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Brandon Maggart, Diane Hull, Scott McKay, Joe Jamrog, Peter Friedman ... see more see more... , Ray Barry , Sam Gray , Ellen McElduff , Jeffrey DeMunn , Andy Fenwick , Brian Neville , Dianne Hull

He sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake, and it's best not to get on his bad side in this quirky thriller that's gained a loyal cult following. Harry Straddling (Brandon Maggart) ... read more read more...was traumatized as a child, when late at night on Christmas Eve, he walked into the family living room and saw his father, dressed as Santa Claus, having sex with his mother. Now grown to adulthood, Harry is malignly obsessed with the holiday season, particularly the myths of Santa Claus; he works for a toy company, he sleeps in a Santa suit, his apartment is stuffed with Christmas memorabilia, and he spies on the neighborhood children, keeping track of who has been good and bad. Harry's insistence that the toy company maintain high manufacturing standards does little to endear him to his co-workers, and his brother Phillip (Jeffrey DeMunn) thinks Harry has started to go off the deep end. One day, Harry snaps, and after dressing up as Santa, he steals a truckload of toys and delivers them to a mental hospital as presents for the young patients -- all well and good. But when Harry is then confronted by a group of people who don't believe he's Father Christmas, Harry reacts with violence, setting off a murder spree. Terror in Toyland (which was first released as You Better Watch Out and is now available on video as Christmas Evil) also features Patricia Richardson, who makes her film debut in a small role more than a decade before she gained fame on the TV series Home Improvement. Danny Federici of Bruce Springsteen's E-Street Band also has a cameo, as an accordion player at a community center dance. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Flixster Users

34% liked it

1,895 ratings

R, 1 hr. 30 min.

Directed by: Lewis Jackson

Release Date: November 1, 1980

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DVD Release Date: November 14, 2006

Stats: 172 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (172)


  • fb500439213
    October 18, 2011
    fb500439213
    As if a Norman Rockwell painting was shattered over the fireplace, a child's fragile perception of Santa as a caretaker is skewed when he sees Santa caressing his mother's leg. If your idea of heart-stopping insanity is a man humming Christmas tunes and donating toys to mentally ... read morechallenged children, this is the movie for you. The whole premise is far-fetched and ripe for a dark comedy, not a psychological drama. The film is entirely poker-faced when a newscaster announces "avoid anyone dressed as Santa" and during a police lineup where they coerce belly laughs out of the suspects. The film feels very dated and is exquisitely moronic. The last frames defy justification and only accentuate the film's tin-ear fancifulness.
  • June 15, 2011
    This is a slasher movie where the psycho is obsessed with creating a great Santa Claus for children, and with punishing the adults who don't believe anymore of course. He even works at a toy factory! The guy who plays him is pretty creepy, but there's not as much blood and gore... read more as there could have been, and the other actors aren't so good. Overall, it's an okay Christmas horror movie.
  • March 31, 2011
    This started out rather slowly, but kept building. It winds up getting more and more serious until it just goes flat-out silly at the very end - with an ending totally off-the-wall and completely insane that I have to give the filmmakers props for being so ballsy. It may not be... read more perfect, but it's got some good things going for it.
  • January 8, 2009
    After Harry sees a man dressed as jolly St. Nick make love to his mother one Christmas Eve as a child, he grows up obsessed with Santa Claus, going so far as to spy on neighborhood kids and keep his own list of who's been naughty and nice. One Christmas Eve, he snaps. A charact... read moreer study and not a slasher film, despite the marketing. It alternates between atmospheric and darkly witty, and just plain ridiculous. Still, it's probably the "best" killer Santa movie ever made.
  • November 30, 2007
    Wouldn't let my children see this one. Just a little to off the wall, Mom and Santa Scenes are something that Jr is going to ask about erest asured.
  • July 14, 2007
    A terrible movie. It's not Santa running around killing people like they make it out to be. The actual story has a mentally ill toy factory worker who is obsessed with the idea of Christmas. Brandon Maggart would've been better off growing his white beard for this movie. The film... read more also looks dark and murky. I hated it for misrepresentation. Check out Santa's Slay and Silent Night Deadly Night, which are more in line with a killer Santa image.
  • fb25827189
    December 12, 2009
    fb25827189
    I don't think since Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer have I seen such a disturbing and convincing performance, Brandon Maggart very effectively portrays a very mentally unstable man who embarks on a very odd, and bloody journey through the snow covered streets of New York city ... read moredressed as Santa and set out giving presents to those who have been good, and a well placed axe to the head to those who have been naughty. This is a hell of a lot of fun to watch, but only if you are in the mood for something a little darker than the regularly scheduled Christmas films that are usually on TV this time of year.
  • November 29, 2007
    My second favourite Xmas film after A Christmas Story. Brandon Maggart's perfomance is truly amazing, it's too bad he wasn't in more films. And after just watching it again, Jackson was far ahead of him time. The image of Santa being chased by villagers with torches in the sty... read morele of Universal monsters isn't too far from how he's treated by the public today who don't want you saying "Merry Christmas". Brilliant and thoroughly entertaining. Much closer to Taxi Driver or Driller Killer in being the story of a lonely, disturbed man going insane rather than the slasher films everyone wants this film to be. I am a little surprised when after someone watches it they still insist on throwing it in the slasher genre (a genre I love, but c'mon if this is a slasher film then so is Taxi Driver, 187, Death Wish, etc) when it clearly isn't.
  • December 22, 2011
    It's a Christmas movie about a mentally troubled man who thinks he's Santa Clause. This movie strings scenes and flashbacks together pretty poorly. There isn't a whole lot of dialogue. With this movies flaws I must say the ending I did love and if you want to see one great twist(... read more?) ending look no further than Christmas Evil, lol. I just loved how it ends xD
  • December 21, 2011
    5% Christmas, 5% horror, and 90% B-movie glory.

    PLOT:Harry Stadling (Brandon Maggart) was scarred for life as a child when he found out there was no such thing as Santa Claus in a horrible way. Nowadays, he works as a toymaker and is friends with the neighborhood kids, but he ha... read mores a few tricks up his sleeve. He keeps his own list of who's naughty and nice so he can give the kids what they deserve that he didn't get, but people like his scroogy co-workers that get in the way also get what's coming to them: death and revenge. It's actually a pretty dull plot, but it's executed with campy, B-movie glory.

    ACTING:The acting was pretty good actually. Maggart did a great job of acting insane and jolly all at the same time. The child actors were, of course, pretty dreadful. The shiner besides Maggart is the guy who played his brother.

    SCORE:Besides the Christmas songs, the horror score was pretty unique and very unnerving.

    EFFECTS:The effects were used to shock value, but you could tell they overdid it a slight bit; the effects of a B-movie.

    OTHER CONTENT:This movie had its moments of Christmas warmness, its moments of unnerving murders, and its moments of utter boredom, but overall it was B-movie glory. Everything in here was done to the unnerving max in a weird way-that of a B-movie, not to mention the bizarre, sensless
    ending. It's definitely a horror to watch for fun and not to take too seriously.

    OVERALL, an ok Christmas B-movie with a campy plot, good acting aside from the children, unique and unnerving score, shocking and overdone effects, and a fun, bizarre, and senseless ending that only a B-movie could pull off.

Critic Reviews


Dennis Schwartz
December 26, 2011
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

The film is noted for starting a sub-genre of the jolly St. Nick as a psycho slasher killer. Full Review

Scott Weinberg
July 26, 2002
Scott Weinberg, eFilmCritic.com

Even before "Halloween," there was "Black Christmas."

January 1, 2000
Chicago Reader

Click to read the article Full Review

January 9, 2006
Film Threat

Click to read the article Full Review

Emanuel Levy
August 6, 2005
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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