Christmas evil, 1980 a psycho in a santa suit gets to decide whos been naughty and whos been nice. Its opening scene is a vague exposition that reveals the who, the what, and the when of the plot, but never explains why, and the finale is the end result of a neglected tension that holds no bearing with the audience. Harry is a schmuck and both kids and adults treat him like garbage. Rare trailer for 1980 slasher christmas evil under its original title of you better watch out a strange kinetic mix of character study and slasher movie with blackly comic overtone. As far as christmas horror movies are concerned, i think the best and most frightening is 1980s christmas evil. Nov 09, 2012 christmas evil, 1980 a psycho in a santa suit gets to decide whos been naughty and whos been nice. The legendary finale is as wondrous as the holiday itself. Although the first twenty minutes, give or take, are a little slow on top of being a tad bit weird, the film comes together beautifully being able to explain to viewers why harry is socially inept to an incredible level and how he plans and accomplishes a way to work through it. Not a slasher film, but a taxi driveresque character study and one damn fine performance from fiona apples father, brandon maggart, as he slips into madness. Many people do not have the time to read the 312 top 15 horror movies based on real life. Dec 07, 2014 christmas evil soundtrack from 1980, composed by don christensen, joel harris, julia heyward. Our agreements with the content provider dont allow purchases of this title at this time.
Th plot follows a disturbed toy factory manager that goes on a brutal killing spree during the yuletide season. Christmasevil1980 scanner internet archive html5 uploader 1. Ep6 christmas evil 1980 silent night, deadly podcast. Dec 12, 2012 a victim of poor marketing, christmas evil from 1980 and originally titled you better watch out is surprisingly less focused on a stalk n slash santa figure than it is with the gradual mental. Harry catches his mother being sexually groped by his father, who is dressed up as santa. Harrys bizarre behavior, his santa memorabilia, the music, and the movies trailer were the only scary qualities to christmas evil. If you had to watch one movie where a guy murders three yuppies and laughs at. Later, he experiences a mental break when his job sparks early childhood memories during the holiday season, which results in a yuletide killing spree. I think part of the problem here is the way in which christmas evil has been marketed, clearly painting itself as a slasher film and hoping to attract the bloodthirsty audiences.
Welcome to arrow in the heads the best horror movie you never saw, which will be dedicated to highlighting horror films that, for one reason or. There are a nice few slasher elements present in christmas evil while it also contains great psychological horror. For the love of christ, buddah, zeus and every deity in between, do not see this movie. A deranged departmentstore santa becomes a coldblooded killer in this taut psychothriller that spends time looking back at the poor fellows life. This is a character study of sorts, we follow around harry and his descent into madness during the christmas season due to a. I made the mistake of thinking it was christmas evil, whose alternate title was you better watch out, and was sorely mistaken.
Released 1980, christmas evil stars brandon maggart, dianne hull, scott mckay, joe jamrog the r movie has a runtime of about 1 hr 40 min, and received a score of out of 100 on metacritic. Rare trailer for 1980 slasher christmas evil under its original title of you better watch out a strange kinetic mix of character study and slasher. With brandon maggart, jeffrey demunn, dianne hull, andy fenwick. Christmas evil soundtrack from 1980, composed by don christensen, joel harris, julia heyward. A toy factory worker, mentally scarred as a child upon learning santa claus is not real. A man obsessed with santa claus snaps and goes on a yuletide killing spree in this utterly deranged christmas horror fable that john waters called the greatest christmas movie of all time. Vinyl 10 don christensen, joel harris, julia heyward christmas evil you. See the full list of christmas evil cast and crew including actors, directors, producers and more. Watched christmas evil 1980 last night not so much a horror, more a psychological thriller documenting a good mans descent into madness. Its much more of a character piece than a body count movie as you watch a man slip into insanity after becoming sick of it all. One dvd release of the film has a commentary track by john waters who claims the film to be the greatest christmas movie ever made. The body count is small and theres very little blood in christmas evil, but anyone whos complaining about either of those things has unfortunately missed the point of the.
Its understandable as writerdirector lewis jacksons. Cover artwork can be seen below, including a direct preorder link right here christmas evil is another title well worth adding to your slasher classics collection line. I went into it thinking it would be something like black christmas or silent night, deadly night. The details of what might be real life and what could be fantasy become intertwined and often impossible to tease apart. This is a character study of sorts, we follow around harry and his descent into madness during the christmas season due to a trauma he experienced as a child. I thought it was going to be a slasher movie featuring some deranged maniac in a santa suit. Dec 22, 2016 as far as christmas horror movies are concerned, i think the best and most frightening is 1980s christmas evil.
So what really happened at the end of christmas evil. Dec 04, 2014 john waters has referred to christmas evil as the greatest christmas movie ever made, but odds are youve never even seen it. We thought it would be cool to make a list of some of the best horror movies based on real life events. Christmas evil is one of the many attempts to bring horror to the season of peace, love and joy. Dec 26, 2018 we examine how well christmas evil has held up over the past 39 years. In many ways, christmas evil is a sort of frankenstein for the holiday season, with harry unwittingly becoming something that he never intended on becoming. I really like christmas evil, and while some may say that it is just another run of the mill slasher flick about a killer santa claus i have to disagree as i think that there is a little more going on here than that.
You can watch it on youtube if you are ever in the mood for a really depressingly wonderful christmas movie, look no further than christmas evil. Some people may be surprised to know that frank darabontregular, jeffrey demunn is featured as harrys brother in christmas evil. Review castlevania season 3 is the netflix series at its best and bravest. After he dons the santa costume, harry takes an extreme approach to the role, as he rewards the nice and punishes those who mock the spirit of christmas.
Don christensen, joel harris, julia heyward christmas. Released by death waltz recording in 2014 dw32 containing music from christmas evil you better watch out 1980. Dec 24, 2007 yet even maggarts conviction in the lead role is not enough to put christmas evil on the top of anyones wish list. A psycho in a santa suit gets to decide whos been naughty and whos been nice. Westworld season 3 official featurette escape from westworld hd thandie newton. Christmas evil 1980 was originally titled you better watch out. Every christmas season sees a mountain of insipid christmasthemed madefortv movies and the occasional theatrical film. All horror anime fans will love this anime top list, especially the casual anime fan. Every christmas season sees a mountain of insipid christmasthemed madefor tv movies and the occasional theatrical film. The next time you watch christmas evil which is now available to stream on shudder, you can listen as scott and bryan take a deep dive into the 1980 holiday horror film, unwrapping its festive backdrop, christmasthemed kills, and intriguing psychological elements.
For the times, this cult classic and the few titles that came before, risked being perceived as taboo. Some people wont like it and some people will absolutely hate the. If you want that movie, there is a bluraydvd combo available under the name christmas evil here on amazon. Yet even maggarts conviction in the lead role is not enough to put christmas evil on the top of anyones wish list.
Its been compared to as the taxi driver at christmas and i pretty much agree with that comparison. I laughed hysterically watching harry murder 3 church parishioning bullies in front of everyone on the stair steps. If a person goes into christmas evil you better watch out expecting a. Christmas evil succeeds due to the films 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 scences are sporadic and often off kilter add too this 1980 slashers unsettling nature. Out of them all, id say that christmas evil and silent night, deadly night do the killer santa thing the best though christmas evils finale really jumps the shark. Christmas evil you better watch out vhs retro style 1980. Rent christmas evil 1980 starring brandon maggart and dianne hull on dvd and bluray. This movie is not a slasher film, it has far too much substance and story to fall into that genre. The next time you watch christmas evil which is now available to stream on shudder, you can listen as scott and bryan take a deep dive into the 1980 holiday horror film, unwrapping its festive backdrop, christmas themed kills, and intriguing psychological elements. Original directors cut, you better watch out, terror in toyland. This version is presented in its matted widescreen ratio of 1.
Christmas evil is sad, touching, startling, and heartwarming all at once. John waters has referred to christmas evil as the greatest christmas movie ever made, but odds are youve never even seen it. In december 2006, synapse films released a special edition dvd of christmas evil. It isnt anything of the sort though, ending up as some secondrate lonerturnsintopsycho movie which just. Although this film may be well intentioned, this movie gets nothing but a lump of coal in the stocking. Christmas evil 1980 cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more. It features audio commentary from the director and cult filmmaker john waters, who is quoted as saying it is the greatest christmas movie ever made. But, this year, he begins to feel his sense of the season slipping away at the same time that his obsessive preoccupation with christmas ramps up as the holiday approaches. We examine how well christmas evil has held up over the past 39 years.
A toy factory worker, mentally scarred as a child upon learning. Dec 16, 2019 welcome to arrow in the heads the best horror movie you never saw, which will be dedicated to highlighting horror films that, for one reason or another, dont get as much love as we think they. A victim of poor marketing, christmas evil from 1980 and originally titled you better watch out is surprisingly less focused on a stalk n slash santa figure than it is with the gradual mental. A deranged departmentstore santa becomes a coldblooded killer in this taut psychothriller that spends time looking back at the poor fellows. Dec 15, 2017 although the first twenty minutes, give or take, are a little slow on top of being a tad bit weird, the film comes together beautifully being able to explain to viewers why harry is socially inept to an incredible level and how he plans and accomplishes a way to work through it. Christmas evil 1980 horror, thriller movie directed by. This movie was originally billed as a routine christmas horrorslasher flick. Christmas evil is a 1980 american psychological slasher film written and directed by lewis jackson and starring brandon maggart. The quality, especially the editing, is as low budget as it gets, but was a fun watch nonetheless. It isnt anything of the sort though, ending up as some secondrate lonerturnsintopsycho movie which just so happens to be set at christmas. Christmas evil 1980 stream and watch online moviefone. To all a goodnight has a killer santa who takes up the mantle simply because of the season in a friday the thesque twist.
563 1614 1117 1531 1470 1362 323 799 364 1398 696 195 943 1400 57 584 1607 877 1046 445 713 1455 1290 965 899 890 1329