Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Christmas Evil’

Written by Scott Edwards

​Ever since I was a little kid, I have always been a little leery about those Santa Claus’ at the mall. It had nothing to do with the stranger danger aspect, I was afraid of his beard since nobody I knew had one. Now that I have one, I am over my fears of the Santa’s that live in the mall, I mean it used to be great to see kids with big smiles on their faces getting their picture taken. Even though times have changed, and Santa is now hidden in his house in the mall, I wonder why he does not just stay their year-round, I mean he has a house and kids have wishes 365 days a year, but I digress. The point is, Santa is not creepy anymore.
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With another Christmas coming around, Harry Stadling is keeping an eye on his neighbor’s kids to see who is naughty and who is nice. Keeping a list of everything that they do, he is looking to make it a great year for them yet again. With only one outlier, all of the kids are on his good side, and he will make something special for them this year at the toy factory, and at his home workshop. Nothing will keep Harry from making this Christmas as special as can be, but he is starting to see the rotten underbelly of what Christmas really means.

Getting taken advantage of at work, Harry has added another person to the Naughty list. But this is not enough to keep him out of the holiday spirit. Because shortly after he watches the Thanksgiving Day Parade, he is ready to embody the holiday like never before. Fashioning himself a Santa outfit, Harry is full of cheer and will make this an event to remember. Talking to a couple co-workers at the Christmas Party however, he finds out that the Christmas cheer they are advertising to give toys to a hospital full of sick kids is a publicity scheme and no toys will be donated from the company. Not allowing the kids to go without a gift this year, Harry grabs his bags and makes his way to the factory and fills them all up.

After wrapping all of the presents, even the home-made ones, Harry is ready to embody the persona of Santa himself. Putting on his suit and beard, Harry heads out in the night and starts to load up a couple of houses with plenty of presents, but there is still something looming in the back of his mind. Remembering what the execs said at the Christmas party, Harry wants to educate them in what real Christmas cheer is. Arriving at the local church and being heckled by a couple of guys, Harry snaps and the spirit of giving is replaced with the spirit of wrath. With a body count slowly starting to pile up, this Christmas will be like no other as Santa Claus is considered armed and dangerous.

Sometimes I used to wonder who was under the beard when sitting on Santa’s lap and now I know it could have been a crazy killer. The breakdown that Harry goes through is something that we all have had to deal with from time to time, but he takes it to the next level. Not feeling bad about punishing the Naughty, Harry still has time to spend with the Nice people and is more than willing to keep up his Christmas cheer. With a Santa suit, a fake beard, plenty of toys, plenty of cheer, a HO-HO-HO, a sleigh painted van, smiles, cries and a body count, you may want to think twice about mouthing off to Santa, because if you do, you might find that his Christmas cheer is something made of nightmares. Stay Scared.

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