This movie is guaranteed to ruin the mental image most people have of a kind , benevolent fat guy who drops down the chimney with presents. The first in a series of horror movies set around Christmas, this movie is refreshingly different from many horror movies of the 1980's in that there is no supernatural aspect. This movie is incredibly gory, so a strong stomach is needed, but has some excellent "methods of death" I've never seen before in any horror movie, and I've seen a lot.
Although I was less than pleased with the rest of the series, I found this movie to be both intriguing and well-thought-out. I would advise viewers against building up attachments to any of the characters -- they don't tend to live very long. I wasn't angry with the killer, though, or wanting him dead -- instead, his background is so tragic, and the character himself so lost, that I found myself rooting for him. It's hard to hate a young man who has had such a troubled life.
The thing which is probably the most troubling, though (aside from the incredibly frequent sites of half-naked women), about this movie is the semi-negative aspect in which the Church is painted. Between the Catholic orphanage, the Santa slayers, and the inept local police force, this movie manages to portray every one of them as only one step away from torture chambers and half-wits.
The kind of movie designed to be watched with the curtains closed and the lights down, I give it an 8 out of 10. Robert Brian Wilson is excellent in his portrayal of Billy, the young man so traumatized by a childhood horror that he has a pathological fear (and hatred) of Santa Claus, Christmas, and anything "bad". Billy's not the only character where you feel something other than you would expect -- as much as you pity him, you dislike the nun in charge -- there is no character in the movie more deserving of a good killing than the Mother Superior who runs the orphange.
Although I was less than pleased with the rest of the series, I found this movie to be both intriguing and well-thought-out. I would advise viewers against building up attachments to any of the characters -- they don't tend to live very long. I wasn't angry with the killer, though, or wanting him dead -- instead, his background is so tragic, and the character himself so lost, that I found myself rooting for him. It's hard to hate a young man who has had such a troubled life.
The thing which is probably the most troubling, though (aside from the incredibly frequent sites of half-naked women), about this movie is the semi-negative aspect in which the Church is painted. Between the Catholic orphanage, the Santa slayers, and the inept local police force, this movie manages to portray every one of them as only one step away from torture chambers and half-wits.
The kind of movie designed to be watched with the curtains closed and the lights down, I give it an 8 out of 10. Robert Brian Wilson is excellent in his portrayal of Billy, the young man so traumatized by a childhood horror that he has a pathological fear (and hatred) of Santa Claus, Christmas, and anything "bad". Billy's not the only character where you feel something other than you would expect -- as much as you pity him, you dislike the nun in charge -- there is no character in the movie more deserving of a good killing than the Mother Superior who runs the orphange.