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‘Silent Night, Deadly Night’ |
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Written by Larry Clow
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Wednesday, 20 December 2006 |
TriStar Pictures, 1984
starring: Robert Brian Wilson, Lilyan Chauvin, Gilmer McCormick and Britt Leach
directed by: Charles E. Sellier Jr.
the plot: It’s a bad Christmas for 8-year-old Billy Chapman. First, his mentally ill grandfather warns him about how Santa Claus will come and “punish” those who are naughty. To make matters worse, a crazed robber in a Santa Claus suit brutally murders Billy’s parents while they’re driving home on Christmas Eve. Billy and his brother Ricky are sent to an orphanage run by a strict mother superior (Chauvin), who drills into Billy the importance of punishment and atonement. Billy’s only ally is Sister Margaret (McCormick), who understands the trauma the boy has been through. At age 18, Billy (Wilson) leaves the orphanage and gets a job in Ira Simms’ (Leach) toy store. Billy’s new life goes along fine—that is, until Christmas rolls around and Billy is forced to wear a Santa Claus suit. When he stumbles upon his supervisor assaulting a female employee, Billy is thrown into a psychotic rage. The crazed Claus picks up an axe and begins murdering his way across town. Sister Margaret hears of the killings and tries to stop Billy, but she doesn’t realize he’s on his way back to the orphanage.
why it’s good: Decried by critics, protested by angry parent groups and ultimately yanked from theaters after a short theatrical run, “Silent Night, Deadly Night” is one of the few slasher flicks to carry a serious reputation with it. The objections mostly center around the portrayal of Santa Claus as an axe-wielding, mass-murdering psycho. But if you get beyond that, you’ll find “Silent Night” is a fairly tepid, by-the-numbers slasher film. There’s the usual trappings: a tortured origin story for the killer, a handful of novel murders (“Silent Night” features a death-by-stuffed-deer-head scene), and the requisite climax that sets up a sequel. The movie is fairly terrible, from the acting—Billy doesn’t say much more than “Punish! Punish!” for the last 45 minutes of the movie—to the ludicrous, hole-filled plot. Still, “Silent Night” is still fun to watch, if only for some cheap thrills and cheesy moments. There’s more bare breasts than you can shake a sleigh bell at, and, like most ’80s movies, “Silent Night” includes a lame montage scene set to some cringe-inducing Christmas music. The film also spawned four sequels, though only two of them had anything to do with the original movie. “Silent Night” won’t put you in the holiday mood, but it’s still better than finding an ugly sweater underneath the tree.
why you should own it: Anchor Bay gives viewers a Christmas treat by packaging “Silent Night, Deadly Night” with its sequel. The movie is presented complete and un-cut, with all the gore, nudity and some deleted scenes intact. The disc includes an interview with director Sellier and “Santa’s Stocking of Outrage,” a collection of press clippings about the controversy surrounding the film.
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