Christmas Evil (1980)

One Christmas night, little Harry sees Santa kissing mommy. And, you know, not on the lips either. Cut to thirty years later when he has grown up to be a toy factory worker, stalker of little children, keeper of naughty or nice ledgers and an all around Christmas lunatic. And once again the jolliest time of the year is approaching and Harry (Brandon Maggart) is starting to feel the pressure of the Yuletide.Christmas Evil stands apart from its slasher horror brethren by the virtue of its quality. Maggart is a very believable lead as a man that has never quite fit in with the adult society and is constantly being exploited because of his helpful, downtrodden attitude. The film opens beautifully with slowly revealed signs about the lengths of his obsession with Christmas and when he finally has had enough, it feels believable. Like you'd almost do the exact same thing if put into the same situation.The film is also shot very well and contains some genuinely nice Christmas imagery. Sure you can see the limitations of the budget, but the camera-work is nicely done, all the actors are directed well and the pacing works, keeping you on the edge of your seat as Harry wanders the town in his getup. All the Christmas gags and jokes are also hilarious, especially keeping in mind that the film has a very dark sense of humour, being a slasher film.I liked the film. It's not a masterpiece and I kind of hope they had focused a bit more on Harry's slow descend into madness. Now the dark comedy is there, but not the creepiness. Still, well worth a watch for all horror fans, especially around the holidays.

This 1980 horror film stars Brandon Maggart, Jeffrey DeMunn and Dianne Hull. This focuses on mild-mannered yet disturbed guy, Harry Stadling (Maggart) who works for a toy company. He loves Christmas and wants to help bring toys to some of the children in the neighborhood. He's been traumatized since he was a kid learning that Santa Claus isn't real. He's also been taken advantage of by some of his co-workers and they don't believe in their company's products as much as he does. On Christmas Eve, he decides to dress up as Santa bringing joy to the nice and terror to the naughty. DeMunn (The Hitcher) plays his brother, Philip and Hull plays Philip's wife, Jackie who are both concerned about him. This isn't a bad film that's also known as "You Better Watch Out" with a decent cast as well as some dark humor. I recommend this for horror/slasher fans.

Poor Harry, all he wants is to show his colleagues, family and neighbors how much Christmas means to him. But he's a little on the nutty side, literally obsessed with Christmas, from tacky ornaments filling his house to writing down the shortcomings of the kids on his block. It isn't long before he snaps, decides to be Santa and starts attacking! What can I say, this movie is great! Not only does it have that nostalgic slasher film atmosphere, but it also features decent acting, a comedic yet creepy cast of characters and festive soundtrack. You won't get much better from Friday the 13th or A Nightmare on Elm Street, this one is very underrated!

All-Star Video | BlogspotChristmas Evil is such a strange, hybrid-genre film, I can see why the marketing is so terrible. All the posters, descriptions, and trailers are misleading. It gets lumped in with Silent Night, Deadly Night and Black Christmas, but I think that's a problem. Those are both great films, but this is not really a slasher film. This is not a horror film. This is a genuinely original psychological film more in the vein of George Romero's Martin or Taxi Driver than Halloween. That being said, it's got some genuinely crazy awesome gore sequences and is extremely entertaining. Harry Stadling (brilliantly played by Brandon Maggert) is forever scarred when he decides to go downstairs on Christmas Eve to see the real Santa Claus and instead sees, what we presume is his dad, getting physical with his mom. Not surprisingly, the kid is disturbed. To be fair, that's pretty messed up. As a result Harry grows up overly obsessed with Christmas. He keeps tabs on the neighborhood kids, spying on them with binoculars and writing them down in the good boys and girls book or the bad boys and girls book.Harry works at a toy manufacturing shop, Jolly Dream, and has recently been promoted to manager, where he is horribly sad that he no longer works directly with the toys. His coworkers are douchebags and one of them fools Harry into working one of his shifts so that he can go out with his wife, but in reality he is going to the bar with his friends, which Harry sees in a later scene. Harry's bosses laugh at him for wanting to donate a lot of toys to the children at Willowy Springs (the horrible State Hospital). Harry becomes more and more agitated as he sees all these people not having the Christmas spirit. On Christmas Eve, Harry has finally had enough. He paints a sweet Santa sleigh on the side of his van and glues a white beard to his face, but then seems to immediately regret it, trying his best to tear it off. Maggert here takes over the role completely with his eyes and shows the mad desperation growing within Harry. He embraces the becoming of Santa.From here, Harry steals toys from Jolly Dream to bring to the Hospital. It's really quite amazing how the tone of this movie continues to shift. Harry's generosity is genuinely touching. This is the moment that every great Christmas movie is able to capture, the idea that the Christmas spirit is all about generosity. And yet, it then changes quickly again as he parks his sleigh van outside his bosses' church as they attend Midnight Mass. As the parishioners exit the church, some yuppie bastards in their 20s notice Santa outside standing by his van. They immediately approach him. One of them says to him:"Well, Santa, are you ready for a busy night?"Harry responds, "I have something for you." The smarmy bastard replies, "Oh, what is it? I have superlative taste." (how outstanding is that?Harry then stabs the yuppy in the eye with the gun of a toy soldier. It's super grotesque and incredible. He sinks a hatchet into the other yuppie's head and then runs to his sleigh van to escape. The gore effects are cheesy but awesome. But, Jackson lets the camera linger on the leftover chaos. What could just be a really sweet, and super funny, moment suddenly turns very dark. I found myself laughing and then immediately getting quiet. Harry comes across a Christmas party and stops to watch through the window. Harry's sad eyes linger on the happy group, and then two men inside notice Harry and bring him inside. Awkwardly, Harry enters the group, but is soon caught up in the excitement and after much merriment, Harry delivers an amazing monologue to the children at the party:"And, I'll bring you something... horrible."Harry is chased by mobs of people searching for the killer Santa Claus. From there, Harry gets stuck in a chimney, has his revenge on his co- worker, gets choked out by his brother, and then punches his brother in the face. With a great surprise ending, Jackson has provided us with what is fast becoming my favorite Christmas movie.-J. Moret, allstarvideo.blogspot.com