Christmas Evil

This is the greatest killer santa claus movie of all time!!!! A killer disguised as santa claus is haunted by A 1947 christmas after seeing his mom being fondled by his father(who by the way is dressed in A santa claus suit)and finding out there is no santa claus.Now as an adult,he keeps records of boys and girls who are good and bad and kills the people who are mean to him and those who uses christmas as profit making.Although this movie is low budget,it still has great acting and A surprising (and funny)ending.It's A must for horror buffs.

This cult favourite seasonal picture is writer / director Lewis Jackson's interesting, offbeat take on the holidays, focusing on a pathetic figure named Harry Stadling (Brandon Maggart), whose mind has been warped ever since seeing something as a child that he ought not to have seen. He's grown up with an obsession with Christmas; the decorations at his place have a Christmas theme, for one thing. He's dismayed at the attitudes displayed by co-workers at his place of employment, a toy factory, and goes so far as to catalogue the naughty or nice activities of children in his neighbourhood. When he learns that his company plans on donating toys to a local hospital, but expects all employees to make any financial donations, that's when he truly becomes determined to spread his own brand of Christmas cheer.

Now, this is not really for hardcore horror fans. True enough that Harry does end up murdering a few people, but this is not about racking up the body count. This is ultimately about one man's mental and emotional deterioration, and nowadays some folk might even insist on giving it the common "psychological thriller" label. Jackson takes aim at the crass commercialization of the holiday, a common theme in Christmas fare, and comes up with some very striking images, notably the police line up of Santas, and the homage to the Fritz Lang classic "M" with angry torch bearing citizens hellbent on getting their hands on Harry.

Talented star Maggart came in cold for his audition and delivered the exact performance seen in the movie; it's truly something to see. Fellow character veteran Jeffrey DeMunn ('The Walking Dead', "The Green Mile", etc.) is also effective as Phil, the younger brother frustrated over having to look out for Harry for many years rather than being able to look up to him. The cast and crew is filled with a number of people who did very well for themselves afterwards; the actors include future 'Home Improvement' wife & mom Patricia Richardson, as well as Peter Friedman, Mark Margolis, Raymond J. Barry, Robert Lesser, Bill Raymond, and Rutanya Alda; the crew includes "presenter" and producer Edward R. Pressman, cinematographer Affonso Beato (who would shoot "The Big Easy"), and the late editor Sally Menke, who cut all of Tarantino's directorial efforts. Fun sequences feature Harry partying hearty with some strangers at a Christmas party and delivering toys to the children at a hospital. Seeing Harry spy on the kids, however, does create a fairly creepy vibe, no matter how good his intentions are.

One thing is for certain, and it's that this amusing low budget flick is fairly memorable, right down to its ending.

Seven out of 10.

Christmas Evil (1980) is a movie I recently watched on Tubi. The storyline follows a man who was scared as a child when he discovered Santa Clause wasn't real. He now works at a toy factory as an adult until he discovers his employers are more worried about profit than creating fantastic toys for the kids. He embarks on a killing spree to gain revenge on the factory owners on the children's behalf.

This movie is directed by Lewis Jackson (The Transformation: A Sandwich of Nightmares) and stars Brandon Maggart (Dressed to Kill), Jeffrey DeMunn (The Mist), Dianne Hull (Girls on the Road), Peter Friedman (Single White Female) and Patricia Richardson (Home Improvement).

The storyline for this picture was actually fun to watch unfold and reminded me of a Santa themed Child's Play in some ways. The man losing his mind and his family dynamic was well depicted and a little like Maniac. The sets and settings do a great job of setting up the scenarios and circumstances. The kill scenes themselves are a bit disappointing but has some good use of blood and props.

Overall this is more fun to watch than good and I'd score it a 5.5/10. I'd recommend seeing this once.

oddball seasonal slasher that has more characterisation and less gore than many of its contemparies.After witnessing his mother getting it on with his father in a santa suit as a boy,a now deeply disturbed and grown up harry standling (Brandon Maggart) decides to celebrate Christmas his own way by metering out punishment to those who have besmirched the season of good will.

'Christmas evil' succeeds due to the film's emphasis on showing harry as a three dimensional character and for conjuring up a generally oppressive and Eerie atmosphere throughout,the fact that the death scence's are sporadic and often off kilter add too this 1980 slasher's unsettling nature.

'Christmas evil' will be far too off-beat for your average stalk and slash fan,but for those open minded and adventurous enough,'Christmas evil'is a one of a kind,genuinely original treat.

One Christmas Eve 1947, two parents decide to surprise their kids (Harry and Phil) by having the father dress as Santa Claus and come down the chimney. All goes well, until later that evening when Harry sees them making love. Seeing that apparently traumatizes Harry as a child which leads into his adult life. Fast forward to present day 1980 where we meet an adult Harry who is clearly unhinged, all stemming from that night as a young boy. Harry has a job at a toy factory and spies on the children in the neighbouring apartment complex, keeping a naughty and nice list on all of them. We see that Harry isn't respected at all at work, with his coworkers constantly poking fun at him either to his face or behind his back. His own brother Phil even thinks he's a loser.

Harry handles all of his stresses and traumas the same way - bottling them up in public and then blowing up at home. After we see Harry dive deeper and deeper into a psychotic state, Christmas Eve arrives and he starts to believe that he is Santa Claus. Harry fills up a sack with toys he stole from his workplace and starts wandering the streets of New York looking to leave presents to only the good and deserving children. On the way, he decides it's time to kill anyone who is on the naughty list...

I was not a huge fan of this one, which surprised me. I love holiday horror and 80's slashers, so this should have been right up my alley. But I just found it to drag on and on to the point where I lost interest in a lot of the middle frame. A few things save it from being a flop. The acting by Brandon Maggart, the gore, and the last 20-30 minutes or so when Harry starts killing.

Overall, a very average holiday horror movie that is loved by many. I just wasn't a fan for some reason. I'd recommend giving it a watch and see what you think

5/10