Christmas slashers are a beloved subgenre that horror fans tend to gravitate towards throughout the holiday season. Films such as Black Christmas (1974), which frequents the upper half of “greatest slasher movies” lists, and Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) dominate the month of December, but it’s a less popular slasher flick that truly understands the spirit of Christmas.
Lewis Jackson’s Christmas Evil (also titled You Better Watch Out and Terror in Toyland) was released in 1980 during the slasher craze. Unlike many of the films that predate it or came after its release, however, Jackson’s killer is the empathetic central character of this story. 33 years prior to the main events of the film, young Harry Stadling sits joyfully on the stairs with his brother, Philip, and their mom, watching as Santa Claus delivers presents and helps himself to the milk and cookies that the Stadlings have left for him. Harry, eager to believe in the fantastic, cannot be persuaded by Philip that the Santa in their living room was simply their father in disguise. Harry leaves his bed to sit on the stairs, attempting to once more catch a glimpse of Santa Claus, only to discover that Santa was, in fact, his own dad.
Now an adult, Harry (Brandon Maggart) has never quite healed from the heartbreak of that evening. All he ever wanted from life was something to believe in and for someone to believe with- a wish that was never granted by his younger brother (Jeffrey DeMunn). He’s an outcast among his peers at the toy factory in which he works, but he takes the toy business very seriously. Away from work, Harry is obsessed with becoming the real Santa Claus: His apartment is filled with holiday decor, he sleeps in a Santa outfit, and he spies on the local children, marking their behavior on a list, just as St. Nicholas would. On Christmas Eve, Harry takes it upon himself to deliver gifts to all the good boys and girls, and slash the parents who would dare ruin the holiday.
Christmas Evil isn’t without tension or bloodshed, but those things aren’t the homestead of what makes this film so special. By focusing primarily on Harry as a character, the audience has empathy for him and what he seeks to accomplish, even if it’s deranged and creepy. There’s a twinkle in his eye when he spots a well-behaved child, and while that may prove sadistic in another horror film, it’s quite innocent here. Harry, fueled by his own disappointment, wants to give these children something to believe in other than the cruel world around them. He wants to provide the sense of magic that was robbed from him during his lonely youth.
His mental anguish drives him to commit terrible, reprehensible atrocities such as killing bullying adults outside of a church on Christmas Eve, but on the same evening, he delivers a van (decked out with sleigh art on its sliding door) filled with presents to sick children in a hospital. He’s complex, and so is the film he belongs to. This is a horror film that celebrates youthful innocence and punishes those who take it away. It’s a slasher flick, but even more so, it’s a Christmas movie. It’s a slow-burning character study that gives us a glimpse into the mind of a madman, while also showcasing the genuinely pure spirit of Christmas that he abides by.
If that very same spirit is what you seek this December, I encourage you to give this largely ignored film a shot. You’ll be frightened by the mind of a deranged man, but you’ll be inspired by the goodness in his heart. What more could you want from a Christmas film?
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