Christmas Evil 1980 123movies

#123movies #fmovies #putlocker #gomovies #solarmovie #soap2day Watch Full Movie Online Free – Widely recognized as the best of the Christmas horror efforts, Christmas Evil is the story of a boy who loves Christmas. He is scarred as a boy when he learns that Santa is not real. Throughout the rest of his life, the toy-maker tries to make the Christmas spirit a reality. He becomes obsessed with the behavior of children and the quality of the toys he makes. When he is met with hypocrisy and cynicism, the resulting snap causes him to go on a yuletide killing spree to complete this dark comedic horror.
Plot: A toy factory worker, mentally scarred as a child upon learning Santa Claus is not real, suffers a nervous breakdown after being belittled at work, and embarks on a Yuletide killing spree.
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Christmas Evil 1980 Streaming Links:

Ratings:

	5.6/10 Votes: 6,605
	75%
	N/A
	5.4 Votes: 113 Popularity: 9.952

Reviews:

Christmas EVIL (Lewis Jackson, 1980) ***
I had been interested in watching this one ever since I came across its respectable *** rating in Leonard Maltin’s Film Guide (where it’s listed under the original title of YOU BETTER WATCH OUT – and which, actually, also happens to be the name on the print included here!). Apart from being championed by cult auteur John Waters (who here contributes a Commentary track, in which he’s accompanied by Lewis Jackson himself), noted film critic Carlos Clarens considered the film the darkest he ever saw (along with David Lynch’s ERASERHEAD [1977])!

It’s been previously available on DVD and I had myself been tempted to pick it up via one of those Brentwood multi-film sets, but I’m glad now that I waited for Synapse’s definitive edition (which, surprisingly, was released without much fanfare!). Anyway, I was generally impressed with the film: its deliberate pace, coupled with a remarkable leading performance from Brandon Maggart and the weird score, creates a genuinely unsettling aura throughout; despite the unfamiliar personnel involved and the obvious low-budget, the end result is certainly compelling.

Still, while it’s touted as a slasher film (one of a few with a Yuletide backdrop – I’ve watched the even superior BLACK Christmas [1974] but haven’t yet checked out any entries from the SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT [1984-92] series), the killing spree here is limited to just two violent outbursts: the first – leaving numerous victims – occurs outside a church in full view of the public, utilizing shock cuts and crude gore effects for its impact; the second, a personal vendetta taking place inside the house of one of Maggart’s colleagues, relies mainly on creating suspense and is then carried out in one swift and vicious stroke. In fact, the film is better approached as a character study in the vein of TAXI DRIVER (1976) – with Maggart, having something of an obsession with Christmas after a traumatic childhood experience, slipping slowly but surely into madness: he keeps a couple of diaries in which the vices and virtues of the neighborhood kids are periodically listed – so that, at Christmastime, he’s able to reward the good whilst punishing the bad (actually, his interaction with the children might well be construed as borderline paedophelia by today’s standards)!

Another interesting element to the film is the strained relationship between Maggart and his younger sibling, who’s forced to take care of him (though his family seems more willing to accept Maggart’s flaws): this culminates in the latter finally blowing his top and attempting to strangle Maggart, when it dawns on him that the “Killer Santa” who has terrorized the town is none other than his own deranged brother! Finding himself on the run and with nowhere to hide, Maggart decides to bow out in spectacular fashion – leaping off a bridge with his van – but Jackson decides to end it all with a disarming touch of fantasy, as the vehicle suddenly takes flight in the sky like a herd of reindeer!

The extras included on the “Special Edition” DVD are exemplary: the six-and-a-half minutes of deleted scenes don’t add much to the film, but the comment cards are an amusing feature (demonstrating the mixed reception that greeted the film on initial release) and the audition tapes (running for some 26 minutes), while necessarily repetitive, are quite interesting – and not just for showcasing such actors as George Dzundza, Lindsay Crouse and JoBeth Williams at the very start of their careers! During the engaging Jackson/Waters discussion, the former cites Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Douglas Sirk among his influences – whereas Waters perceptively likens Maggart’s desire to become Santa Claus to a transsexual’s craving for a sex-change operation (also, typically for him, he sees a lot of sexual imagery in the film, but which Jackson maintains was unintentional)!

Other Information:

Original Language en
Runtime 1 hr 40 min (100 min), 1 hr 35 min (95 min) (re-release) (USA)
Budget 750000
Revenue 0
Status Released
Rated R
Genre Horror, Thriller
Director Lewis Jackson
Writer Lewis Jackson
Actors Brandon Maggart, Jeffrey DeMunn, Dianne Hull
Country United States
Awards N/A
Production Company N/A
Website N/A

Technical Information:

Sound Mix Mono
Aspect Ratio 1.85 : 1
Camera Panavision Panaflex
Laboratory TVC Laboratories, New York (NY), USA
Film Length N/A
Negative Format 35 mm
Cinematographic Process Spherical
Printed Film Format 35 mm