Silent Night, Deadly Night-1984
Director Charles E. Sellier Jr.
Starring Robert Brian Wilson, Gilmer McCormick
Scott’s Review #974
Reviewed December 30, 2019
Grade: B
Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) is a fun, holiday-themed horror/slasher flick that is cheery mayhem in the spirit of the season, and a worthy addition to any horror fan’s collection.
The film is best watched late at night for appropriate effect, and obvious to view around the holiday that it celebrates.
It would make a great companion piece to Black Christmas (1974), a superior film, but both contain eerily similar musical scores, the former updated with electronic beats for the 1980s.
The horror film was met with ridicule and protest upon release for the promotion of a killer Santa Claus, despite the story being slightly overreacted to and not interpreted correctly. The ‘real’ Santa Claus does not perform the slayings, but rather a mentally unstable young man dressed in the red suit does the dirty deeds.
Nonetheless, the film was unceremoniously yanked from theaters after parents expressed fear that their kids might be traumatized by the film. Silent Night, Deadly Night has graduated to cult-classic status and is entertaining, perhaps embracing its derision instead of running from it.
The action begins in rural Utah in 1971, as the Chapman family drives to a retirement home to see their catatonic grandfather. When left alone, the elder warns five-year-old Billy to fear Santa Claus, which his parents disbelieve.
On their way home, they stop along the roadside to help a man dressed as Santa Claus, whose car appears to have broken down. The man robs and kills the parents, sparing Billy and his brother from death. Three years later Billy and Ricky reside in an orphanage led by the sadistic Mother Superior, and a kindly nun, Sister Margaret (Gilmer McCormick).
Ten years later (present times), the now-grown Billy (Robert Brian Wilson) is benevolent and friendly, obtaining a job as a stock boy at a toy store with the help of Sister Margaret. As Christmas Eve approaches, Billy has flashbacks of his parent’s murders and later is forced to play Santa Claus for the Christmas party when a co-worker falls ill.
As the staff becomes inebriated, a female co-worker is nearly raped causing Billy to go berserk and kill both the assailant and the victim who blames Billy. He then spends the night prowling the area for victims he can stab or behead.
Fun is the name of the game with Silent Night, Deadly Night.
The film is to be enjoyed and is a macabre treat for slasher fans. The kills are respectable with the traditional methods used- an ax to the head and a bow and arrow death, along with more elaborate deaths like strangling with a chain of Christmas lights, and a bare-chested female victim being impaled on a moose head.
The highlight is the beheading of a mean teenage bully as he gleefully sleighs down a hill on a stolen sled.
Plenty of gratuitous bare chests (female) common in these types of films are in store for the lusty male viewer, but a nude male is glimpsed as well to make for some R-rated diversity.
Par for the course with slasher films made decades ago is the omission of cultural diversity. Not one Black, Latin, or Asian character is ever seen. The pure-as-snow Utah setting might be one justification.
If one were to attempt to analyze Silent Night, Deadly Night (not recommended) one can deduce a specific religious message or at least a questioning of Catholicism, specifically the harshness of Mother Superior and her interpretation of punishment being good and implemented in the name of god.
Or maybe she is just a sadistic character? In perfect contrast, Sister Margaret is loving, protective, and nurturing to the orphans.
Whatever the intention of the filmmakers, humor is the recipe as the strictness and rigidity are played for laughs.
Proper for any horror film, the final scene leaves room for a sequel. Indeed, there were four follow-up films made with the younger Ricky taking over as the serial killer.
In satisfying form, Ricky glares at Mother Superior and exclaims “Naughty!” before the credits roll. The unrated version of Silent Night, Deadly Night is the preferred version to watch.
Pull up the covers, light the fire, and kick back with a six-pack of Bud Lite, roast some marshmallows, and enjoy Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) for what it is.
Bad acting, sins of the flesh, and a delightful holiday slaughter with unintentional (or intentional) humor and cliched characters make for robust enjoyment on a lightweight scale.