Product Description

Christmas Evil Widely considered the greatest of the "killer Santa Clause" subgenre of seasonal shocks, Christmas Evil inspired a whole generation to quake in fear at the sound of those "slay" bells ringing. After the a boyhood trauma involving a tryst between Santa and Mama, a deranged man (played by pop star Fiona Apple’s father) remains obsessed with the holiday for the rest of his life, becoming a toy maker and keeping track of which children are naughty and nice. After learning of his company's corporate greed, he snaps, dons a familiar red suit and white beard and gives the naughty something a bit heavier than coal! A unique holiday horror film.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #49972 in DVD
• Released on: 2000-12-12
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 100 minutes

-John Waters
"The BEST seasonal film of all time...True cinematic masterpiece."

-Leonard Maltin
"Gripping, well-made little thriller...with Maggart excellent as the psychopathic Kris Kringle. A sleeper, with cult status possibilities..."

–Video Graveyard
"…intelligently written, well acted and nicely made."

Customer Reviews

There's a new Santa in town
Christmas Evil holds a unique spot in the genre of Christmas slasher films. While a few individuals are murdered, there so little blood that I would not classify this as a slasher film at all. This is more of a psychological treatment that transcends horror of a primal nature. In its own special twisted way, Christmas Evil is really sort of touching, and I would argue that it actually does possess a measure of real Christmas spirit. Harry isn't a bad guy; his heart is in the right place - it's just a few of his toys of death that end up in wrong places such as someone else's neck. As a young child, Harry sees disturbing evidence before his very eyes that Santa Claus is not real, and this experience scars him for life. He does not let the Christmas spirit die in him, however; the spirit actually grows to the point that, as a forty-something year old man, he tries to become Santa Claus and spread joy to good little children. He spies on the neighborhood kids, writing down notes in his books of naught boys and girls. As a newly-promoted manager at a toy factory, he is dismayed to see inferior-quality toys rolling off the assembly line, his co-workers speak badly of the holidays, and a new hotshot executive puts forth a promotional campaign to send toys to a children's hospital without knowing or caring if there will be enough for the kids. Eventually, poor Harry snaps, dons a Santa suit, and goes out to spread Christmas spirit all around. Of course, a few adults have been very bad in his eyes, and a few of them end up dead.

Brandon Maggart is really quite good in the role of Harry. Some of his laughing fits early on are rather annoying, but his face really shows a lot of emotion and complexity, especially on those occasions when he is doing something that will make children happy and when he finally comes to grip with the idea that his plan to give everyone a real Santa has failed. Take away Harry's obvious mental unbalance and you are left with a weird sort of inspirational story, one that actually fits in to some degree with classic Christmas tales such as A Christmas Carol. I'm not saying this is a movie every family needs to watch every Christmas Eve - that is clearly not the case. However, Harry, in his own tragically disastrous way, does have the Christmas spirit and tries to keep it in his heart every single day, and that is what I will remember about him the most.

A True Christmas Classic!
Greetings from Tromaville!

Aside from being John Waters's favorite Christmas movie, this film is known as the best of the Holiday Horror genre. Originally titled "You better watch out.....", and also known as "Terror in Toyland", the film was re-released with the title "Christmas Evil" to cash in on the success of "Silent Night, Deadly Night".

But "Christmas Evil" is a much different film. Contrary to the cover art, "Christmas Evil" is a psychological horror film that digs deep into the mind of a person who loves Santa, and hates the greedy.

He always brings presents to the "nice", such as numerous toys for the children's hospital. What makes it a horror film is that he treats those who have been "Naughty" with death.

There are two things commonly misinterpreted about the film. First of all, it is not anti-Christmas. If anything, it's against the commercialization of Christmas.

Second, it's not completely a psychological horror film. It's mostly a dark-comedy in the vein of "Jack Frost" (not the conglomerate crappy Keaton one, but the horror/comedy distributed by A-Pix Entertainment.) that will leave you mesmorised.

It also contains running commontary with the director, and the star, Brandon Maggart, who is the father of pop princess Fiona Apple, as well as a special holiday introduction with Troma President Lloyd Kaufman.

In conclusion, see "Christmas Evil". It will do for Christmas what Charles Kaufman's "Mother's Day" did for Mother's Day

Terribly beautiful film
Ok so this is a Troma film and you can feel managements influence in the film. We have an outrageous sex scene that feels a bit tacked on. We have a few gory bits to get press in Fangoria that also feel a bit unneccessary. The film is not high budget but if you look past that you are rewarded.
I find this film to be a true gem. The horror of this movie doesnt come from cheap gags and gore it comes from the fact that this film forces you to ask yourself questions and reevaluate yourself and what you hold to be true.
Far from being a 'insane maniac' as some have described him, I find the lead to be a fairly sympathetic character, the role is brilliantly played by Brandon Maggart btw. He feels deeply the drudgery of everyday life, he sees the greed and self-serving nature of most people, he feels the crushing weight of family expectations. Fairly common problems in modern life, so as you follow the character when he snaps the horror in this film comes from the fact that you cant really hold some of the bad things character does against him too much.
There are magic moments in the film too, the myth of Saint Nicholas is explored and believably explained, its magical to see. Really a great film, one I highly recommend, dont expect to be coddled though this film is quite raw. The only guarantee is that if you watch this film you will feel something, you may like it or you may not.