Ah yes, gather round children, time for another Christmas tale of blood and gore. Ah…The first Christmas horror movie I saw in my life. It took me nearly 30 years to see it again since the first time.
A young boy watches his parents killed by a thief in a Santa suit. He spends his youth in an orphanage, staying quietly to his self, but his mind is further bent by an ironhanded Mother Superior. He finally gets a job at a local store, where he finally snaps when he is required to wear a Santa suit, and goes on a killing spree that leads him slowly back to the orphanage.
That synopsis gives most of the movie away.
The film begins in 1971 and Billy is visiting his grandfather, he is in a home and hasn’t spoken a word in years. But he decides to open up on Christmas Eve to tell Billy that Santa is a killer and watch out for Santa. Then flash to a man in a Santa costume robbing a store. Later we see Billy and his family driving home. They would soon pull up on Santa with seemingly car trouble, well, no trouble. Santa kills the father and nearly rapes his mother. Billy runs and hides in the ditch.
The movie flashes to an orphanage where Billy is abused by Mother Superior who keeps shitting on him. Billy is disturbed by Christmas and Santa and sex. Well he gets plenty of views of sex and being pushed on Santa, literally. I blame Mother Superior for his problems, what a bitch.
Eventually, Billy is 18 and leaves the orphanage and gets that good job at a toy store. The bastard owner makes him dress up as Santa and tell little kids about Santa is going to punish them.
Well shit hits the fan and he goes on a rampage. That is pretty much what we are waiting for, for nearly an hour. He kills everyone in his path, almost. He even kills Linnea Quigley, who is running around opening doors in the middle of winter, topless. But her death is by far the best in the film. That is pretty much what we have here, a slasher movie based around Christmas. The beginning, watching Billy mishandled by Mother Superior and witnessing his parents demised fucked him up so much. His main objective is to kill Mother Superior and if you ask me…Bitch had it coming.
There are some great parts during Billy’s rampage, the sledding scene, Linnea Quigley of course. Billy saying “Punish” is silly and comical as all hell. I would say this movie is fun, but the beginning kind of bull shit.
IMDB.com has a score of 5.9
I give Silent Night Deadly Night a 5.0
It’s not a great slasher, too much build up. I will say the kills are for the most part good. Silent Night Deadly Night is a great cult horror film, but CHRIST, it takes forever to get going. Not like the shitty sequel that recaps the events of the first movie over the course of 45 minutes.
Of course, we recently saw Scream Factory release a Collector’s Edition Blu Ray. Check it out.
Also, if you want to brave it, there are 5 sequels to Silent Night, Deadly Night.
