Christmas Evil sounds a lot like a simple horror movie, one of those Santa slashers who still haunts the world. The original title, You Better Watch Out, fits a lot better to this super-dark comedy. It's so dark it's rarely funny, but still - in the tragedy it presents in glorious detail - is hilarious.
Brandon Maggart is Harry Stadling and Harry likes Christmas. No, he doesn't even like it. He loves it. He loves it like no other man. Probably to hide the fact that he saw Santa "cuddle up" with momma as a kid and now he wants to protect everything that's the American Christmas for him. He has a book for bad people and one for good people, and if you happens to end up in the first - then you're smoked! So Harry leaves his job at a toy factory and slowly lets himself transform into Santa... a highly irritated, but still good-hearted Santa. A combination that means a dangerous Santa....
If I make my stand-point clear here: if Phase IV is the 2001 of killer ant flicks, this is the 2001 of psycho Santa flicks. And that's a fact. It's also so much more than a psycho Santa flick, a lot more. It's actually more of a black drama telling us the story of a man that physically and mentally slowly transforms into the one thing he loves the most and then have a hard time dealing with how he's gonna live up to it. Only that is a brilliant set-up and with Brandon Maggart in the lead, it's also becomes of the best comedies ever.
It's a hard movie to describe. While there's a few deaths here and there, and come cheap and fun gore, Christmas Evil basically shows us Harry getting annoyed. Or more introvert. There's some fine details, like the awesome Jeffrey DeMunn as Harry's worried younger brother, who can't stand his brother, but loves him so much. Complex characters in something called genre cinema is always welcome. Because who cares about empty characters? I don't.
I can understan why John Waters calls it one of the best Christmas movies ever, with it's black comedy, disturbing characters (Harry's affectionate behaviour towards children, especially small girls, IS very ambigious - but I think its beause he cares about children, not something else - but you can read it in many ways!) and the best Christmas atmosphere since Christmas Vacation and maybe the remake of Black Christmas.
I'm not gonna spoil it (of course), but the ending is magical. I'm not sure what to make of it, because it could be read two ways - and both of them are beautiful in their own ways. Somehow it's the only way the movie could have ended to keep up the great quality of the rest.
This is one of my shorter reviews in a while, but sometimes you don't need to write more. It's perfect as it is.
this sounds very interesting. going to look for this. thanks fred.
Posted by: gk | December 23, 2013 at 05:40
"The original title, You Better Watch Out, fits a lot better to this super-dark comedy."
Great fucking title I think.
"If I make my stand-point clear here: if Phase IV is the 2001 of killer ant flicks, this is the 2001 of psycho Santa flicks."
Well, you were right about Phase IV (1974), so maybe you´re right about this one......
"There's some fine details, like the awesome Jeffrey DeMunn as Harry's worried younger brother, who can't stand his brother, but loves him so much."
Yeah....sounds like absurd twist on the christmas spirit, you have to hang out with people you don´t like, bitterness, old scars get torn up, etc.......christmas is wonderful!
hahahhahhahahhahahhah
"I can understan why John Waters calls it one of the best Christmas movies ever"
I didn´t know that.
"(Harry's affectionate behaviour towards children, especially small girls, IS very ambigious - but I think its beause he cares about children, not something else - but you can read it in many ways!)"
But the next step.....a pedophile killing santa.....sooner or later a film like that is going to get made.
"This is one of my shorter reviews in a while, but sometimes you don't need to write more. It's perfect as it is."
Okay......good review and thanks Fred.
Posted by: Megatron | December 23, 2013 at 15:52