Christmas Evil (1980)

"You'd better take care... Santa is coming to town!"

For horror fans, having seasonal, 'go to' favourites is par for the course, and Christmas happens to have a host of films that fall nicely into the category. Be it genre classics like 'Black Christmas' or 'Gremlins', there's usually something worth putting your hand to that isn't 'It's a Wonderful Life' to get you through the holidays. One of the less sensational 'seasonal slashers' to come out in the early 80's, Christmas Evil hasn't had the best exposure since its release. Between distribution by Troma and falling into public domain, the film has been experienced by most viewers through terrible VHS-ripped box sets, and rarely given much of a chance to shine on its own. Now that it has gotten legit releases in the last few years, just how well does this blood-soaked Santa suit scrub up?

As a young boy, Harry (Brandon Maggart; Dressed To Kill, The World According to Garp) witnesses Santa leaving presents under the tree in their home on Christmas eve. Later though, he sneaks back down the stairs and discovers his mother getting sexually pleasured by The Man in the Red Coat, and understandably gets very upset. Cut to Harry as an adult; he has become obsessed with Christmas and the idea of what it means to be a 'good boy or girl'. He works in a toy factory, but is constantly dismayed over the lack of care his co-workers have for making those toys special for the kids out there. When he isn't getting picked on by the toy factory staff, Harry spends much of his time watching the children in his neighbourhood to see if they are being good, even going so far as to keep 'naughty' and 'nice' lists. 

When Harry is informed that, although the factory is donating toys to a children's hospital, the owners don't seem to care if every kid gets a present. Harry finally snaps, and steals a truckload of toys to bring to the hospital on Christmas Eve. Dressed in his own Santa suit, and bringing some of his own, home-made toys, his delivery is met with delight by the hospital staff. Harry wanders around the city, encountering all sorts of seasonal party revellers, and not all of them have been 'nice'. Harry starts to dish out his own sense of justice against those not keeping the Christmas spirit, but soon the police are onto him, and Harry may not live long enough to see the last of his toys delivered...

Despite being lumped in with the likes of 'Silent Night, Deadly Night' and 'Don't Open 'Til Christmas', Christmas Evil is a much more subtle film than the lurid title would suggest. In fact, it probably has more in common with the likes of Taxi Driver than it does with Halloween. We spend most of the screen time with Harry, and we genuinely do feel sorry for the guy. He is confused and saddened by the world around him, with expectations for others that are impossible to reach. This obsession with being good leads him to 'become' Santa; when he dons the suit he truly believes he is the righteous man who has the power to judge those who haven't been good. It's ludicrous, of course, but it's great to see this level of characterisation instead of the after-thought of explanation in most horror films from the period. 

Despite arriving at the start of the slasher craze, Christmas Evil ultimately takes more cues from the likes of Frankenstein in how the film plays out. Despite dishing out some bloody violence on a cross section of people, our sympathy with Harry is maintained as we see him chased down dark alleys by mobs with flaming torches, looking to destroy the monster he has become. It leads to a bizarre ending, that I won't spoil here, but it is strangely effective and fairly depressing.

Despite the pathos, Christmas Evil is definitely a horror film. The body count is relatively low, but some scenes rate highly on the creepy scale, nonetheless. Harry has a particular disliking to a young boy across the street (the kid has a penchant for Penthouse magazine and foul language), and a great moment involves Harry hiding in the bushes, creeping him out. The same goes for the moment in which harry slays a group of men outside a church who were making fun of them. What's even more disturbing than the eyeball puncturing and hatchets-to-skulls is the fact that the men don't really deserve to die such violent deaths. This is pushed even further with the moment in which Harry enters one of his co-workers homes in the dead of night, and smothers the man while his wife watches, terrified. Moments later, fleeing the scene, Harry is spotted by the victims kids, who think he is the real Santa. This potentially funny moment is broken by the ear piercing screams of the mother, and the reality of what Harry is doing becomes all the more apparent. He is hellbent on punishing those for not being 'good', despite his own casual abandonment of his family and nephews at a time when family should come first.

These conflicting emotions run throughout Christmas Evil, and Brandon Maggart puts in a fine performance as Harry, lending it the appropriate levels of emotion required for such a complex character. The other performances are a mixed bag, with nobody really shining out among them. This is probably not helped by the script, which doesn't do much with anyone who isn't Harry. it almost falls apart in the climax when we start seeing what the cops are up to, but thankfully this wall-breaking doesn't derail things too much. Directed by Lewis Jackson, the film looks pretty solid, with decent use made of real locations and plenty of garish, seasonal lighting. The budget definitely shows here and there, but the newly remastered prints out there are light-years beyond the old versions most of us have seen.

If you are expecting a wall-to-wall slasher film like Silent Night, Deadly Night, then it's best you pass this one up. For the most part, it's a study of a man pushing himself to do bad things in the name of being good, and it's really quite effective. With a haunting score and excellent lead performance, give Christmas Evil the chance it deserves.