Watch at any hour if you can't find something better.

Rating: 7/10 (17 October 2019)

Festive demi-semi-horror for all the family (if you are happy with your kid sleeping with you until menarche but, hey, I don't judge).
I feel a bit blue that this really could have been a classic of genuine horror if handled a but differently but if judged by its own standard is perfectly fine.
Like a lot of '80s movies of this type (more so than earlier decades for some reason), it can feel very dated with a lot of slow pacing, filler and story elements that don't go anywhere (like the girl who doesn't like Christmas. She has a good reason but it has nothing to do with anything).
The best thing about this movie is its practical effects making it a delightful exercise in cinematic cuteness (and grotesquerie) that one can well imagine being just what those '80s audiences in the winter were in the mood for.
Not a bad christmas or halloween movie but there is better stuff. It could so be your kids first taster of horror if they're kind of sensitive.