Harry Stadling has a problem. He?s obsessed with Christmas. He loves Santa Claus, and even longs to become the jolly fat man. To fuel his fantasy, he works in a toy factory, but his co-workers all think he?s a jerk. He lives alone in a house completely furnished with Christmas decorations and Santa memorabilia, and even has his own toy workshop in his garage. But his life also holds more sinister secrets: he spies on neighborhood children with binoculars and keeps track of their behavior in two big books. He also keeps a photo of the little girl next door on his desk and has some serious voyeuristic tendencies, even creeping out at night to peek at his brother?s family through their windows.

Harry?s peculiarities are the result of a childhood trauma he suffered when he saw a man he thought was the real Santa Claus (in reality his own father in a costume) engaged in sexual activities with his mother in front of the Christmas tree. There?s also some lingering resentment toward his younger brother, who long ago disillusioned Harry by insisting there was no Santa Claus, and toward humanity in general for either forgetting or perverting the ?true? meaning of Christmas with shallow, commercial obsessions. But Harry?s mind has finally snapped. He?s fashioned a real Santa suit, stolen toys from the factory to distribute to the ?good? children (and dug up dirt to give to the ?bad? ones), and set out on Christmas Eve to bring the true meaning back to Christmas, having fully transformed into a real Santa Claus, the kind who rewards the good but punishes the bad.

Not the kind of film promised by its title (or, for that matter, by the new DVD edition?s cover art), you?d be forgiven for assuming that Christmas Evil is a slasher in the vein of 1984?s notorious Silent Night, Deadly Night (which director Lewis Jackson and co-audio commentator John Waters confuse with the earlier, non-holiday horror film Silent Night, Bloody Night). But that?s far from accurate, and has led to many audience disappointments with the film ? potential distributors even complained that the movie wasn?t bloody enough. But besides killing a few adults who ridicule him, Harry?s Santa only terrorizes some kids a bit when he promises to bring them ?something?terrible? if they?re naughty. Jackson?s long-simmering resentment regarding this confusion, as well as toward the lukewarm reaction the film received from audiences and the continual problems he?s had with its distributors, comes through loud and clear in the two audio commentaries he recorded ? one with Waters, one solo ? for Synapse Films? gorgeous rehabilitation of the film on their newly-released DVD.

It?s obvious from the commentaries that Jackson has spent some time over the past few years not only re-acquiring the rights to the film but also bringing it back to the version he?d always intended. (The print even bears his preferred title, You Better Watch Out) This is also apparently a different cut of the film from the original release, as well as from the earlier Troma DVD, though the exact differences aren?t spelled out on the disc. Given such a level of dedication and commitment to the film, it?s unfortunate that the movie isn?t better than it is.

Although nicely-shot and well-acted, it?s a somewhat ridiculous, marginally effective character portrait of a likable schlub (despite his Platonically pedophilic tendencies) that?s neither sleazy enough to be an exploitation movie, nor scary or disturbing enough to be a decent horror film. I?m also unconvinced that it was originally intended as a black comedy, as many have asserted, although a few segments in it (like the Santa Claus police lineup) are clearly meant to be funny. But everything else about it is just too earnest for satire, ranging from a police detective giving a lecture on the origins of Santa Claus to the ending, which is intended as magical realism but which, the commentary reveals, had 42nd Street audiences throwing things at the screen. The movie certainly has its adherents, drawn to its Taxi Driver-like structure (Santa even prowls the neighborhood in a van with a sleigh painted on the side) and its dour, depressing tone, and when Jackson describes what an ambitious, independent project the film was, you have to feel joy that it?s finally back to the version he intended. And despite its self-indulgent feel, inconsistent tone and deadly-slow pacing, several of its scenes have a perverse charm to them, like when a little girl presents a switchblade knife to Santa. And, as Waters notes, the shots of Harry trying out his ?Santa drag? in the mirror have a charge to them that gives the character?s dementia a sexual origin, which is certainly as good a reading of the movie as any other.

As mentioned earlier, Synapse?s DVD presents the film in a great-looking 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer. The frequent reds ? Jackson?s color scheme in the film was, not surprisingly, red and green ? are completely stable and all the night scenes are accurately timed. Not only does the disc include the two commentary tracks, it also features several deleted scenes, a selection of test audience comment cards (?Beats Bing Crosby!?), a gallery of storyboards, and best of all, almost half an hour of black-and-white, original audition tapes featuring many now-recognizable actors, like The Warriors? Michael Beck and Poltergeist?s JoBeth Williams. One can only imagine how the movie would have turned out with those two as the leads.

Craving more holiday horror?

Black Xmas Trailer 2006

Black Xmas Exclusive Scene 2006