Review of Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) by Tanner A — 30 Nov 2012

This film chronicles the life of Billy Chapman. He was a little boy when he first witnessed the death of his parents at the hands of a man dressed in a santa suit. Sent to an orphanage of the Catholic variety, Billy begins to show signs of not letting what happened to him go. How could such a thing like witnessing your parents murdered by Santa Claus ever really leave your memory? Now if it were the Easter Bunny, sure, but Santa? That's a scary dude to begin with. I mean his first name, if spelled differently, can be spelled as Satan! Also he makes a list and checks it twice to see if you're either naughty or nice! Who the hell does that?!! Except for maybe mobsters, strippers and serial killers.

In the case of Billy Chapman, being naughty is hard to avoid. Ever since being raised in the orphanage he was always given beatings by the Mother Superior for being naughty. It's been embroidered in his brain from that early age that what caused his parents murder was because he was naughty. So with Mother Superior whipping his little bottom, he grows up to be a strong young man and gets a job a Toy Store. Every Christmas, Billy is traumatized by the decorations and Santa suited men of the Holiday even at 18. When he has impure thoughts about a fellow co-worker, even in his fantasies he's punished by Santa. It's like the whole reason, to him, is to be good for Santa. Almost like a Christ figure, that if any kind of impurity were to plague him that the wraith of Santa Claus will punish you for your sins!

Billy's damaged brain begins to push him over the edge when he witnesses the atrocities of the naughty people around him. So suiting up as the Toy Store's Santa, gives him the identity of the Santa Claus that murdered his family and thereby begins his own merry slaying on this jolly day. With an axe in tow, Billy goes on a massacre. He kills the naughty and lets the nice live on. Now that sounds like a reasonable Santa Claus to me for a horror film, but unfortunately when this film was released many, many, many, many people didn't see it that way.

Siskel & Ebert, the lovable duo of film criticism at the time, hated this film. Siskel went as far as to name the people reasonable and calling it a contemptable film. The filmmakers should be ashamed! They made this film for money! Blood Money! Ho Ho Ho never looked this bad since I Spit on Your Grave! Okay, well he didn't say that last part, but he does hold this film next to 'I Spit On Your Grave' as one of the crappiest. I find that to be a bit unfair since this film does do a pretty good job with applying a slasher element into Christmas. It's not the first of it's kind though to do it ('Black Christmas' and others before it). I think this one got the most clout for it's depiction of the Catholic orphanage in the film. Yeah, the parents protest over the depiction of Santa Claus as an axe wielding psycho does dampen the Christmas spirit, but to pull a film out of theaters because the psycho is Santa Claus seems a bit odd to me.

This film gets a few brownie points for being sadistic and gory. The holy of all nights is depicted in such a trashy and sleazy way that it makes you feel dirty for watching it. Also seeing how Billy descends slowly into madness was quite fun.

Overall, on a slasher scale I'd give it a 6 out of 10. As a Christmas film to watch with the whole family, a SOLID 10 +++.