You Better Watch Out
| Christmas Evil | |
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Theatrical film poster
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| Directed by | Lewis Jackson |
| Produced by | Burt Kleiner Pete Kameron |
| Written by | Lewis Jackson |
| Starring |
Brandon Maggart Jeffrey DeMunn Dianne Hull Andy Fenwick |
| Music by | Joel Harris Julia Heyward Don Christensen |
| Cinematography | Ricardo Aronovich |
| Edited by | Linda Leeds Corky O'Hara |
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Production
company |
Edward R. Pressman Film
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| Distributed by | Pan American Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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100 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $450,000 |
Christmas Evil (also known as You Better Watch Out and Terror in Toyland) is a 1980 psychological slasher film, directed by Lewis Jackson and starring Brandon Maggart. It is considered an obscure film but has gained a cult following which includes film director John Waters.
It was originally released as You Better Watch Out. Though lesser known, it predates the horror film Silent Night, Deadly Night, in which a deranged man goes on a murderous rampage dressed in Santa Claus clothing.
While not prosecuted for obscenity, the film was seized and confiscated in the UK under Section 3 of the Obscene Publications Act 1959 during the video nasty panic.
In suburban New Jersey, on Christmas Eve 1947, a young boy named Harry Stadling sees his mother being sexually groped by his father, who is dressed up as Santa. Heartbroken, the child rushes up to the attic and cuts his hand with a shard of glass from a shattered snow globe.
Thirty-three years later, an adult Harry (Brandon Maggart) now works in a low-level position at the Jolly Dreams toy factory. At home, he has taken it upon himself to become the next true Santa: he sleeps in costume, and his apartment is resplendent with Christmas toys and décor. From the roof of his building, he uses binoculars to spy on neighborhood children to see if they are being "bad or good". He sees two "good" children doing household chores and playing with their dolls, but finds a third child, Moss Garcia, rifling through a Penthouse magazine and cutting out a nude photograph. Harry runs back home and writes Moss's name in his "Bad Boys & Girls" book.
On his way home, Harry peeps into the window of a local bar and sees coworker Frank Stoller, who earlier that day had phoned in sick, requiring Harry to take his place on the assembly line. Harry becomes angry and rushes home, hums a Christmas tune, and breaks one of his male dollhouse figures. The following morning he phones his younger brother Phil (Jeffrey DeMunn) and cancels Thanksgiving dinner.
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Wikipedia