You Better Watch Out

Flat-out bizarre flick plays more as a parody on Santa Claus than a legitimate slasher. Harry(Brandon Maggart)is quite a disturbed man who fancies himself a modern day Santa Claus. A recurring memory of his mother having a sexual liaison with Santa(his father in Kris Krengal dress)haunts him and seems to be the chief motivator in his madness. He's so engulfed in the spirit of the yuletide season he sleeps in his Santa garb, creates his own toy soldiers, spies on neighborhood kids to see if they are naughty or nice(he has two separate books where he catalogues the good and bad children by how they behave on a day to day basis), and paints the side of his van with an image of a sleigh. He will go out on Christmas Eve as Santa delivering stolen toys from his employ to a retarded home for children. But, there's also a rage that bears itself violently to those who mock and criticize his well-meaning example of St Nick. Three adults at the steps of a church poke fun to the point where Harry attacks them with an ax while also gouging one man's eye out with the sword of a toy soldier. He is greeted by a bar full of people who wish him to entertain their children and Harry pays a visit to a co-worker who tricked him into working his spot on the late-shift while he was out drinking with buddies(the star of David on top of the Christmas tree will be his reward..across his throat!). There's even a homage to FRANKENSTEIN where a group, who know he killed those adults on the church steps, chases after him wanting revenge on this killer Santa. But, through all the silliness on display, there's a sad undercurrent of loss between Harry and his brother Philip(Jeffrey DeMun)who thinks his older brother is a pathetic excuse of a man who needs serious help. The ending is completely ridiculous with Harry's van flying away into the night as if it were a reindeer-led sleigh-ride. I think the film benefits from Maggart's amazing portrayal of the troubled Harry who is never in full control that it's so obvious he's needed help for some time. The signs are there yet most just looked down on him instead of trying to understand him. Despite five deaths, the film really isn't much of a slasher film, no matter how it appears marketed to be just that.

Such a Santa should visit Bill Gates, Anthony Fauci, Klaus Schwab, Joe Biden, Justin Trudeau, Jacinda Ardern, Xi Jinping, Henry Kissinger, George Soros, The Rothchilds, The Rockefellers, etc. Etc., all those who want to reduce the world's population. And I still know a lot of individuals who deserve some axes in the head, individuals with whom I had to share common dependencies in all the buildings and houses I lived in throughout my wonderful life. It would be great if the character in the movie came to life and started looking for all the named people to give them their well-deserved gifts. Exactly like in the movie!

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)!

The similarities between this 1980 film and the 2019 "Joker" are striking. Both deal with a mentally disturbed man in a serious and thoughtful manner. Both men come to be identified with fictitious characters; in this film, it is Santa Claus. In both films, the main character kills three people to begin his mayhem. In both films, there are extended narrow escape scenes. In both films, a man is killed with a sharp object embedded in his face, with blood gushing out. In both films, not all of the killings are justified. In both films, one of the victims is a co-worker of the killer who has been very nasty to him in different ways. Finally, in both films, the killer eludes justice and merges with his adopted identity at the end in spectacular fashion. "Joker" is the better film, but "You Better Watch Out" is worth watching. It is not your ordinary horror film.

Being a big fan of dated horror movies i found this low budget holiday horror to be quite entertaining. It starts off with a kid watching his mom getting (mildly) jiggy with ol Saint Nick which totally trips him out. 40 years later he's a total loser on a full on Christmas trip. He watches kids to see if they've been naughty or nice, makes a list, checks it twice, and goes totally crazy. Dressed as Santa he brings presents to nice kids and kills a bunch of people who aren't so nice. There's a couple rad kills but most of the movie a pretty tame. It's definitely not as good as SILENT NIGHT DEADLY NIGHT but it is pretty funny watchin homeboy flip his wig. It also can be a little boring at times but it's got a really cool (extremely cheesy) ending that i was definitely not expecting. All in all it's a decent piece of crud that lacks in violence. Definitely check out SILENT NIGHT DEADLY NIGHT before this one. You also might want to give the much more gruesome MANIC a look.

This movie is a very well thought out piece of low budget horror. Unlike the cheezy imitations such as "Silent Night, Deadly Night" this movie has a well thought out storyline with a central character you can understand and feel sympathy for. This movie is more than just another generic slasher flick. It has an interesting story and main character. The film may move a little slow at the beginning for people with short attention spans and no intelligence, but just about everyone else should be able to appreciate this low budget wonder. Just remember, this is not supposed to be another Friday the 13th.

Don't you just hate it when a company picks a crap film up for distribution and pounces on it's virtually non-existent horror elements to sell it, using lurid over-the-top artwork on the video/DVD box? Christmas Evil isn't even the original title. I know I do and Chirstmas Evil is a good case in point, read on further and I shall explain. We are informed that it's 'Christmas Eve 1947'. Someone narrates "...and all through he house not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. The stockings were hung by the chimney with care and hope that St. Nicholas would soon be there." Two young boys, Philip (Wallyt Moran) and his brother Harry Stadling (Gus Salud) are sat on the stairs watching their father dressed as Santa Claus (Brian Hartigan) emerge from their chimney and fill the stockings with presents, after eating and drinking some treats they left out for him Santa disappears back up the chimney and the two boys head off back to bed. Harry decides to go back downstairs and sees the Santa Clause having intimate relations with his mother (Ellen McElduff). He runs back upstairs to the attic and cuts himself with some broken glass. The film then shifts to 'the present', ahem is that meant to be a joke? Harry Stadling (Brandon Maggart) and his brother Philip (Jeffery DeMunn) are both now grown adults. Harry is single and works in middle-management for the 'Jolly Dream' toy factory, while Philip has a family, Jackie (Dianne Hull) his wife and their two young boys Dennis (Andy Fenwick) and Marc (Brian Neville), and works as a city Marshall. Harry is a messed up guy, he sleeps with a Santa outfit on and makes himself a white fluffy Santa beard out of shaving foam. He spies on children in his area, writing about them in either a large 'good' or 'bad' book. His favourite child is a young girl named Susie Lovett (Elizabeth Ridge) whom he has a photo of in his apartment, urgh! His least favourite is Moss Garcia (Peter Neuman) who Harry scares by grabbing him from behind a bush. All around him he sees people and children not appreciating Christmas the way it should. After a series of events which sends Harry over the edge, including run-ins with his mean scrooge like boss Mr. Fletcher (Scott McKay) and various work colleagues, Harry dresses up on Christmas Eve as Santa and travels around New York giving out presents to good boys and girls and killing the bad ones, until he ends up at his brothers house for a final confrontation. Written and directed by Lewis Jackson I hated this film. I thought it was going to be a killer Santa film, how wrong I was. The script sucks, it's really slow and dull. And even worse there are virtually no horror elements involved. The police line up of potential Santa psychos is a quite funny scene, though. I'm not sure Jackson intended it that way but that's how it comes across. And I couldn't believe what I was watching during the end which simply defies description, you have to see it to believe it. He only kills four people and three of those within a two minute time-frame. I guess it was meant to be a psychological study of a man who is going mad in todays immoral society, yeah right! Unfortunately I never felt anything for anyone, especially Harry. Violence and gore is non-existent so don't bother looking at this if you want a high body count. Nothing else about the film particularly stands out, technically it's OK but nothing special. A real waste of time that can't really, in truth be called a horror film.

It's less trashy than Silent Night Deadly Night, less influential than Black Christmas, and less sleazy than Don't Open 'Til Christmas, but You Better Watch Out (AKA Christmas Evil) is certainly no less worthy of your time if you dig seasonal horrors. In fact, it fully deserves to have something of a cult following thanks to its quirky sense of humour, and a wonderful turn by Brandon Maggart as crazy Harry Stadling, who as a child, spotted his mommy doing more than just kissing Santa Clause, and who now takes Christmas a little too seriously, deciding for himself who has been naughty and nice, and dealing with them accordingly. With such fun scenes as Harry (in full Father Christmas costume) dancing his heart out at a Christmas party, getting stuck in a chimney, and imagining his van is being pulled by reindeer, plus a police identity line-up consisting of a motley looking collection of Santas, You Better Watch Out might be more amusing than horrific, but it is still very twisted at times; certainly what little graphic violence is shown is surprisingly nasty, such as when Harry attacks a group of church-goers, poking an eye out with a toy soldier and then axing a couple of guys in the head. As Harry's murderous rampage continues, and local people begin to eye anyone in a Santa costume with suspicion, it's not long before our jolly psycho is confronted by an angry mob, who chase him down the streets with flaming torches (in an homage to Universal's Frankenstein, perhaps). Finally, Harry winds up driving his van (which is painted to look like a sled) off a bridge; however, rather than plummeting to his doom, his vehicle flies off into the night sky (presumably showing us what is going through Harry's mind in his final moments). It's a suitably surreal ending to an enjoyably off-the-wall entry in the Christmas horror sub-genre. 6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.

I hate to admit it, but i have a psychosis. It's really a passion that has blown way out of preportain. I love holiday horror films. At over fifty i think i have one of the largest collections around. The Santa killers are my favorite of this sub genre. Now, while admittedly next to the likes of the Godfather and such this is a very bad movie. BUT! I still highly suggest this film. It really is an interesting look into the psyche of a deranged mind. If you get a chance watch this movie, the ending alone is worth the buck fifty rental fee. This film is one of the true gems of my bloated movie collection.

Christmas Evil is a rather uninteresting black comedy about a homicidal Santa Claus who takes his role to murderous levels. It start off promisingly enough as a kid witnesses his mother engaged in a rather intimate situation with Father Christmas and later self harms. Years later, he goes on a rampage at Yuletide. The problem with this low budget production is that it's very slow and not much happens. It's a full 50 minutes before we get any horror scenes and even those are weak in the extreme. The acting is poor and the tone is off too - half of this seems to be designed as a black comedy, but the problem is that it's neither funny nor interesting. Christmas Evil didn't do anything for me at all, and that cheesy joke ending is the sour cherry on top. It's probably the worst Christmas-themed "horror" movie in existence.