Movie Time! Becoming Santa: The Santa Clause (1994) and Christmas Evil (1980)

It’s Popzara’s Movie Time! Podcast, where our in-house movie nerds Ethan Brehm and Nate Evans take you on an unscripted journey yakking and chatting about some of their favorite movie moments and cinematic scenes, from past and present, presented without snark and snobbery for your listening pleasure.

Wrapped under this year’s podcast tree is our second Santa-themed holiday episode featuring two very different, yet oddly similar movies about men becoming Santa Clause. Parents should exercise caution before gathering the family around the television, however.

First up is 1994’s The Santa Clause, the John Pasquin-directed, Tim Allen-starring family film about a man tricked into becoming the literal Father Christmas. The guys dissect why this holiday favorite, which spawned a massively successful franchise that continues to this day, is darker and more satisfying than you remember. It’s the rare Christmas entertainment where body horror and child custody take center stage, where farting reindeer and legalese reveal the true meaning of Christmas is about loving not who you are, but who you could be.

Next is 1980’s Christmas Evil (aka “You Better Watch Out”), Lewis Jackson’s infamously miscategorized psychological examination of a man descending into madness that’s more Taxi Driver than a typical Halloween-style slasher. Lighter on blood than the marketing suggested, Brandon Maggart wows in a stunning performance predated Joaquin Phoenix Oscar-winning turn in Joker, with beautifully shot locations that look better than most modern films. How many Christmas films can boast having a Frankenstein-like mob wielding actual torches?