1980’s quite frankly bonkers video nasty Christmas Evil ,(aka You Better Watch Out) really gets under the skin of an oddball with a Santa Claus obsession who, after being relentlessly slagged off at work, has a breakdown and embarks on another of those jolly yuletide killing sprees. Brandon Maggart gives a fantastic performance as Harry, a man who initially seems rather ‘aw shucks’ cuddly and loveable in his naiveté and steadfast belief in the magical wonder of Christmas but later seems completely mental while cackling and stabbing folk to death.
In a sinister nod to classic tune ‘I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus’, Harry is scarred for life as a boy after observing his daddy doing a lot more than smooching mommy dearest while dressed as jolly old St. Nick and grows up, it would be fair to suggest, a little maladjusted. He’s so messed up, little Harry hides in the attic and cuts himself up with a broken snowglobe and his memories have a hazy, dream-like, half-remembered fantastical quality to them, with ‘Santa’ disappearing up the chimney with a magical whoosh when the deed is done.
Fast forward thirty or so years and Harry is a lonely bumbler living in a flat filled with Santa memorabilia. He’s been newly promoted at the toy factory where he works, but everyone mocks him behind his back, sometimes to his face. We glimpse him spying on the neighbourhood children and scribbling in his creepy ‘Naughty/Nice’ book, with little notes like “impure thoughts” when he catches a wee boy ogling a nudie mag.
It becomes apparent all the kids seem to know him and he has a nice, neighbourly rapport with them, so it’s even more sinister knowing what he’s up to. We slowly get the impression that Harry is trying to be Santa and is on some twisted mission to keep his childish ideal of Christmas alive. It’s a bit hard to swallow that catching ‘Santa’ getting jiggy with your mum would cause someone to turn out this weird, but it’s thoroughly compelling.
He eventually snaps, makes a Santa suit, paints reindeer on his van and then robs a load of toys from work to take to the sick kids home, while delivering sacks of dirt to ‘naughty’ kids. It all seems relatively harmless until he’s suddenly stabbing folk outside midnight mass and giving a terrifying speech about “punishment" to the kids at his work’s Christmas party.
His killing spree becomes progressively outlandish and fantastical, with the townsfolk chasing him with torches and pitchforks like an old Universal Frankenstein movie. This leads to a horribly tense moment when the children rally round and try to defend him, thinking he’s the real Santa. My heart’s in my mouth when Harry drops his flick knife and a sweet little girl has to decide whether to give it back to him.
It really escalates quickly and (SPOILER!!!) ends with Harry driving his van off a cliff but seemingly flying off magically through the sky like Santa on his sleigh. It’s nuts and perfectly, beautifully ambiguous.
I really enjoy this one because it’s so different from your usual run-of-the-mill ‘slasher Santa’ movie. This is less about revenge and more about this damaged guy’s anger and frustration about a lack of social morality and everything he sees as being wrong with the world bubbling over into harmful behaviour. It’s a reminder that the so-called ‘season of goodwill’ often overlooks so many, like the isolated, desperately lonely and mentally ill. It also demonstrates that, much like those guys that dress up as superheroes to fight crime, the idea of someone taking on the mantle of Santa is pretty messed up and weird. Though very, very entertaining.
This is by far the most festive of all the yuletide horrors I’ve watched so far and keeps me gripped from start to finish. I watch this the day after the deal to buy our new house completely falls through, so I need some cheering up. Turns out the person offering to buy our home didn’t actually have the money, leaving me kind of wishing we could get Harry to put them on his Naughty List.
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