’s brought on VHS cassettes. Said “movies” are homemade … and suspiciously acquired. Luckily, the modern family still owns a player; otherwise, this framing device would be for naught.

Numbering four, they range from a vlogging couple’s camping trip gone bad after summoning a German scarecrow (with jump scares galore) to spouses spending their first holiday season in their newly purchased house (complete with unexplained occurrences). Sandwiched in between is a quick bit in the POV of someone who has to deliver a package before a literally explosive deadline.

The best present of all finds a well-meaning dad (Jason Kuykendall) shipping an oversized gift box to his kids. Its contents: himself! To heighten the Christmas spirit, he hires a Santa to truck him there; unfortunately, this Kris Kringle (Vernon Wells, The Road Warrior) veers from the plan.

Although the aforementioned haunted-house segment allows Dave Sheridan (Scary Movie’s Doofie) to improvise a little too long, The Christmas Tapes satisfies as a maniacal party mix of playful terror and dark humor. The framing device holds its own as a story, too. My Christmas wish is for Sestero to again reunite with his Infrared directing duo for another dip into Geoff’s bag of found-footage tricks. —Rod Lott