Writer(s): Jackson
Starring: Brandon Maggart, Jeffrey Demunn, and Dianne Hull
There are quite a few—many would say too many—horror movies
that are inspired by, or take place during, Christmas. But most of them don’t take themselves too
seriously; using the term “lighthearted” might be a bit of a stretch, but even
a film like Silent Night, Deadly Night, which
was pulled early from its theatrical run due to parental protests concerning
its violent subject matter, amounts to little more than campy amateurishness.
What really caught my attention about Lewis Jackson’s
Christmas Evil was the assurance from several sources that it takes itself with
complete seriousness. I didn’t really
know how to take that at the time (was it just a straightforward slasher movie,
with all elements of humor removed?) but after having just watched it, I can
only say that this has to be one of the most unique of all Christmas horrors; a
film that strives for equal parts sympathy and pathos for its mentally
disturbed star, and actually manages to elicit both.
Before we go any further, I should mention that anyone
looking for a holiday bloodbath, or even a slasher film at all, would do best
to just turn around, start walking, and never look back. Sure, it’s billed as a slasher film, and it
does have a couple murders, but that’s only because everything has to be
labeled these days. And if it doesn’t fit snugly into a specific genre, it’s
just lumped into whatever category will make it the most money.
Christmas Evil opens to a house on Christmas Eve in, 1947,
where young Harry, his brother Philip, and their mother huddle on a staircase,
watching Santa Claus as he comes down the chimney, and puts their presents
under the tree. When the two brothers go
to bed soon thereafter, younger Philip informs Harry that was their father in
the costume, a simple fact that Harry refuses to accept.
Flash forward to the “present day”, which in this case, is
1980. Harry is now grown up and living
alone; when we see his living quarters completely decorated in Christmas
paraphernalia, we can only assume it is this way all year long. His mind is always caught up in Christmas, so
perhaps it’s not that surprising that he has a high-ranking job in a toy
manufacturing plant, and that he watches neighbor kids with binoculars, and
makes notes about which of them are naughty, and which of them are nice.
Much of the film’s effectiveness is garnered from its
refreshing unpredictability—Harry just honestly wants to spread joy to
everyone. He is mentally disturbed, but
he’s not some psycho that’s simply out patrolling the streets with the intent
to kill; he wants everyone to revel in the spirit and the atmosphere of
Christmas. Now, to be clear, he’s not
above the occasional murder, but when he does resort to violence, it’s sudden
and shocking, rather than drawn out and expected (the first murder came up so
abruptly that my jaw virtually hit the floor).
Having the murders take a backseat to the story is a welcome change from
your average horror film, and one that makes the violent sequences sting that
much more.
It’s also helped along by Brandon Maggart’s strong,
vulnerable performance as Harry.
Actually, a majority of the performances are strong, but Maggart’s
borders on the heartbreaking; the quiet scenes of him alone in his house reach
a level of poignancy that few horror films would ever even attempt to
achieve. Harry’s clearly out of his
mind, but his heart is in the right place, leading to a moral tug-of-war for
the viewer—we realize that he needs help, but at the same time he is so sincere
in his kindness and generosity that it almost wanders into a gray area.
Speaking of unexpected, nothing could possibly brace you for
the ending, which is so out of left-field that you will either love it or hate
it: there’s absolutely no middle
ground. At first--before it had even
fully registered, and while I was still regaining my senses—I admired it for
its audacity, but as it absorbed in my mind, it really grew on me.
Now, in a work this original, it’s only inevitable that not
everything works. Once the police
start getting involved, for instance, it kind of ruins the fantasy aspect
(like it would really be that hard for cops to track down a windowless white
van with a huge sleigh hand-painted on it).
The second murder sequence, though not entirely bereft of originality,
stretches the limits of believability a little too far (short of a coma, no way
a wife could sleep through that), while also muddling the film’s message a
little bit.
But out of the new Christmas movies I’ve seen this year,
horror or otherwise, Christmas Evil is the only one that I could see becoming
an occasional holiday tradition for me.
In avoiding the typical horror tropes and by wearing its heart on its
sleeve, it somehow manages to sympathetically capture a man desperate to cling
to the innocence of Christmas, no matter the cost.
RECAP: Closer to a drama than a slasher film (as it’s
marketed), Lewis Jackson’s Christmas Evil is a surprising gem of holiday
horror. Brandon Maggart’s strong
performance as Harry Stradling, a mentally-handicapped (and traumatized) man
who dedicates his life to spreading the Christmas spirit is surprisingly
heartbreaking, and there are several brilliant ideas at play here. It does start to fizzle out once the police
start to get involved, but an audaciously original (and unexpected) ending
finishes things off on a strong note. Those
looking for a steady supply of blood and gore will be sorely disappointed, but
when violence is used, it’s often quick and shocking. On a side note, look for Patricia Richardson
(of “Home Improvement” fame) as the mother of one of the naughty boys on
Harry’s list!
RATING: 7.5/10
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