Lewis Jackson’s blackly comic 1980 horror film You Better Watch Out aka Christmas Evil begins like so many slasher-centric shockers do, with a kid witnessing a parental sex act, here it’s Mommy kissing Santa Claus.
But for Harry, who is obsessed with Christmas and the idea of Santa, the scene is traumatic and will forever skew his morality.
And while meat and potatoes slasher Santa movies like Silent Night, Deadly Night and Santa’s Slay are admittedly fun and lurid romps, none can hold a candy cane to Christmas Evil.
In many ways, Christmas Evil reminds me of the classic The Twilight Zone episode “Night of the Meek”, where Art Carney’s alcoholic and depressed department store Santa is given the power to perform real Christmas miracles.