“Did you fuck my mom? Did you fuck my fucking mom, Santa?”
- Charlie Kelly

What a film. When people say “they don’t make ‘em like they used to”, this is the kind of movie they’re talking about. What could easily just be schlock exploitation about a deranged killer Santa is instead framed as a sad, solemn, methodically-paced descent into madness for a lonely, well-intentioned yet traumatized dude who legitimately thinks he’s a modern day Santa Claus, building creepy ass toys and spying on kids to craft his own in-depth naughty & nice lists before embarking on a Christmas Eve adventure meant to take the lore of Saint Nick far too literally. Never going fully off the rails, yet completely willing…

The first time I saw this was about 10 years ago and I really didn’t care for it. However, over time, I have come to enjoy this more and more. Now, I really find it pretty awesome and a required holiday season watch!

This plot synopses I usually see for this indicate that it’s a slasher of sorts. It’s not. This is an incredibly bizarre psychological horror story story about the gradual breakdown of a mentally unstable man. If you go in expecting a slasher, you’re going to be awfully disappointed. Hell, if you go in expecting a straight horror film, you may be disappointed as well. I’m pretty sure I was expecting one of this when I first watched…

69th Review for The Collab Weekly Movie Watch

GAAARBAAGE DAYYY!!!!!

....wait, no, sorry… wrong Christmas slasher.

EVIL DIES TONIGHT!

...nope... my bad, wrong holiday.

But seriously, this was something else. The way this movie manages to be both endearing and sweet Christmas movie and a deranged one as well. It’s pure shlock, pure fun and so lame in all the best way possible. And that ending…. OH THAT ENDING! So unexpected. Oh so magical!

Now, I can't say for sure if movies like Silent Night, Deadly Night were inspired by or copied from this one, but it wouldn't surprise me if they were. I really thought I watched this before, but it turns out I was just confusing it with…

The first time I watched this was around 2007 and I wasn’t especially impressed because I was hoping for a hardcore Xmas slasher. The second time was last year when I realized just how brilliant this bizarre horror film was. This time, I see that it’s not only a brilliant horror film, but also a harrowing study of a man living with crippling mental illness and DAMN, this just keeps getting better each time. Most unappreciated Christmas Chiller of all time? Very. Possibly.

Fun fact: Brandon Maggart is the father of Fiona Apple. Apple’s “Criminal” is my favorite song of all time. I have a particularly fond memory of jamming out to this song after acquiring the VHS of A Virgin…

We watched this tonight at my Christmas potluck because it is apparently John Waters' favorite Christmas movie. It's easy to see why. It's awkward in a way that heightens the drama. It's slightly tasteless and wholly campy. It's nonsensical and focused on the sympathetic performance of a man who goes on a violent spree at the same time as he goes out giving gifts to the good children. It has a great soundtrack, too.

Honestly, it's weird to call this a horror film in some ways. It sets things up such that the most sympathetic character is the killer, and you spend most of the time rooting for him on some level. Not, perhaps, to kill, but in a general…