Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)

Directed by Charles E. Sellier Jr. Starring Robert Brian Wilson, Lilyan Chauvin, Gilmer McCormick, H. E. D. Redford, Toni Nero, Britt Leach, Randy Stumpf, Nancy Borgenicht. [R]

A little kid witnesses his parents get murdered by a crook in a Santa Claus suit, then gets sent to a perversely sadistic orphanage run by an abusive Mother Superior, so no wonder his mind is so screwed up by the time he comes of age and is forced to wear a Santa suit himself for his toy store job, he cracks and goes on a killing spree. Condemned by many upon its release, the criticism was focused on the fear that children would be subjected to images of their beloved St. Nick as a psychotic axe murderer, but if anything, this holiday-themed slasher doesn’t go far enough in embracing a sick, twisted vision. In fact, the Christmas Eve spree killings only take up about twenty minutes of the film, and little kids onscreen are only exposed to the violence at the very end, setting up a sequel in such a clumsy fashion I needed to be reminded of its “meaning” afterward. A couple of good moments (the beheaded sledder is worth a hoot), but mostly tiresome and routine, with poor writing even on the level of trash movies, and virtually no style provided by director Sellier. Curious how You Better Watch Out—released a few years prior and also featuring a psychopath dressed up as Santa—didn’t get the same scathing scrutiny, but even though it wasn’t a good picture, it’s still better than this violent junk. The version released on home video restored some of the gore edited out to earn an R-rating, although the unrated material is fairly tame by today’s standards. Followed by four sequels and a 2012 remake.

29/100