1984 Directed by Charles E. Sellier Jr.
Little Billy witnesses his parents being brutally murdered by Santa. When, years later, he has to fill in for an absent in-store Santa Claus, his traumas materialise once again.
Lilyan Chauvin Gilmer McCormick Toni Nero Robert Brian Wilson Britt Leach Nancy Borgenicht H.E.D. Redford Danny Wagner Linnea Quigley Leo Geter Randy Stumpf Will Hare Tara Buckman Geoff Hansen Charles Dierkop Eric Hart Jonathan Best A. Madeline Smith Richard C. Terry Amy Styvesant Max Robinson Vinc Massa John Michael Alvarez John Bishop Oscar Rowland Richard D. Clark Tip Boxell Angela Montoya Molly Cameron Show All…
Part of Hoop-Tober
“Punishment is absolute. Punishment is necessary. Punishment is good.”
Like many Caucasian babies, I was born with blue eyes. Also like many Caucasian babies, I had blonde hair (once I stopped sporting the Daddy Warbucks). Not ultra-white, Village of the Damned blonde, but more of a sandy, Larry-Wilcox-from-CHiPs blonde. (I like to keep my pop cultural references current.) As I aged, my eyes and hair darkened—a very common experience. My hair deepened into a medium brown, and my eyes settled upon a weird shade that I usually call “hazel” but is actually more like the speckled multicolor you might find in some countertops, such that my eyes sometimes appear to change color depending upon what I’m wearing.…
I love slasher films, even trashy ones.
After Billy (Robert Brian Wilson) witnesses the murder of his parents by a man dressed as Santa Clause he is sent to live in an orphanage. Things go from bad to worse as his childhood trauma is made worse by well- meaning nuns until he manages to get a job in a toy store. Considering Billy is a boy with a deathly fear of all things Christmas you would have thought he’d have chosen a different career path- but whatever you think is best, Billy.
His fear reaches it’s climax when he has to dress up as Santa for the toy store (as if we didn’t all see this coming Billy, you idiot).…
You scared, ain't ya? You should be! Christmas Eve is the scariest damn night of the year!
-Grandpa
Film starts off as some fun sleazy exploitation as we witness how little Billy grows up to eventually become an axe murderer through a series of unfortunate events that of course involves the murder of his parents, but the icing on the cake has to be being sent off to a Catholic orphanage. That last part is just pure evil.
So we start off with a great origin for the killer, but a good slasher film also needs a likeable teenage cast to be terrorized or some approximation of someone to either route for or at the very least worry about. Here…
The classic Christmas tale of a young boy who watches his parents brutally murdered by a drifter in a Santa Claus outfit, before growing up himself to become a killer in a Santa Claus outfit, massacring the denizens of a toy store and the local town with an axe, proclaiming them all to be "naughty". You know the story. Hilariously picketed and protested upon it's release, it's hard to know whether the makers of Silent Night, Deadly Night are in on the joke, or whether this is meant to be deadly serious. Either way, it's very funny. Woman gets impaled on the horns of a mounted deer head? Check. Man gets decapitated while riding a sledge? Check. Cheesy montage? Check. Tits galore? Check. Gory holiday fun? Check.
This is just a really memorable movie to me, I've only ever seen it once but I could still recall every location, character, and story beat. I especially love the locations that are just drenched in the most negative, uncosy anti-Christmas spirit; like the store front of Ira's Toys is so perfectly uninviting.
Most holiday-themed slashers aren't very inspired and do what is basically Halloween dressed up differently, and it's not like this has any noble ambitions of rising above its dumb, exploitative nature; but Billy is definitely more than just a cardboard killer and they do a great job of establishing his demons.
"NAUGHTY!!!"
Without a doubt one of the worst movies I have ever seen. To paraphrase Kay Corleone, "This was not a movie- this was an abortion."
This film shows how a child can become scarred for life and manipulated into becoming a monster.
Clever themes, plenty of murders and if you're a horror fan then this is one you will enjoy.
It was a lot better than I thought it would be
Film #45 of JC13's I Do Believe I Just Shit Myself September/October Horror Marathon: Part IV
"Can you believe this? It's Christmas Eve and we got orders to bring in Santa Claus."
Silent Night, Deadly Night is a Christmas themed Slasher film that apparently caused quite the controversy back when it was first released. I don't really understand why and I found it to be a unique twist on the genre. It's not a particularly good movie and it has some moments of unintentional humor, but I found it fairly entertaining and the plot was actually pretty solid. There are some pretty memorable kills in this one and I liked the score. Overall it's not exactly what I'd call a good movie, but I think it could have been and even as is, it makes for a decent viewing. 6/10
This Shocktober, I decided to FINALLY. FINALLY. FINALLY watch Silent Night, Deadly Night. For years and years and years i passed by this VHS box on the stands at the video store as a kid and teen. I always dismissed it because it was set at Christmas with a killer Santa. For some reason, I thought I knew what it was gonna be like and didn’t think it could bring anything new to me. Boy, was I wrong. First off, this movie is dark as fuck. I mean, Unsolved Mysteries can’t even get this dark at it’s worst time. I’m talking about a killer Santa, stopping a family in a car on Christmas Eve, and killing the father, raping the…
"You know what Santa does, don't ya? Well, go get 'em!"
What a hilarious misunderstanding.
Never heard of this movie, until I was looking up something completely different on Netfix and just came across it. So, as I love Horror Movies and Christmas Movies I gave this a shot.
In short, I enjoyed it!
This is a typical 80's horror / slasher flick. Lots of good kills and topless girls wondering around. All set to the backdrop of Christmas time.
The acting was nothing special, and the kills were sometimes more funny than scary, but this is what makes a good 80's horror for me.
If you like that kind of movie and have not seen this one before then give it a watch. "Punish"... "Naughty"... ho ho ho!
Though atypical for a slasher film with the notable absence of typical character tropes among the victims, as well as a somewhat sympathetic killer, Silent Night, Deadly Night fails to impress outside of showing plenty of tits and a number of death scenes that any slasher flick fan has probably already seen in some variation.
Its pacing is superior to some other notable slasher flicks, such as Prom Night, but outside of its mediocrity it does not stand out in any notable kind of way.
curiously little gore to speak of, save maybe for a sharp cut between severed head and grandma's tomato sauce.
you can see tape on the floors of many sets.
Twin Peaks casting: Richard Beymer (Ben Horne) in an awful turn as insidious doctor, Eric Da Re (Leo Johnson) who looks like Dee Snider, and Laura Harring from Mulholland Drive.
Hellman's noted pride in this derives from the efficiency of making it, we can hope not more.
Robert Culp in a shock as world-weary cop: "well studyin' snakes is your thing doc... stompin' on 'em is mine."
bear in mind our killer's brains slosh within a translucent dome affixed as the top half of his head throughout
indescribable filth, i kind of feel like i took one for the team here. $4 from an amazon seller and 90 minutes i'll never have back.
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