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Christmas Evil (1980)
Topic Started: Apr 13 2013, 07:55 AM (1,151 Views)
Baby Firefly
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The Devil Himself
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Blah. So this film was easily one of the most disappointing of the era, at least in my opinion. I expected something like Silent Night Deadly Night (I guess I'm pampered, haha) and instead got a flick about a kid who caught his mom being groped by a guy in a Santa suit who grew up to LOOOOVE Christmas and do things to punish naughty kids. He eventually snaps and kills...a couple of people and ends up being hunted by parents and protected by kids. Yeah...this wasn't the treat I expected it to be and the ending, while deliberately over the top, was so bad I thought my eyes would fall out from rolling so hard. I might be a little too hard on the film but..bah humbug.

It's worth watching for Jeffrey DeMunn who would later appear in The Mist and The Walking Dead.
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Baby Firefly
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Watching this later tonight. Can't say I'm too excited.
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Toyland Chairman
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Not any all that special, but it is a film I wouldn't mind watching once in a while. The ending is so bizarre it's almost awesomely epic.
Edited by Toyland Chairman, Dec 15 2014, 03:31 AM.
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Vanessa
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I always enjoyed this one. I like that it isn't all that different from a Lifetime Christmas movie if you take out the murdering and maniacal laughing. The thing that doesn't really work for me is that it's kind of between genres. It doesn't have enough kills to be a slasher, but it isn't weird enough to be one of those strangely sexual 70s horrors.

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Baby Firefly
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Brandon Maggart (Harry, the killer) is Fiona Apple's father.


WUT.
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Vanessa
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Her family has quite a few actors, singers, and dancers in it. He's the most notable after her.
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MacReadyOrNot
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I want to watch this tonight, but I might opt for Cronenberg's Shivers instead. I really don't know. I do want to see this, only because the idea of it is intriguing and, from what you guys have said, screams for the remake treatment. I wouldn't mind taking a stab at that. Maybe (troll)
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Lon Of The Dead
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My recollection of this flick is feint as I've only seen it once, twenty-some years ago, but I recall thinking it wasn't great, but it wasn't bad, either. I'd read a short piece on it in Fangoria, which didn't go into a lot of detail so I went in not really knowing what to expect. I felt it was much more along the lines of a character study than a slasher flick, though it does have slasher elements. The ending, as previously mentioned, may be a bit on the lame side, but it has its interesting moments. I vaguely recall a sequence featuring Patricia Richardson (most famous as Tim Allen's wife on the sitcom Home Improvement) and I believe I saw Jeff DeMunn in it, too.

But the first thing I think of when it comes to this flick is actually a screen-grab used in the Fangoria article I mentioned -- a dude in a Santa suit on his knee, staring into a woman's crotch, with the caption, "Yes, vagina, there IS a Santa Claus!" (lol)
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KaijuSuspiria
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This IS on my holiday watch list this year. It sounds like so much fun.
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The Shape
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I saw this for the first time during Christmas two years ago and I found it quite disappointing as it wasn't really what I was expecting. I thought it would be Silent Night Deadly Night before...Silent Night Deadly Night lol. It's watchable and average at best but there's better christmas horror films out there. I'll still watch this every year around Christmas though :P I think it's one of those films that gets better the more you watch it as I enjoyed it slightly more the second time round than I did the first time I watched this.
Edited by The Shape, Dec 14 2016, 11:53 AM.
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Vanessa
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I own this, and I could theoretically go looking for it at any time, but I am extremely disappointed that Comet is showing To All a Goodnight and not this.
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Baby Firefly
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Vinegar Syndrome blu-ray

Movie: 1:34:12
Trailer: 1:43
Comment Cards Gallery: 1:20
Deleted Scene Storyboards Gallery: 4:00 (roughly)
Commentary #1: 1:34:12
Commentary #2: 1:34:12
Commentary #3: 1:34:12
Lewis Jackson Interview: 6:53
Brandon Maggart Interview: 6:41
Audition Tapes: 25:51
Deleted Scenes: 6:32
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Baby Firefly
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It kind of saddens me that I'm seeing A LOT of people bashing this movie on Facebook this year after watching it for the first time. Seems most people went into it expecting a straightforward slasher only to get something else entirely. I made the same mistake.

I'm glad I gave this a second chance some years back because I've loved it ever since.
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MacReadyOrNot
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Baby Firefly
Apr 13 2014, 10:24 PM
What they should've done;


His father dressed as Santa when he was a kid. A burglar entered the house, killed his father, stole the presents.

The lead then spends the rest of his life trying to recapture the spirit of Christmas and the joy that had been taken from him as a child. And when he dresses as Santa, it would be a sort of 'tribute' to his murdered father.



Boom.

Instantly better.
I think they should remake it, but they should just expand upon how it was the brother not believing in Santa Claus, or rather saying he wasn't real, that made him want to actually become Santa Claus years and years later. Maybe have the brother and his friends prank him at school that traumatizes him to do just that later in life. I don't know.

As a character study, this works, I'd say. As a slasher, not so much. More kills are needed. Not so much in the vein of killing teens, but
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The creep factor is there, and I did enjoy the Frankenstein mob near the end. Kind of also made me think about the Freddy Krueger mob. Now that would truly be Christmas Evil. Freddy Krueger as Santa Claus.

I think 4/10 is fair, considering the wasted potential. A lot of build-up that pretty much went nowhere and a lot of missed opportunities, but Harry is a fantastic character, I feel. I wouldn't mind rewatching this, as boring as it may be. It could be worse.

The very ending is lame, but it works from Harry's perspective.
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