Plot
A young boy witnesses the brutal murder
of his parents at the hands of a thief dressed up as Santa. After being
homed inside a Catholic orphanage, he is gradually taught that being naughty
deserves punishment, Now a young man, he still hasn't forgotten his past and
when he is forced to dress up as Santa to work in a shop, he snaps and sets
about punishing all of the 'naughty' people who don't deserve Christmas
presents.
Review
One of the more infamous slashers of
the early days, Silent Night, Deadly Night had the dubious
distinction of being one of the few films with people actually protesting
outside, shocked and disgusted at the images of Santa Claus being turned
into a homicidal maniac and carrying a bloody axe. The film was pulled from
it's cinematic release and wound up in limbo for years. Fast forward over
twenty years later and no one would bat an eyelid but back in the 80s, this
was a big deal and Silent Night, Deadly Night was banned. Certainly
the ban gave this film a lot more notoriety than it truly deserves. At it's
core, it's a plain slasher film with a rather mean-spirited anti-Christmas
message and is going to offend anyone who thinks of Christmas as a sacred
time of the year that should not be treat with bad taste.
One
thing it does well is develop it's protagonist and the film spends the first
half of the film showing you the appalling life that this sorry little young
boy has gone through. You can actually sympathise with the character of
Billy. After getting a rather harsh warning from his grandfather that "Santa
punishes naughty people", seeing his parents murdered and mother raped by a
man dressed as Santa and after receiving years of abuse in the Catholic
orphanage, it's no wonder the guy is a little quick to snap when he's forced
to dress as Santa. The film spends a lot of time developing the character of
Billy but one has to wonder whether it was designed to make us feel for him.
When he starts his killing spree, are we then supposed to cheer him on as he
murders innocent people? As good as some of the kills are, he still targets
people at random who have been naughty. With a cry of "punish" or "naughty"
he then reigns down the ultimate Christmas present - death! Once he snaps,
the film drifts into gimmicky slasher mode as the deaths all feature
Christmas related instruments of death. He strangles people with Christmas
lights. He impales a naked woman onto a stuffed reindeer head. He beheads
someone sliding down a snowy hill on a sledge. He goes around killing random
people for a while until finally the film realises that it needs to go full
circle with his character and he returns to the orphanage to get his revenge
on Mother Superior. The film borders on black comedy at times with Billy
giving a young girl a penknife for Christmas after she's sat on his knee. In
another scene, the police mistakenly shoot dead an elderly priest dressed up
as Santa in front of a group of young children. I bet a bit more of this
would have worked to the film's advantage. Playing the whole Christmas angle
straight was a bad idea because the film constantly pushes it's
anti-Christmas message to the point where you switch off.
The film has some shockingly low production values though. The film just
reeks of low budget and has an amateurish feel from the lighting down to the
muffled sound. To say it was picketed by disgusted parents, the film is also
relatively blood-free compared to some of it's slasher brothers. The acting
is really bad across the board, particularly from Robert Brian Wilson as
Billy. The character was there for the taking for some proper actor but
instead this meat head gets the role. He has been cast because he's quite a
big, imposing chap and at least gives some physical presence to the role,
even if he's charisma-free. Lilyan Chauvin at least provides her Mother
Superior character with all of the stereotypical harshness of a
disciplinarian nun. Silent Night, Deadly Night tries to throw in a
more caring, moderate nun to try and counteract Mother Superior but is
ultimately overshadowed and she ends up as some female version of Donald
Pleasance's Dr Loomis from the Halloween films. There's also an
entirely predictable ending which sets up the inevitable sequel.
Final Verdict:
I can see where some people would take offence to the film. If it's not
the negative light in which it portrays Catholic orphanages, it's the
mean-spirited "screw Christmas" sentiment that is continually shoved down
our throats more than Santa's bloody axe. Silent Night, Deadly Night
is a decent enough slasher let down by many things. But it's got a killer
Santa in it, what more do you want from your Christmas themed horror?
