Christmas Evil (1980)
A few reviews back, I was writing about surprises and sleepers as the reason I sit through miles of crap. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you... A Big Fucking Surprise.
Tell me what you'd expect from this cover art and plot synopsis. (Mouse over onto the picture for the synopsis.)
I'd say you'd expect a hunk of cheese the size of Aunt Fanny's head, at the very least. I'll admit that's what I was expecting. What I got was entirely different -- an offbeat, creepy character study of one deeply disturbed individual. Brandon Maggart is mesmerizing as the young boy, all grown up and a little too obsessed with Santa and the Christmas spirit. He's obviously insane, but at the same time he retains sympathy. His performance is what makes the film work. (There's an especially memorable and chilling scene where he tells a group of children to behave and he'll give them good stuff next year, but if they don't...) Unfortunately, the film hits self-destruct mode in the last act (Torches? In suburbia?), leading to an especially ridiculous ending. Very little violence/gore also -- the "bad girls" are wholly the invention of some desperate ad-copy writer -- so if you're looking for cheap thrills, go elsewhere. (Silent Night, Deadly Night 2 will probably be on the shelf collecting dust. Grab that.) But if you want something a little different, a little unusual, check this out. It's an honest attempt to deal with the idea of a homicidal Santa Claus as more than just a carbon-copy slasher, and it's waiting for rediscovery. Judging from the online howls of protest by gorehounds everywhere, it'll probably wait forever. To each their own, I guess.
Grade: B-
A few reviews back, I was writing about surprises and sleepers as the reason I sit through miles of crap. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you... A Big Fucking Surprise.
Tell me what you'd expect from this cover art and plot synopsis. (Mouse over onto the picture for the synopsis.)
I'd say you'd expect a hunk of cheese the size of Aunt Fanny's head, at the very least. I'll admit that's what I was expecting. What I got was entirely different -- an offbeat, creepy character study of one deeply disturbed individual. Brandon Maggart is mesmerizing as the young boy, all grown up and a little too obsessed with Santa and the Christmas spirit. He's obviously insane, but at the same time he retains sympathy. His performance is what makes the film work. (There's an especially memorable and chilling scene where he tells a group of children to behave and he'll give them good stuff next year, but if they don't...) Unfortunately, the film hits self-destruct mode in the last act (Torches? In suburbia?), leading to an especially ridiculous ending. Very little violence/gore also -- the "bad girls" are wholly the invention of some desperate ad-copy writer -- so if you're looking for cheap thrills, go elsewhere. (Silent Night, Deadly Night 2 will probably be on the shelf collecting dust. Grab that.) But if you want something a little different, a little unusual, check this out. It's an honest attempt to deal with the idea of a homicidal Santa Claus as more than just a carbon-copy slasher, and it's waiting for rediscovery. Judging from the online howls of protest by gorehounds everywhere, it'll probably wait forever. To each their own, I guess.
Grade: B-
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