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 Silent
Night, Deadly Night (DVD - 1984)
R2 / PAL DVD
Arrow Video / 2009
Directed by Charles E. Sellier Jr.
Written by Paul Caimi & Michael Hickey
Cast: Robert Brian Wilson, Gilmer McCormick, Lilyan Chauvin,
H.E.D Redford & Linnea Quigley
Review by Phillip Escott
Slasher films have been known to court controversy, but one
film caused more than it's fair share when it was release by
Tri-star Pictures. Silent Night, Deadly Night suffered the
wrath of nearly every faction of society upon it's release,
Schools and the PTA protested, while film critics openly
attacked the people behind the production in their reviews –
it seemed that Santa Claus was still very much cared for by
Americans, who saw the film as an insult. The film was
pulled from theaters, and was not heard of again until it
was released on VHS. In the UK it has never received an
official release... until now.
Billy Chapman has had a pretty rough life, he's only 18
years-old but he's witnessed Santa Claus murder his father,
then off his mom after she put up a fight while he tried to
rape her. Then he was put into an orphanage that was run by
a brutal Mother Superior who would belt the boy for pretty
much any reason she felt was good enough; punishment, she
believed, was good for him. Now seeking a job for the
Christmas holidays, he finds himself stacking shelves in a
toy-store. All is going well until he's asked by the
store-owner to dress up as Santa and entertain the
children...
It's safe to bracket the movie in the 'so bad, it's good'
section of your collection, but don't let that distract you
from giving it a go – for it is A LOT of fun. Watching
Billy, dressed up as jolly ol' Saint Nick 'punishing' the
naughty boys and girls, is a quality way to spend ninety
minutes of your life. Silent Night, Deadly Night is a true
pleasure for slasher fans and fans of trash cinema in
general. The film takes it's time showing Billy's mental
deterioration, which really helps the film. Seeing what the
poor lad had to put up with as a child, it's not hard to see
why he flies off the handle and goes on a killing spree.
I also found the various methods Billy uses to dispatch his
victims entertaining. Everything from Christmas lights to a
mounted moose head gets used! Films of this ilk are cult
titles for a reason, and this one is a bonafide example of
how to make a cult movie – high-jack a much loved staple of
the culture you're in and lovingly piss all over it! It's
going to alienate a lot of people, but for those who 'get
it' it's going to be a riot when they chuck this on with
some like-minded friends and crack open some cans.
Arrow Video have finally given UK film fans the chance to
witness the film in its uncut glory, due to the material
that was removed being of a lesser quality the quality jumps
around a fair bit – seeing as 6 minutes was removed from the
film! Can't complain though, this is the only uncut release
of the film openly available now that Anchor Bay's DVD, from
a few years back, has gone OOP. Those looking for something
a little different this Christmas REALLY need to pick this
up.
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