WUH: Christmas Evil (1980)

No mere Santa Slasher here, Christmas Evil is a psychological study of one lonely man's mental breakdown. Harry Stadling is obsessed with Christmas and Santa Claus and the lack of belief in his fellow man is weighing heavy on his mind. As hypocrisy, consumerism, and apathy meet him on every side Harry slides further into his delusions until he snaps.

Filled with odd touches, a great cast, and carols aplenty, Christmas Evil has become my second favorite Holiday Horror film after Bob Clark's Black Christmas. So why don't you sit your family down for a double feature on Christmas Eve and pray to God you don't hear footsteps on your roof while you dream of sugar plums dancing in your head.

Where to watch • IMDb listing • Wikipedia page •
The Taxi Driver of Xmas Horror

WDIRT V4E1: Visiting Hours (1982)

When is a WDIRT entry not really a WDIRT entry? When you realize half-way through the movie that you HAVE seen it before. That was the case when I finally tracked down Visiting Hours a few years back. Thinking I would remember having seen a horror movie with William Shatner in it I watched it in hopes of discovering a new old favorite. But then I started getting the strangest feeling of déjà vu, and finally realized I had watched this at some point back in the VHS days of my youth.

Decimated by critics upon release, and currently standing with a 15% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, I, for one, really dig this one. Michael Ironside adds some sympathy to his sleazy stalker and Lee Grant gets to kick some butt. What's not to like?

Where to watch • IMDb listing • Wikipedia page

WUH VSEP: Cleo on Return to Oz (1985)

My little family is test-driving Disney+ before taking the streaming plunge with the new service, and one of the films I was most excited to visit was Return to Oz. Having passed this one by as a teen, and knowing it's not-so-stellar reputation, I was curious to see if it was actually as "bad" as I'd heard. Since my daughter has read many of the Oz books I wanted us to watch it together. Then I thought, "Hey, this might make a fun episode for her and me to do together!" So that's what we're doing! Hope you enjoy this Very Special Episode.

Where to watch • IMDb listing • Wikipedia page