Review of Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) by Steven L — 25 Dec 2011

This film caused major controversy during itâ??s initial release. And why was that? Because ugly, dumpy housewives decided they wanted their fifteen minutes and they chose to attack a horror movie to get it. I guess they werenâ??t getting any at home, but that may not be the issue right now.

Silent Night, Deadly Night was a film about a small boy, Billy Chapman, who witnessed his parents killed by a man dressed as Santa Claus. After this happens he goes and lives at an orphanage along with his baby brother, Ricky. While there it is clear that seeing his parents die has fucked him up royally and because of this he is constantly mentally attacked by Mother Superior. The only person to see that there is something wrong with him is Sister Margaret; it is even her who gets him his first job at 18 years old. Billy now a decent looking young man has gotten a job in the stock room of some really crappy looking toy store, heâ??s even got a thing for the girl working there. But, the shit hits the fan when they need someone to play Santa Claus at the store and guess who they pick? Well, after this at the Christmas party Billy loses it and kills 4 people before venturing out into the world to find people who have been â??naughtyâ??.

This movie caused controversy because these dumbass mothers wanted the movie pulled from theaters because of itâ??s depiction of Santa Claus. They were worried that their children would think that Santa Claus was a murderer. In the documentary Going to Pieces: The Rise & Fall of the Slasher Film, there is some video of these extremely ugly looking housewives who at the time were getting people to sign petitions to pull the movie. One of them even said â??weâ??re not doing this to be famous, weâ??re doing this to get the movie pulled from theatersâ??. And, sadly the company that released the movie did pull it. Even the actress that played Mother Superior, Lilyan Chauvin, defended the movie simply saying that they may not have advertised correctly.

Whatever the case was, the movie is still a classic. Though, when looking at it by a person who does not like horror movies I can see how people might not like it. The movie is hilarious. Though Iâ??ve never talked to the director, it is my opinion that a lot of that stuff was done to be funny. Like the girl being impaled on the antlers of a deer head in someoneâ??s den. Or the line the girl makes to her sister â??if you donâ??t go to bed, Santa wonâ??t comeâ?? and her boyfriend responds â??he wonâ??t be the only one!â?? Come on! Thatâ??s great! The movie is simply a fun movie to sit down and watch when youâ??re bored. I tend to watch it at least once a year. The acting is horrible, especially from the little boy who plays Billy at age 8, but itâ??s still a fun and entertaining movie to watch. Would it win awards? No, but still itâ??s there to enjoy!