Christmas Evil - 1980

Reviewed by Sammi




Year: 1980

Director: Lewis Jackson

Starring: Brandon Maggart, Jeffrey DeMunn

Synopsis: Ready for this? Kid sees his Dad, dressed as Santa, coming on to his Mom. He grows up and decides that he's Santa. Gives good kids presents, terrorizes bad kids, kills grownups.

Screens:








Review: Whew...this one just gets better every time I see it! It's not a slasher, as much as others like to label it as such. It's more along the lines of "Maniac" or "Don't Go in the House". Basically it's a character study of one man's descent into madness. It's not terribly violent, and when it does hit a moment of violence, it's not too over the top on the gore...for the most part. The scene outside of the church kind of comes out of left field, but the rest is pretty tame.
The thing about this movie is that you actually feel for this guy. He's a bit of an anti-hero and really does just want people to be good. His methods may be a tad bit unorthodox, but whatever works for him, right? He does do a number of really nice things though. Like stealing a bunch of toys from the factory he works at and dropping them off at a children's hospital and leaving kids in his "Good" book presents under their trees.
Two of my favorite parts are: when he leaves one kid, who he caught reading Penthouse, a large sack of dirt; and when an angry mob is chasing him with torches. Really? People in 1980 had torches just laying around in case they needed to have a good lynching? I was four in 1980. I remember some things from when I was four...torches aren't one of those things. My parents must've felt really stupid whenever someone, in the neighborhood, needed to be hunted down and mobbed.
The one thing I'll give the torch chase is that it brings a "Frankenstein" kind of feel to the film, and that's kind of how you feel about Harry. It's not his fault he's batshit crazy, it's definitely a culmination of things (seeing your parents play "Naughty Girl on Santa's Lap" could do that to a fragile mind). He's kind of like the monster, more misunderstood than evil.
Add to this an ending that leaves you wondering if you just missed something. It took me a couple of viewings to get what the director was trying to get across. I think it really just comes down to bad timing, but it's cool. I've seen a lot worse.
Overall, this film is gold. I wish more people knew about it, and that it had a larger following. Harry tries so hard to get people to believe in Christmas and what it stands for. Good people have no reason to worry around this guy...it's the "bad" people that need to worry, and you really can't get much more "Christmas Spirit" than that.

Score: 8.5/11

Trivia: Not too much on this one, except for Jeffrey DeMunn. TV fans may know him as Professor Norman Rothenberg of "Law and Order". Horror fans definitely know him as Sheriff Herb Geller from the 1986 remake of "The Blob"...if you're a horror fan who doesn't like the 1986 remake of "The Blob", then you should just go become a Dave Matthews fan.

Availability: Amazon has DVD copies starting at $9.00 used. This film has been released multiple times by multiple companies, so it shouldn't be too hard to find.