- Directed by Lewis Jackson
- Written by Lewis Jackson
- Stars Brandon Maggart, Jeffrey DeMunn, Dianne Hull
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 40 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2zPRNgzBrM
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
This one is kind of a tragic story, with a killer we get to know a bit and see descend into madness. Brandon Maggart really pulls off the lead role, and the supporting cast is pretty strong behind him. A little tame on the horror, but still worth the watch for sure.
Synopsis
It’s Christmas Eve, 1947. The two boys watch Santa come down the chimney. He’s confused and out of breath after the climb, but he heads toward the cookies and milk. He puts the present under the tree and fills the stockings and heads back up the chimney. The boys debate whether that was really Santa or their father. A little later, little Harry goes downstairs and sees his mother doing something naughty with Santa Claus. Harry is traumatized, breaks a snow globe, and cuts himself with the glass. Credits roll.
In the present, Harry wakes up in his Santa jammies and dances around the Christmas-themed house. He’s definitely Christmas-obsessed. He watches the neighbors with binoculars, seeing if the kids are bad or good. He’s got a book full of names of kids.
He goes to work at the Jolly Dream toy factory. His coworkers hate Christmas because they all have to work harder. They also bully Harry, even though he’s technically their boss. One of them tricks Harry into taking his shift while he goes to the bar. Afterwards, Harry finds out and throws a little tantrum at home. He goes over to his brother Philip’s house and watches his brother and his wife Jackie having sex.
The next day, Jackie tells Philip to quit overprotecting Harry, who has always taken care of his brother. Harry makes his own Santa outfit. He paints a sleigh on the side of his van. The kid across the street is naughty, so Harry goes over and scares him. He then goes home and makes toy soldiers out of lead.
It’s time for the Jolly Dream Christmas party. There’s a video about the company donating toys and money to the state hospital. The new PR guy brags about the video but doesn’t care a bit about the children there; it’s all a ploy to make more money. Harry goes down to the factory floor and steals a bunch of toys.
Christmas Eve arrives. Santa’s dressed up and in someone’s home, leaving toys and gifts. He’s also got a great big knife. He leaves the little boy across the street a bag of dirt. He then heads over to the orphanage, but the security guard thinks he’s crazy. He donates a truckload of toys, and they are all very appreciative.
He goes to church and tracks down the owner of the toy factory and the PR guy. He doesn’t get them, but he does leave an impression on a few of the other people. There’s a reason those toy soldiers have toy swords.
He parks his van and gets pulled into a party where he plays Santa for everyone. It goes very well, and then as he leaves, he remembers Frank, the coworker who tricked him into taking his shift. He tries to climb down the man’s chimney, but he won’t fit. He barely pulls himself out. He manages to get inside, and the kids in there see him. He smothers Frank with his bag of gifts and then cuts his throat with a Christmas tree star.
Christmas Day arrives at Jackie and Phil’s house. They wonder what’s happened to Harry. Something’s wrong. They watch a news bulletin about the murders last night.
Morning comes, and the police are rounding up all the Santas for a lineup. Harry calls Phillip and explains that he’s found his own tune now.
A man recognizes Harry while he’s with their children. They light up their torches and chase him. He runs and makes it to his van and gets away. He goes to Phil’s house, and Phil immediately knows what’s happened. Phil yells at Harry and chokes him out. He drags him outside and puts him in the van. Harry wakes up and drives away. The torch-mob catches him, and Harry drives his van off a bridge and flies away, a real Santa Claus.
Commentary
I like this one a lot. Harry’s a good guy, abused and cheated by his peers, but he loves what he does. He slowly but surely cracks under the pressure. Jackie and Phillip know Harry has problems, but we never see them together to get a feel of what’s happened in the past. The first act is pretty slow, so they probably didn’t have any way to fit it in, but it would have explained their behavior a little more.
Brandon Maggart knocks himself out here giving us a great depiction of a man losing his mind. He’s completely relatable, pitiable, and has good motivations. He does a great job for the good people at the party and gives the orphanage a bunch of gifts, so he really does reward the good people and punish the bad, he just sort of gets lost along the way.
It’s slow and really pretty tame for what it is, but I like it anyway. Harry’s not a raging slasher like Billy was in the Silent Night Deadly Night films. He’s just a realistic depiction of a mentally ill man. I think I like it more than I’m supposed to.