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Directed by Written by Starring Presented by 79 minutes |
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SILENT
NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT Review
Just in time for Christmas, Anchor Bay Entertainment has decided to release one of the most controversial films of the 1980s. In 1984, SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT faced a swarm of protestors from the Church, the government, and most importantly soccer moms who successfully lobbied to get the film removed from theaters after two weeks. My mother, who was smart enough to let her children make choices for themselves and realizing that we viewed all films as entertainment, actually took me and my older brother to see the film while in theaters, and successfully lobbied our right to see the film. After all, the film was rated R, and I was accompanied by a parent. Funny that I remember the moment but don’t remember the movie that much, that is until a new DVD release ready for the holiday season. SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT tells the story of Billy Chapman (played by three people, two child actors and Robert Brian Wilson) who on Christmas Eve visits his deranged grandfather in a mental asylum who scares little Billy by telling him that Santa Claus will be coming to kill you. That same night, a murdering, store robbing man in a Santa Claus outfit murders Billy’s father and tries to rape Billy’s mother but slices her throat after ripping her top off (the first of many gratuitous moments of nudity) which traumatizes little Billy. Fast forward three years later, where Billy (now 8 years old) is at an orphanage with his little brother Ricky and is under the brutal watch of Mother Superior (Lilyan Chauvin, definitely the film’s best performance), who insists that Billy is a bad boy and not suffering the trauma of the events of that Christmas. She whips him with a belt, ties him to a bed when he has nightmares, and forces him to sit on Santa’s lap for Christmas which results in a hilarious moment when Billy knocks out Santa Claus. Only Sister Margaret (Gilmer McCormick) senses the violence within Billy and tries to help him but Mother Superior doesn’t let her help, insisting on her own brand of punishment. Now we go to 1984, ten years after Billy’s first round TKO of Santa, and is now a muscular man child who with the help of Sister Margaret goes to work at a toy store (seeing the toys on the rack made me nostalgic as I had most of the toys displayed) and for most of the year, Billy has been a model employee. We then meet the store employees; the owner Ira (big asshole), Andy (the store rapist), Pamela (the store nymph), some unknown blonde, and Mrs. Randall, an old manager. Anyway, in a huge mistake, Ira forces Billy to play Santa Claus on Christmas Eve, where he scares the crap out of the kids and once the store closes on Christmas Eve, Billy, while still dressed as Santa Claus, wrecks bloody havoc in the store and across town, where he heads a path straight for Mother Superior on Christmas Day. Believe it or not, there actually is a good story here, showing the effects a shocking event can have on a child, and what happens when he is not given the proper care to overcome those events. With that said, it’s a shame that the producers decided to go sleazy with its approach, as the film really offers nothing new or original to the slasher genre, other than being a cruel piece of cinema. In many cases, the film works as an unintentional comedy with the formula hitting clichéd heights. A sequence featuring a teenage couple engaging in hot sex on a pool table (the female being Linnea Quigley) feels a little out of place but offers some of the film’s most interesting moments. First of all, how the boyfriend or the little sister didn’t hear Billy chopping the door down with the axe in addition to her screaming and running around the house topless is beyond me. They must have concrete walls. Anyway, once she and the boyfriend are done with, the little sister has a moment with Billy/Santa, which brings one of the most tense moments in the film. In addition, there is a hilarious scene with a bully who steals a sled and pays for it while sledding by an axe from Santa (practically stolen a year later in FRIDAY THE 13TH: A NEW BEGINNING). The last fifteen minutes of the film ruin the rest of it for me, as Billy heads for Mother Superior’s house. First, it shows the low budget of the film when the police force in searching for a serial killer send one cop to the place they know he’s going to be at. Second, the denouement of Billy is extremely disappointing and quick, and it sets up for a sequel in a most obvious way. The special effects really aren’t that good, with the blood flying a lot once Billy goes on his rampage, but it seems rather amateurish, definitely not on par with FRIDAY THE 13TH or THE BURNING. The deaths also don’t seem to be that real, with a close up of an impalement followed by a close up of the actor breathing in a very unrealistic way. With these elements, it is hard to take the film seriously, and makes the controversy surrounding the film rather mundane. Simply put, the film is not good enough but I can actually see after watching this film as an adult why it got the attention that it did. The producers knew it too which is why they decided to appeal to the controversy and not make the film on any technical merit. It shows, and it hasn’t aged well. On the contrary, BLACK CHRISTMAS and even CHRISTMAS EVIL have proven to be better horror films about the holiday season. In fact, the original BLACK CHRISTMAS is still the standard bearer of great horror films and should be the horror film to watch this season. Why weren’t those films targeted by protesters? It’s because the creators of those films were out to make films, not to make controversy. The DVD is also disappointing, with only an audio interview with director Charles E. Sellier Jr. that really doesn’t offer much that’s new in knowing about the film. There is a montage of angry letters sent to the producers at the film’s release, including one from Mickey Rooney, which proves a bit hypocritical as Rooney would go on and star in the fifth installment of this series (but to be fair has nothing to do with the first film). We also get a few promotional stills. The DVD box art makes it feel like an exploitation classic, which to some it is, and I can see the replay value in it. I'm surprised that not even the trailer is on here as despite how bad the movie is, I thought the trailer was very well done. If it was on GOING TO PIECES, also released by Anchor Bay, it should've been on this DVD. Inexcusable. For me, however, SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT just isn’t the standard bearer of 1980s classic films. Keep in mind another horror film was released theatrically the same day with the colors of Christmas prominently displayed on its villain: A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, which is one of the greatest horror films ever made. ELM STREET was original, fresh, and offered a new concept that elevated the genre to heights never reached. SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT just took a tired formula and tried to make an exploitation film out of Christmas, not realizing it had been done before, and much better. SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT: 4 Out Of 10 Maggots
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