The movie predates the better-known "Silent Night, Deadly Night" by a few years, but has a small and solid cult following which includes director John Waters. And it's easy to see why: the charms of "Christmas Evil" are a lot more subtle and weird than the broader, hack-and-slash, show-us-your-tits, 70's chainsaw horror of "Silent Night." This low-budget gem falls more in the company of nudie-roughies like The Baby and Bad Ronald.
After the traumatic experience of seeing his mom get it on with dad in a Santa suit, Harry Stadling grows up to become this proto-stalker Santa. The movie plays up the essential creepiness of the concept of Santa: Harry watches his "little darlings" obsessively through their windows, and keeps lists of their good and bad behavior in his own books (including "impure thoughts" and "poor body hygiene.") This creepy Santa even has his own Santa-van, so he can drive around leaving bags of dirt on bad children's doorsteps. His obsession finally leads him to hacking bullies to death on the steps of a church, and melting down tin soldiers to make his own special toys so he can stab special yuppies in their special eyes. Of course, he ends up being pursued by a mob with torches.
The full movie is on Youtube. Enjoy!
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