The drive-in theater seems to show Herschell Gordon Lewis' Orgie sanglante (1963), but it is not. The movie showing is actually La dame rouge tua 7 fois (1972) a.k.a. "La Dama Rossa Uccide Sette Volte." It was also distributed under the name "Blood Feast," which has caused some confusion.
One of several holiday-themed horror films that followed the success of La Nuit des masques (1978) in 1980. The notable difference here is the murderer's face is revealed early on, he isn't masked until the finale of the movie.
The success of La Nuit des masques (1978) began a cycle of slasher films with titles and subjects based around commemorative days and events, such as Le Bal de l'horreur (1980), La Mort en récompense (1981), New Year's Evil (1980), Meurtres à la St-Valentin (1981) for Valentine's Day, the spoof Samedi 14 (1981), Fête sanglante (1982), Week-end de terreur (1986), Vendredi 13 (1980) and its sequels.
The Turner Classic Movies network once paired an airing of 'New Year's Evil' with the film Christmas Evil (1980) for a holiday-themed slasher movie double feature.
Actress Roz Kelly, who played the central character of Diane 'Blaze' Sullivan, was well known at the time of this film for portraying Pinky Tuscadero on the television series ''Happy Days'' (1974-1984) where her character there was one of the Fonz (Henry Winkler)'s girl-friends.