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Silent Night, Deadly Night More at IMDbPro »

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154 reviews in total

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25 out of 31 people found the following review useful:
This film rules!, 4 April 2005

Author: Pigalina from New Zealand

I love this film.

At the end of my copy after the freaky nun looks at the camera it pauses and a voice says "Stay tuned for more previews" and then the little boy says "naughty" - a weird interruption that adds so much class.

A fun game also to play during this film is counting the unnecessary boob shots - there are many. One of my favourites is the girl who puts her cat right outside the front door wearing nothing but tiny shorts (the girl not the cat who is wearing a fabulous fur ensemble). A must see for all cheesy horror film fans. The rest of the series don't really have much to do with Christmas and SNDN2 seems to be made up mostly with flashbacks from this, the far superior film.

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28 out of 42 people found the following review useful:
Possibly the best movie I have ever seen (no Spoilers, sorry), 8 August 2003

Author: David (octagon888888@yahoo.com) from Az

I love this movie, it was scary, cool, and just...cool. It had nice gore FX, a scary as hell killer, which we still care about even though he is on a Frenzy, and the movie had good acting. Especially Robert Brian Wilson as Billy, It is too bad that he didn't go on to do bigger things. Anyway, I recomend this movie to just about anyone. And praise the lord that they are making a nice DVD version. But Avoid the Sequels at all costs!!!

Have a nice day and rent SNDN today!

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16 out of 21 people found the following review useful:
He knows when you've been naughty, 27 December 2006

Author: Pet_Rock from United States

Second viewing- 7.5/10.

"Santa's Watching, Santa's Creeping, Now you're nodding, now you're sleeping. Were you good for mom and dad? Santa knows if you've been bad"- The best damn original song from any horror movie... ever. In my opinion, of course.

A very enjoyable flick. The kills are top notch, the acing is... passable. The setting is spooky ad the music is super duper great.

So rather Santa's raping you, strangling you with Christmas lights, or decapitating you, there's tons of Christmas bloodshed to go around.

You've Made it Through Halloween, now try and survive Christmas

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11 out of 15 people found the following review useful:
GOOD IDEA...NOT TOO BAD FLICK, 9 January 2002
Author: Ron Broadfoot from Canada

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT is one of those horror movies that interests you so much that you have to watch it again and again. What I liked about it is that it uses a popular character instead of a totally make-believe character like Jason from the Friday The 13th films or Freddy Krueger. You have to ask yourself this question. What would have happened if Santa Claus had been a psychotic murderer? The lead character, Billy, embarks on the killing spree in the Santa suit for a good reason...because he saw his parents murdered by a hold-up man wearing the same thing. That no-good Mother Superior also drove him crazy with her constant punishments of him. I won't see the first sequel, because it's composed mostly of flashback footage from the original. The good thing I heard about it is that Mother Superior finally gets her head taken off! Both Will Hare (as Billy's mentally unstable grandfather) and Lilyan Chauvin (as Mother Superior) are perfectly cast in their roles, and Robert Brian Wilson hits all the right notes as the "Santa Slasher". The only beef I have is with that song they play while we watch Billy on his first day of working in the toy store. Doesn't it seem strange that they would put a ballad like that in a slasher movie? Maybe it was a good idea, maybe it wasn't. Nevertheless, this one is a must-see for all horror movie fans!!!

P.S. - You'd better watch out, you'd better not cry. You'd better not pout, 'cause I'm telling you why. Santa Claus is gunning you down!!!

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9 out of 13 people found the following review useful:
Not terrible, but nothing great, 21 October 2000
Author: WritnGuy-2 from New Jersey

I rented this completely by accident. I was planning to rent a lesser-known but supposedly great genre effort, "Silent Night, Bloody Night," but I guess the geniuses at Blockbuster confused the two when putting the tapes with the boxes, and I ended up with this.

Eventually, I figured out the plot, which wasn't terrible. In a very creepy prologue, young Billy is traveling home with parents and baby brother after visiting his grandfater in the nursing home, and they stop to help a man dressed in a Santa Clause outfit whose car has died. The Santa is actually an escaped killer who murders Billy's parents, while he narrowly escapes.

He grows up in an orphanage, terrified every Christmas of old St. Nick, and Mother Superior, who runs the orphanage. Eventually, he grows up at gets a job at a local toy store...right around Christmas time. That Christmas Eve, he snaps, and dressed as Santa, kills off everyone at the after-hours party at the store, then ventures out to find new victims. The only person that can stop him is Sister Margaret, from the orphanage, the only person who ever cared for Billy. But, of course, it's too late to save him...or anyone else....

The movie manages to be quite creepy at times. The murder of Billy's parents was a frightening scene, and some of the murders were pretty effective. The music was great, too. The pace, for the most part, works well, though it trips up when the story moves on to Christmas morning. The movie would have been more effective all taking place on one night. Of course, that would consist of Billy killing off one-dimensional, stock characters, and Sister Margaret and the local sheriff tracking his path...but with a few twists, it would have worked.

The acting is pretty good. Lilyan Chauvin and Toni Nero, first and third billed as Mother Superior and Billy's short-lived love interest Pamela, respectively, have little screen time, but give okay performances. Robert Brian Wilson as the 18 year-old Billy is mostly in costume and has few lines, but for what he's given, he does okay. Gilmer McCormick has the largest role (which still isn't much) and actually does quite well with what she's given; she is also the only truly sympathetic, likeable character in the movie. Oddly enough, Billy is somewhat likeable, too, but the more senseless his killings get, the less you really want to cheer for him.

Then again, this movie doesn't really seem to give a damn about it's characters which, I guess if that's what you want, is fine.

Overall, not a bad horror film, but there are better. For a truly effective and worthwhile Christmas-related genre effort, I'd check out "Black Christmas." (Then again, that's everyone's Christmas horror movie suggestion, so if you haven't gotten the point that it's a great movie, then you're on your own.) It's far scarier, with a stronger plot and better characters. But for just your average seasonal bloodbath, I suppose "Silent Night, Deadly Night" isn't a bad choice.

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6 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
Citizen Kane of Horror Flicks!!!, 14 September 2005

Author: gpanda9 from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

The acting may not be the greatest, even for a slasher flick, but this is probably the most intelligent horror film ever may, despite the protesters.

As a study of insanity, they cover all the bases: 1) Genetics - Billy's Grandpa is already in an asylum, 2) Trauma - The brutal murders of Billy's parents as Billy watched, and 3) Learned - The constant teaching of right and wrong throughout his life. All of this piling on till he snaps and goes on a killing spree.

POSSIBLE SPOILER Through all the reviews that I have read, I can't believe nobody mentions the scene with Cindy, the young girl. This is the pivotal, Rosebud scene of the whole movie.

Absolutely brilliant!!!!!!!!

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3 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
For the Dysfunctional Christmas Triple feature which also includes Die Hard and The Ref., 27 October 2003

Author: Son_of_Mansfield from Mansfield, Pennsylvania.

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Ah, there are just some movies that spell Christmas in giant bloody letters. This is one of those movies that is famous mostly for the controversy caused, in this case, the use of a killer Santa. However, there are some "nice" death scenes. My favorite being the decapitation of a sledding boy. The best reason to see this movie, besides the gaudy deaths and the killer's tag line("Naughty!"), is Linnea Quigley. She is young, there is a distinct difference in her looks from this to Return of the Living Dead, and as lively as ever. You know this Billy has some serious problems when all he does with Linnea is impale her on a set of deer horns. The story is depressing and exploitive in a not fun way(the girl that Billy likes, he soon kills while she is topless for no good reason other than "he is crazy"). Everything looks cheap(acute eightiesitis). This isn't bad for a yearly viewing, but has very little replay value. Prepare to use the fast forward liberally. You may notice Britt Leach from small, but memorable roles in Weird Science, The Great Outdoors, and Father of the Bride; he is not memorable in this. Lilyan Chauvin was in many movies that I have seen, but I only recall her as the scientist that studies the creature's metal in Predator 2.

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4 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
One of the best Christmas horror films, 4 January 2009

Author: dyl_gon from Canada

Ah, Christmas. Although it has become increasingly commercialized and sometimes appears to be nothing more than a huge crash-grab for multi-million dollar corporations, Christmas have remained popular year after year. While the underlying message the holiday carries with it of caring for one another has been overshadowed by companies desperate attempts to launder more money out of consumers, the holiday-themed films often still carry these reaffirming messages. There's a reason that "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" air on TV every year to solid ratings: in today's dour times, where even our popular movies have deviated from escapism and taken on a depressing quality, it is refreshing to see a film that can make us feel good about ourselves and life in general.

This is also why Christmas-themed horror movies are often more disturbing than their regular themed counterparts. Christmas has become representative of joy, cheer and ignorant bliss, and even the most jaded of adults can remember with fondness the excitement they felt as children at the idea of Santa. When you give Santa an axe and have him hacking people to pieces, he might as well be hacking up all our good feelings for the holiday. Christmas is supposed to be happy and people can't stand to see it represented as otherwise. This is why "Silent Night Deadly Night", a slasher that is no more violent than your average Friday the 13th film, was targeted by a massive protest during its release in 1984 and subsequently pulled from theatres and home video. People couldn't stand to see the feel-good time of year used in such a depressing manner and their childhood idol, Santa Claus, turned into some sort of psychopathic murderer. It wasn't just ultra-conservative Christians that fought to have this movie banned: even Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel shamed the entire cast and crew on their show.

The movie starts out with a series of tragic events on Christmas Eve that instill a warped view of St. Nick into young Billy. First, Billy's family pays visit to his clinically insane grandfather, who warns Billy that Santa will punish him for his naughty behavior. Then on the drive back from the institution, a criminal dressed as Santa murders his father and rapes his mother, slitting her throat afterwards and leaving Billy and his baby brother without parents. The two children are brought to an orphanage, where head-nun Mother Superior consistently punishes young Billy for the rest of his childhood, especially around Christmas time, which is usually when Billy begins acting out with memories of his parents murder still fresh in his head. By the time Billy has reached his eighteenth birthday, he lands a job at a local toy store. However, when he is required to don a Santa's suit for Christmas Eve and the co-workers begin referring to him as Santa, Billy goes over the edge, setting out to punish those who have been naughty...with the help of an axe.

Silent Night Deadly Night is another entry in the long list of eighties slashers, and while some may see it as nothing more than Friday the 13th featuring Santa Claus instead of Jason, it differentiates from other slashers in several ways. The over-the-top gore, often a staple of the slasher film, is toned down here, with much more tonally realistic violence, excluding an instance of death-by-antlers. However the biggest difference is the subject matter, which is much more grim than usual, including such topics as rape, sexual abuse and child abuse. Juxtaposed against the cheery Christmas setting, these factors propel Silent Night Deadly Night to a disturbing level that most other slasher films don't ever reach. Sure, some of the deaths are good old fun, but the murder and rape of Billy's mother, as the young child watches, is fairly shocking, as are several of the other sequences throughout. The grainy camera quality smears another layer of sleaze and grunge over top the film. While Silent Night Deadly Night isn't quite as vile and disturbing as the notorious Maniac, it is pretty darn close.

Slasher films have never been known to feature the most likable characters, and Silent Night Deadly Night is no different. In fact, here the films sole attention is on the murderer himself, Billy, with his victims usually getting nothing more than a minute or two of introduction before being snuffed. And while Billy isn't likable (and I would be a little scared of anyone who said he was), he generates a certain amount of pity, stemming from the fact that he is not a bad guy. He is a good guy who has been driven insane by the constant abuse he suffered as a child. He is a product of his environment, and while he may not induce much compassion as he begins to pull a box cutter on a child, he is a sad case of the effects child abuse can have on a human, and generates empathy despite his heinous crimes. There is more depth to Billy than Jason or Freddy, and that is part of the reason the film is more disturbing than most other slashers.

The final aspect of Silent Night Deadly Night that really propels it above most other slashers is not a variation from other slasher genres (like the previous things I have mentioned), but an improvement on most others. This is to say that there are actually some very creepy and frightening sequences, particularly the ending which sent shivers up my arm. The infamous protests that greeted this films release may lead people to believe that Silent Night Deadly Night is nothing more than some sort of exploitation piece. This is not what it actually is though. It is a depressing, quite suspenseful and well-done entry in the sleazy slasher genre, and possibly one of the best Christmas-themed horror movies out there.

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4 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
Terrible movie not worth the controversy, 4 December 2007

Author: squeezebox from United States

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT probably would have been one of those vaguely remembered slasher movies like JUST BEFORE DAWN or THE MUTILATOR that had brief theatrical runs and then modest second lives on home video, were it not for the fact that Tri-Star Pictures picked it up for release, then dropped it like a hot potato when a couple of angry mothers threatened to boycott the studio's releases if they did not withdraw the movie from theaters.

This made the movie infamous and suddenly the uncut home video release from now defunct Thriller Video was a hot item among horror fans, especially since it was one of the few of their titles (along with MAKE THEM DIE SLOWLY and BURIED ALIVE) that hostess Elvira refused to promote. I myself begged for a copy for Christmas. Didn't happen. Finally, my local video store got it in. I eagerly ran home, popped the cassette in the VCR and sat down to watch Santa hack up topless bimbos.

While the movie certainly delivered what it promised (in very short and spread out spurts), everything that happened in between the carnage was so excruciatingly boring and stupid it took physical energy to keep my attention focused until the next slaying. The fact that a major studio even considered releasing a movie so poorly made and badly acted is astonishing. At least Friday THE 13TH and MY BLOODY VALENTINE were competently made. SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT looks like a feature length student film.

I will say this: the movie is as sleazy and misogynistic as its reputation suggests. In its uncut form, it delivers the gore without restraint. If all you're looking for is T&A and blood & guts, SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT does have it.

However, if you rent a horror movie with the hope that there will be something in there that makes it rise above the rest and leave you thinking not all horror movies are garbage as so many critics and parents suggest, there's no reason to bother with SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT. It's a boring, banal, moronic excuse for a horror movie that owes all its notoriety to the loudmouth parents who feel Hollywood and TV networks should do their parenting for them.

When will people learn that the best way to combat something they find offensive is to simply keep their mouths shut?

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5 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Ho-ho *HACK*, 22 December 2008

Author: AngryChair from Brentwood, USA

Young boy witnesses the murder of his parents at the hands of a robber dressed as Santa Claus. Now a teenager, his disturbed mind is about to snap and the naughty are about to be axed.

Probably the most controversial slasher movie of the 80's, thanks to the numerous parents who picketed against it, but by today's horror standards it doesn't seem quite so 'naughty'. True enough Silent Night, Deadly Night is a gruesome and blackly humorous slasher guilty pleasure. The movie does have a low-budget look and some acting that's firmly B-grade, but it's certainly amusing to those that don't take it too seriously. Gore and nudity abound in uncut versions, and there's a fair amount of humor - my personal favorite is the bloody sled scene. Horror fans will also want to look for scream queen Linnea Quigley as a babysitter in another memorable scene.

Silent Night, Deadly Night is a hoot for slasher fans. It's one of the more memorable Christmas horror films that, despite its low-budget, never offers a dull moment.

Followed by four sequels and set to be remade *groan* in 2008

** 1/2 out of ****

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