Some films paint Christmas dark
Tobe Hooper, the director of the 1974
”
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,
”
got the idea for the movie while he was out Christmas shopping.
He was in a crowded store when he spotted some chainsaws and
thought about slicing his way through the crowds. So Christmas
inspired one of the scariest movies ever made.
Christmas in itself can be frightening. It’s pretty scary to
watch the news on TV of holiday shoppers beating each other’s
brains in at Target. If you want to take a break from shopping and
see what happens to people who are naughty, not nice, here are some
slightly different Christmas films you can rent.
Some films paint Christmas dark
Tobe Hooper, the director of the 1974 “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” got the idea for the movie while he was out Christmas shopping. He was in a crowded store when he spotted some chainsaws and thought about slicing his way through the crowds. So Christmas inspired one of the scariest movies ever made.
Christmas in itself can be frightening. It’s pretty scary to watch the news on TV of holiday shoppers beating each other’s brains in at Target. If you want to take a break from shopping and see what happens to people who are naughty, not nice, here are some slightly different Christmas films you can rent.
“Tales From The Crypt” (1972)
On Christmas Eve a young and very beautiful Joan Collins murders her husband and has to fight off a maniac dressed as Santa Claus who is trying to break into her house. You’re not sure if it’s her husband who has come back to life, a psycho killer or even the real Santa Claus, but it’s pretty scary. This isn’t really a Christmas film; it’s an anthology of five different horror stories. The Joan Collins segment is the scariest one. It is so scary that I don’t even remember what the other segments are about. Directed by Freddie Francis who made a several horror movies for Hammer studios.
“Black Christmas” (1974)
Bob Clark, who also directed “A Christmas Story,” directed this classic horror movie. A group of sorority girls on Christmas break are terrorized by threatening phone calls and a psycho who murders them one by one. This movie is considered so scary that NBC decided not to air it on network TV. Margot Kidder, Olivia Hussey and Andrea Martin play the sorority girls. John Saxon plays the cop investigating the phone calls. The movie doesn’t rely on graphic violence instead it uses sound, music and camera angles to scare you. Stay away from the 2006 remake.
“Christmas Evil” (1980)
Also known as “You Better Watch Out” this movie is about a boy who is disappointed to learn that Santa Claus is not real and grows up to go on a killing spree at Christmas time. I saw this movie a long time ago and I remember it as being more of a character study than an actual slasher film. It’s a little slow moving, but overall a really good film. Brandon Maggart, who plays the killer Santa Claus, is singer Fiona Apple’s father.
“Silent Night, Deadly Night” (1984)
Billy Chapman watches a thief dressed as Santa Claus kill his parents. He grows up in an orphanage and freaks out at Christmas. He kills a department store Santa Claus, steals his costume and goes on a murderous rampage. This film inspired four sequels and an upcoming 2008 remake. It’s not the greatest movie, but it’s worth watching at least once to see an axe wielding Santa Claus killing people. I’ve only seen the first sequel and it’s just a rehash of the first film with Billy’s brother telling the story in flashbacks.
“Jack Frost” (1996)
This is one of those movies that you are watching and you can’t believe what the heck you are seeing. At Christmas time a serial killer is reincarnated as a snowman and continues his murderous ways. He can shoot deadly icicles and in one scene the townspeople try to melt him with blow dryers. It also has an early acting effort by Shannon Elizabeth. It did inspire a sequel called “Jack Frost 2: Revenge of the Mutant Killer Snowman.” Don’t confuse it with the 1998 Michael Keaton film also called “Jack Frost.”
There is also a 1984 British film called “Don’t Open ‘Til Christmas” about a maniac on the loose in England killing men who are dressed as Santa Claus. I haven’t seen this film and it got mixed reviews on www.IMDB.com, but it’s probably worth a look.
In 2005 wrestler Bill Goldberg plays a murderous Santa Claus in “Santa’s Slay.” In this film Santa is actually the son of the devil who lost a bet to be good for one thousand years. On Christmas day the bet expires and he kills people. The cast also features Fran Drescher, Robert Culp, Rebecca Gayheart and Saul Rubinek. I haven’t seen this film either, but I just put it in my rental queue for Netflix. I’ll never forgive myself if I don’t give it a try.
If you are a Scrooge like me and don’t want to watch “Miracle On 34th Street” for the hundredth time, these should be able to darken the brightest Christmas.
