Review of Silent Night, Deadly Night III: Better Watch Out! (1989) by Allan C — 09 Nov 2018

Better than average slasher film that was surprisingly directed and co-written by iconoclastic director Monte Hellman ("Two Lane Blacktop" "The Shooting" "Cockfighter" "China 9, Liberty 37").

This direct-to-video sequel would be Hellman's second to last film, until he made "Road to Nowhere" over 20-years later. This third sequel has the Santa Claus Killer Richard "Ricky" Caldwell, a deranged man obsessed with Old St.

Nick, awakened from his coma after a blind woman makes a psychic connection with him, who he then stalk for the remainder of the film. Caldwell is played by genre regular Bill Moseley, Chop-Top from "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2" and Otis in "The Devil's Rejects," which adds tremendously to the fun of the film, where he sports a visible man style transparent dome over the top half of his skull, to repair damage from the first two films, where the audience can see right into his brain cavity.

Hellman delivers effective suspense and plenty gory special effects, which are sure to please horror fans, but it's the film's black humor that sets it apart from the more pedestrian first two films, making this this best of the rather lack luster five films in this series.

The only reason the original film ever spawned a sequel was due to the notoriety it gained due to the controversy surrounding its use of killer in a Santa Clause outfit with an axe. Also bolstering the film over it's predecessors, it features 1960s hunks Richard Beymer ("West Side Story" "The Haunting" "Twin Peaks") and Robert Culp ("I Spy" "Hickey & Boggs" "The Greatest American Hero") in supporting roles.

Overall, I don't think this is necessarily a film I'd recommend for fans of Hellman's prior films, unless you're also a fan of 80s slasher films (which I am). It will likely appeal more to fans of oddball comedy/horror films along the lines of TCM2, "Sleepaway Camp" or "Slumber Party Massacre.

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