Rooster Teeth Founders Team for Christmas Elf Horror ‘Bad Toys’

Turns out, there are worse things you can get for Christmas than coal.

Variety reports that Matt Hullum and Burnie Burns, the founders of Rooster Teeth, have reunited for the Christmas horror-comedy, Bad Toys.

According to the outlet, Bad Toys “is inspired by ‘medieval Christmas elf folklore’ and asks, ‘What if a mischievous Christmas elf brought you what you wanted when you were nice, but made you regret what you asked for if you were naughty?'”

Yeah, that’s one elf on the shelf I could do without. This sounds like it combines elements of everything from Krampus to Elves (pictured above) and Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toy Maker (the one where Mickey Rooney, of all people, plays a psychotic Santa). I say, bring it on.

Hullum will serve as writer-director, while Burns is on as an executive producer. Suzanne Weinert of Flatiron Pictures serves as a producer.

Said Hullum, “Around the holidays, my wife loves to prank us by hiding Christmas elf dolls in unexpected places — including the knife drawer — and has given me quite a few jump scares over the years! I began researching ancient elf lore, mostly Scandinavian, and discovered that there is a rich and bizarre history of mischievous and even deadly elves spanning back centuries. Bad Toys is my take on turning those spooky old fairy tales into a modern-day holiday adventure … and an excuse to reunite with some of my Rooster Teeth family and our millions of fans from YouTube and around the world.”

Rooster Teeth is an online entertainment label that launched in 2003. It found great success with the web series “Red vs. Blue” before shutting down around 2024. Variety notes that Burns came out of retirement in 2025 to buy Rooster Teeth back from Warner Bros. and revive the brand. Bad Toys marks a major part of that revival.

Pre-production is expected to begin on Bad Toys in early 2027 and is slated for a theatrical release around Christmas of the same year.