Though often confused for the other killer Santa Claus movie, Silent Night, Deadly Night, I'd like to assure everyone that this is not that film. Christmas Evil isn't your average Troma film. It's more of a deep pyschological film and not a splatter flick, like the cover seems to promise. Following a poor distribution run due to several incompetent distributors, Troma ended up with the rights to the film.
It stars Brandon Maggart(who is the father of Fiona Apple and looks strikingly similar to Greg from The Brady Bunch) as Harry, a toy shop worker who absolutely loves Christmas. Despite having a traumatic experience when he was younger, involving his little brother not believing in Santa and seeing his father in full Santa suit performing cunnilingus on his mother (I think that'd fuck any kid up, personally). Harry loves Christmas so much, that he appears in Santa suit for his brother's kids, checks up on neighborhood children to add them to naughty and nice lists, and wakes up to his favorite Christmas records. However, when too many people begin to destroy the Christmas spirit that Harry is in love with, he snaps and has to take matters into his own hands. Dressed as Santa and driving around in his van with a sled painted on the side, Harry goes about awarding the nice people and delivering punishment for those who are destroying his favorite holiday.
I know what you're probably saying: "Add Linnea Quigley nude and you'd have the same thing as Silent Night, Deadly Night!". But Christmas Evil is not just a SNDN ripoff: in fact, it was shot years prior to it. Lewis Jackson presents a film that's more of a character study than an explotation film. Does it work? Absolutely. Though there's some moments that lag, the film still manages to maintain it's dignity. Everything's pretty good overall: the cinematography is great, the actors are all fairly decent, and the effects are short used, but effective. The editing is a little poor and there's not really a plot per se. I hate using the "But this is a Troma movie!" excuse, but I feel it kind of fits here. You won't be looking for intricate plots with films like Christmas Evil, but you'll be pleasantly surprised that director Lewis Jackson added in enough developement for Harry, allowing the film to be a good little pyschological character study, as well as an extremely mild slasher film.
Overall, Christmas Evil seems to be a film that you really, really love or a film that you really, really despise. If you like it, you'll consider it brilliant and if you hate it, you'll consider it a total piece of shit, judging by the reviews I've read. I enjoyed the film overall and it's definately recommended for at least a rental. Besides, John Waters claims it's the best seasonal holiday film ever. That has to amount to something!
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
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