We all have movies we love. Movies we respect without question because of either tradition, childhood love, or because they’ve always been classics. However, as time keeps ticking, do those classics still hold up? So…the point of this here column is whether or not a film stands the test of time. I’m not gonna question whether it’s still a good flick, but if the thing holds up for a modern audience.
Director: Charles E. Sellier Jr.
Starring: Lilyan Chauvin, Gilmer McCormick, and Robert Brian Wilson
Well, it’s the holidays if you didn’t realize, which means there's enough happiness, joy, and cheer to go around to make anyone slightly nauseous. In order to properly highlight the holiday, it seems a dandy time to dive back into those seasonal films that feel strange to watch at any other time of year. Granted, no Halloween-level masterpieces exists to represent Christmas, but that doesn’t mean the genre lacks classics to warp that holiday spirit a bit.
Under the examination: Silent Night, Deadly Night.
THE STORY: Like all kids, poor little Billy just wanted a good Christmas, but things don’t always work out like they should…or maybe they do. After a visit with his nutty, Ernest Hemingway-lookalike grandfather, Billy’s parents are murdered in the dark of night by some asshole in a Santa suit for no good reason other than pure bad luck. Now orphaned, Billy finds himself raised by nuns, one good, one bad. By the time he reaches manhood, well, he’s all kinds of f*cked up…especially around the Holidays. When he takes a job at the Ira’s Toys and is forced to dress like Santa, things don’t go good for anyone. Punish!
This scene basically speaks for itself.
WHAT STILL HOLDS UP: I have to admit I’ve warmed up to Silent Night, Deadly Night a bit. Last year I wrote a Black Sheep (find it here) where I didn’t exactly shower it in goodness. However, on this viewing I came with more of an open mind. Maybe I was more in a mood for some Christmas mayhem. After all, I've always appreciated a film when the villain isn’t an out and out evil without purpose. Here, it’s hard not to care a little for Billy considering all shit he went through as a kid.
And instead of giving the audience a throwaway back story, the first act gives us a true psychological examination of childhood trauma and how if not treated, well damn. Watch out. Poor Billy really should have moved to an all atheist town to avoid Christmas as even a glancing image of Santa will drive to poor fella into a rage. Or at the very least give the kid a shrink. Anyway, Billy's an interesting character even though I never found myself rooting for him like some baddies. Maybe it’s the fact he killed anyone and everyone he deemed naughty. Perhaps if he murdered only actual bad folks I could have rooted a bit, but not so much (more of that below).
This should be everyone's nightmare.
Since this is a horror flick, the movie brings the pain in damn fine fashion as the gore plays effectively brutal. The opening death scene of Billy’s parents feels necessarily rough (as his mother is basically raped and then throat slit) in order to show what the kid went through. No, it’s not a “fun” scene, but once Billy turns 18 and starts screaming like a loon how everyone is naughty or quotes various memorable Christmas lines, things seem more horror movie quality fun. So when his toy store boss gets a hammer to his head or Billy’s fellow jerk employee is strangled with X-Mas lights, things end up a little more on the entertaining side.
Oh, Silent Night reminds us all how horror movies have changed. Not only is the violence brutal, but films just don’t give this level of nudity any more. That scene where the hot blonde in jean shorts goes to look for her cat is always…memorable. Cheers!
Always sport a shirt if someone chucks an ax in your direction.
WHAT BLOWS NOW: Holy cow, Silent Night has one of the most stereotypical, horrific montages ever captured on film. Seriously, the song is called “Warm Side of the Door” and well…just watch it here. I bitched about it in that Sheep column, but it’s unavoidable not to bitch again.
The biggest element that blows probably comes from the plot. Silent Night starts off with such a brutal, emotional bitch slap to the audience that it ends up losing focus. Yeah, we get it that Billy can’t handle Christmas, but at least give the guy better motivation or purpose to kill his victims. Random doesn’t work here. He needs revenge to make it work. Specific revenge. Perhaps then the overall result would’ve been more entertaining. Gore and nudity sure can help a horror movie, but it needs some fun and a decent script to go with it. At the same time, it’s one of those horror movies that never has a continuous tone. Its psychological terror, then goofy, then brutal, then kinda silly. Not a bad thing, but it plays uneven.
THE VERDICT: Silent Night, Deadly Night is better than I remembered, but it’ll never be much more than a fringe cult classic. Thankfully for it, time has been good to it with quality old school gore, hot chicks, and a nutty, almost sympathetic killer. Almost.
GET SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT BLU RAY HERE
GET SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT DVD HERE