Silent Night, Deadly Night
exploded onto the scene in 1984 amidst endless controversy, as it was
the world's first Christmas horror film to feature a killer Santa
Claus. Parental groups and critics rallied against it and its
tasteless subject matter and marketing, which was plastered
everywhere with the image of Father Christmas carrying an ax. Horror
fans ate it up with a spoon though, as this film actually BEAT Wes
Craven's epic A Nightmare on Elm Street at the box office on
their opening weekend. The film was eventually yanked from theaters
in response to the controversy, but its legacy was already cemented.
However, it WASN'T the first “psycho
Santa” movie. That honour goes to today's film, 1980's Christmas
Evil, or You Better Watch Out as it was originally known.
Written and directed by Lewis Jackson, this film came and went
without making a sound but has gone on to earn a substantial cult
following in the years since. I'm choosing to review this one not
because I seem to only review horror themed holiday films, but
because this is LEGENDARY for having one of the most WTF endings in movie history. That's certainly
more than enough to earn it a spot in my review queue, so let's see
if it can live up to the hype with A Ghoul Versus Christmas Evil!
