Review of Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) by Steve J — 30 Jul 2013

This is not a good movie, and only a small segment of the viewing public will have any real interest in watching this. It is surprisingly well-made, but considering some of the other films in the slasher genre, that's faint praise.

The gore effects are convincing enough, and the acting by the crazy kid is fairly solid (again, for this sort of thing). There are plenty of films that are far gorier, and god knows scarier, than this, but there are few that are so joyously mean-spirited.

This is a movie where NOTHING good happens. EVER. And Christmas is HORRIBLE. And Santa Claus is MEAN. A little boy named Billy witnesses his parents being horribly murdered by a madman in a Santa costume.

Santa also commits sexual assault on Mommy while the terrified boy watches. Understandably traumatized, Billy and his little brother are sent to live in an oppressive Catholic orphanage. Under the tyrannical rule of a cold-as-ice Mother Superior (character actress Lilyan Chauvin is undeniably memorable), the little boy grows into an unstable adult (Robert Brian Wilson).

One absurd turn of events leads to another, and finally Billy goes on a killing spree when his latent homicidal impulse is awakened after donning a Santa suit for a job function. You can basically guess what happens from there.

The cinematography is actually impressive, with lots of slick mise-en-scéne and some beautiful landscapes in the background (the film was shot in Utah, of all places). But the film itself is sleaze, sleaze, sleaze.

If you like films like this, you'll probably be entertained by it though. Mother Superior is nearly as scary as Billy, there are lots of boobs on pointless display, numerous children are frightened, threatened, and exploited for cheap scares by the cynical filmmakers, and the gore is plentiful.

Plus genre regular Linnea Quigley makes an earlier appearance, along with her boobs, which yes, end up covered in blood. A vile, rotten, nasty good time. But Bob Clark's Black Christmas is a much better movie, honestly.