INTRODUCTION: Here is an old movie that, sadly, I have never seen. It is one of those hidden gems and it has the benefit of being in a rare category of Christmas horror films that are not done well, or at least, not often enough. This though, this isn’t a lump of coal. Whoever was on the good list that year, thank you, because this is a fun flick!

SYNOPSIS: A young boy suffers a traumatic Christmas one year in the 1930’s. 50 years later, he takes his love for the holiday a bit too far.

CHARACTERS: This movie predates Joker, which just came out and I have to say, there is a similarity between the two characters and while, even though I haven’t seen it yet, I am sure Joker does it better, but this is an even cooler concept than just a psychological expose on an Incel in 1980’s New York. The character, in my mind, is more sympathetic, because he seems out of place in the world. There is an innocence, instead of mental illness. He is creepy, albeit, not intentionally. He loves Christmas and he is not very accepted by the world. The rest of the characters could have used more development, but the point of view is Santa.

ACTING: Very, very good. No one is going to win any awards here, but it is better than a lot of modern TV shows and very good for the B movies of the time.

DIALOGUE: is very good, nothing to complain about.

MUSIC: Excellent to build up the tone and tension.

VISUALS: It’s the 80s and very low budget but good for what they wanted to achieve.

SUBTEXT: None, except that being yourself isn’t beloved by everyone.

CONCLUSION: This movie is nearly two hours long and it really has few kills to make it a horror movie. It still builds up tension well and makes you wonder when he will finally go insane. It has flaws, but they’re few and far between. It is, as I pointed out, a character piece akin to Joker and very good at that. Why this isn’t bigger around the holidays is beyond me, but it really needs to be.

3 ½ stars out of 5.