Director: Edmund Purdom
Year: 1984
Country: United Kingdom
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Slasher
Plot:
Following a string of gruesome murders, a series of Scotland Yard detectives try to stop the psychopath when it appears that the target of the maniac is anyone with a Santa costume in their possession, and once they find a potential clue to their query set out to stop them before he ruins the holiday.
Review:
This was a fairly fun and sleazy genre effort. Among the better features here is the rather thrilling setup which takes a slightly unusual twist on the expected holiday horror type of slasher. Rather than focus on the maniac in question being the one wearing the Santa costume on the rampage, the idea of the targets being innocent victims simply wearing the costume as they happen upon the killer which in turn leads to a rather decent angle here involving the race to uncover their identity of the psychopath. Seeing the pattern rather early on and the race to fix everything before the killer strikes again, the idea of what transpires here is a solid enough idea as the lives of the individuals in this part of town are interrupted by the masked figure.
That allows for a rather intriguing series of shock ambushes of the killer coming upon an unsuspecting victim before dispatching them. Working with the unconventional approach of short, brief sequences where the location is unimportant, only that the victim is a Santa-dressed male and then getting wiped out in gruesome fashion, there’s a lot to like here that’s quite fun. The setpieces here are based more on the unnamed victim being in unfamiliar territory before the killer appears out of nowhere which means the lengthy stalking scenes here chasing the fleeing victim through the carnival funhouse or backstage at a music video shoot stand out just a bit more in comparison with suitably graphic kill scenes for some likable factors here.
There are some issues here holding the film down somewhat. The main drawback with the film is the seemingly directionless storyline that takes place here with the whole idea of a killer targeting people dressed as Santa Claus given very little rationality for what’s going on. Since it’s known early on that the pattern is clear and obvious, no police protection is offered to keep the streets cleared of the maniac for those who are forced to play up the role due to the time of year or protect others leaving their involvement to feel quite flimsy and scattered. As the entire nature of the film is built around a slew of victims getting randomly killed off as nameless victims, that there’s no suspense or intrigue over the kills makes them feel quite underwhelming.
The other problematic feature here is the entire finale which is quite hard to understand how it was supposed to work. The kidnapping factor is tough enough to get with the whole idea being so out of character with what’s gone on before it so the entire purpose for doing so is so immensely disappointing as it’s only designed to keep a Final Girl alive for the final confrontation. That as well is the other issue here where the final confrontation with the killer is immensely lackluster with the confrontation having no stakes or suspense, everything about it falls flat with the interactions not being all that enjoyable, and then it gives the motivation of why he was doing everything after it’s over so there’s no point to care about it. These are what hold this one down overall.
Overview: ***/5
A generally fun genre effort that has a few slight drawbacks, this one has a lot to enjoy in terms of being an enjoyable enough effort while those few issues are enough to hold this one down. Those who appreciate this kind of genre fare, are a fan of this particular era of slasher films, or are hardcore Holiday Horror fans, in general, will have a lot to like here while most others should heed caution here.
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