Christmas Evil!
To help ease your transition from Halloween into the holiday season, what could be better than a Christmas-themed horror movie?
Christmas Evil, from 1980, is a longtime favorite of mine. I first saw it back in high school, when it was one of the “elite” cult films that all of us freaks passed around. (IIRC, I watched it directly after Army of Darkness — another of our high school must-sees.)
Quick and dirty summary: A kid sees “Santa Claus” (his dad in the fat suit) going down on his mother, and is so severely damaged by the experience that he grows up to be a Christmas-obsessed freak with a dangerously black-and-white perspective about good and evil. (Or “naughty and nice,” as he might put it.)
Eventually, the dude snaps and sees himself as Santa Claus… albeit one who kills.
Christmas Evil is kinda slow and admittedly gets a little dopey, but I still think it’s effective. One of those movies that doesn’t seem like it has what it takes to grab you, but does. Your attention will be rewarded, too, because this movie has an absolutely bonkers ending. (Though probably less bonkers that you might think… listen closely to those final sound effects to figure out what’s really happening, there!)
Enjoy!
Other random notes:
1) Now that Halloween is over, can I come out and admit that I think I’m having a Christmas year? (And by “Christmas year” I mean a “Thanksgiving and Christmas year.” For me, November and December just blend into one big sugary ball.)
Don’t get me wrong, I love both seasons, and neither would mean nearly as much without the other. Still, every year, I kinda “feel” one of them more. In 2015, Halloween definitely got the nod. (I was still so out of sorts about losing Grey Cat that I barely celebrated Christmas at all, beyond whatever I put on the site. No music, no movies, no decorating. Italians know how to mourn, mofo.)
Tl; dr: There are around a dozen things that I only get to do in November and December, and I cannot wait to do them. 🙂
2) Halloween nuts, keep an eye out: Lots of stores are doing their spooky clearance sales RIGHT NOW, and if what I saw at Target earlier is any indication, there are some killer deals out there.
3) I’m starting to sort out what I’ll be covering on Dino Drac between now and Christmas, and found some pretty kickass things. Stay tuned! (And on that note, I’m actively hunting for Christmassy videotapes… meaning the taped-off-television stuff. ‘80s and ‘90s specials, especially with commercials, are a huge help. If you have anything like this that you’re willing to let me borrow, shoot me an email!)
Happy Halloween! (Also, Halloween is over.)
Halloween may be over, technically, but it’s still Halloween night, baby!
Hope everyone had a great season ending with a great day. My season was hit-or-miss for reasons beyond Halloween’s control, but I’m not too upset about it. This season, I got to eat an official Ghostbusters cheeseburger, bought a vintage My Pet Monster doll, and finally got to retell my old ALF costume story. Those are some big plusses!
So, question for you:
What was the #1 highlight of YOUR Halloween season? Tell everyone, in the comments!
Tonight’s movie is Don’t Go To Sleep, from 1982. I don’t know much about it, but an old coworker used to rave (well, rant and rave) about it, and she actually emailed me the YouTube link just a few days ago. Spooky old TV movies are never all bad, even when they’re 100% bad. (I don’t know how that math works. It just does.)
As a reminder, we’re gonna see if Dino Drac After Dark has enough steam to survive without the Halloween crutch, so you can keep coming back here every night for more of God knows what. We’ll see how that goes, but if nothing else, it certainly was a nice addition to the Countdown! 🙂
Ice Cream Man!
Happy Halloween, everybody!
The fact that it’s happening on a Monday kinda sucks, but we can make the most of it, right?
Here’s Ice Cream Man, from 1995, starring Clint Howard as a… psychotic ice cream man. Seriously! It’s goofy fun, and the filmmakers knew exactly how to treat it.
Fun fact: I once had a phone conversation with Clint Howard that lasted for the better part of two hours. This was during the very early 2000s. He was looking to build an online presence, and a mutual friend put us in touch, thinking I could offer him some assistance. I couldn’t, really, but he sure was fun to talk to. Nice guy, too.
I’m not sure what shocked me more: Talking to Clint Howard for that long, or finding out that me and Clint Howard had a mutual friend.
Celebrity Ghost Stories!
I used to watch Celebrity Ghost Stories all the time. It started at an old friend’s apartment where my crew often drank into the wee hours, leading to a lot of inadvertent sleepovers. Celebrity Ghost Stories, which was always on his DVR, was our go-to-bed show of choice.
Here are a few segments that I’ve never forgotten. Since one of them features Rue McClanahan, yeah, these are pretty damn old!
If you get hooked, there are TONS more on YouTube. Some of the stars seem to believe their stories, but there are admittedly a number that are obviously bullshitting. (It’s also a little too “neat” that so many faded celebrities just so happened to have personal ghost stories, but hey, figuring out which ones are just making stuff up as they go is half the fun!)
