(1984)
Director: Charles E. Sellier Jr.
Writers: Paul Caimi, Michael Hickey
Silent Night, Deadly Night opens with young Billy Chapman, his parents, and his baby brother Ricky on their way to visit Billy's catatonic grandfather (played to perfection by Will Hare) in an institution. When Billy is left alone with him, Grandpa Chapman suddenly awakens and giddily tells Billy to beware of Santa Claus because he only brings presents to good boys and girls but severely punishes all the naughty ones. Before slipping back into his catatonic state, Grandpa Chapman leaves Billy with one warning, "You see Santa Claus tonight, you better run boy! You better run for your life!". Later that night, on the way back home, Billy's parents stop to help a man dressed as Santa Claus that appears to have car trouble. Already apprehensive about the situation, Billy flees once the man reveals himself as a carjacker and shoots Billy's father in the head. From a ditch, Billy witnesses the rape and murder of his mother while the nefarious man dressed as Santa taunts him. The cries of baby Ricky in the car slowly fade into a Christmas carol and we cut to three years later at the St. Mary's Home For Orphaned Children. A now 8-year old Billy is asked to present his Christmas-themed drawing for the class, but when the he gives the teacher a picture of a decapitated reindeer and Santa riddled with knives he is sent to Mother Superior's office. Although Sister Margaret believes that Billy is simply haunted by his repressed memories of the vicious attack on his family, Mother Superior dismisses this theory and punishes Billy by sending him to his room. We play witness to series of unfortunate events at St. Mary's which include Billy being spanked for leaving his room, being tied to his bed after having a nightmare, and cowering in a corner begging not to be punished after clocking a Santa whose lap he was forced to sit on. And again we jump forward in time, as an 18-year old Billy is hired as a stock boy at a local toy store. If this all seems like way too much setup for a movie about a killer dressed as Santa, it pays off in spades when the owner of the toy store puts up a Christmas banner with a picture of Santa on it and we see the years of psychological torment reflected in Billy's pained expression. Things get worse when the toy store's resident Santa calls out on Christmas Eve and Billy is asked to fill in for him. Once the store closes, everyone has a few drinks and Billy slowly begins to lose his grip on sanity. Believing now that he is Santa Claus, he sets out to do Santa's work and punish those who have been naughty.
I LOVE Silent Night, Deadly Night! It's about as sleazy as a horror movie can get, but at the same time it is expertly crafted that way. By opening the film with such an elaborate back story, we're able to identify with Billy so much more when he loses it and begins to kill those whom he deems "NAUGHTY!". Billy becomes both the protagonist and the antagonist of the film, he's both the killer and the victim. Billy is the iconic bad guy that we love to secretly root for. The soundtrack is also pretty amazing and it's a damn shame that it's never been officially released. While most Christmas horror movies would be content to stick to traditional copyright-free holiday music, Silent Night, Deadly Night is filled with original pieces like Santa's Watching, Christmas Fever, and my personal favorite The Warm Side Of The Door that sound like traditional holiday favorites but have a bit of a creepy undertone to them. Silent Night, Deadly Night also contains some of the best kills in horror movie history, not the least of which involves scream queen Linnea Quigley (in an early role) and a mounted deer head.
Silent Night, Deadly Night opened the same day as A Nightmare On Elm Street and actually beat out the Wes Craven classic at the box office on opening weekend. However by the second week, moral police and unappreciative critics managed to get the film pulled from theaters. Though sometimes considered a "video nasty" in England, it technically isn't since it was never actually submitted for certification by the British Board of Film Censors. Perhaps Silent Night, Deadly Night was the center of such controversy because it managed to do what no other Christmas-themed horror film before it had been able to do; It seamlessly combines the thrill of a good slasher with the joy of the holiday season. Along with Black Christmas, Silent Night, Deadly Night has become a holiday tradition for me. Every year I get some eggnog (alcoholic, of course), curl up in front of the TV, and enjoy my two favorite holiday films. Sometimes, if I'm adventurous, I'll even throw on Silent Night, Deadly Night Part II... Silent Night, Deadly Night gets a joyous 5 out of 6 beers.
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