Movie Review: Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)

Synopsis: After spending most of his life in an orphanage after watching his parents get murdered on Christmas Eve by a man dressed as Santa, 18-year-old Billy is given a job at a local toy store. When the store owner has Billy dress up as a replacement store Santa, his childhood trauma causes Billy to snap and go on a killing spree.

Who's in it? The movie stars Robert Brian Wilson, Toni Nero, Lilyan Chauvin, Gilmer McCormick and Britt Leach.


Review: After spending the past few days watching Hallmark Christmas movies, my wife and I decided to change things up a bit and watch a holiday-themed horror movie instead. It had been a long time since I watched this film and, mostly because I didn't remember much about it, I put it on. Overall, I thought it was a good choice.

Like most movies from this genre made in the 80s, the film does take a while to get started. However, in this particular case, the extended backstory is somewhat needed, both to show the trauma he experienced as a child and the tough-love approach taken by the orphanage's Mother Superior (Chauvin) that ultimately made things worse. This made Billy's (Wilson) psychotic break a lot more understandable.

Another thing I liked about this movie is how Billy, true to his Santa alter ego, doesn't just kill people at random and, instead, only target those who are "naughty." This, at minimum, leads to a somewhat funny (but twisted) scene where he gives a "present" to a little girl, something that makes this movie stand out a little more than other similar films.

The only real negative, in my opinion, is the movie does seem to contain a lot of gratuitous nudity, even for a horror film from the 80s, including a couple attempted rape scenes. The movie would have been slightly better, I think, had it either cut out one or two of those or, at minimum, shortened those scenes, to allow Billy more screen time for his killing spree.

Final Opinion: There's a lot more sex than I would prefer in a horror film but, overall, this is an entertaining slasher flick and one that is worth watching around Christmas at least once.

My Grade: B

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Movie Review: Mean Girls (2024)

Image
Synopsis: After being raised in Kenya and homeschooled by her mother, high school junior Cady Heron is given the opportunity to attend classes at an American public school. As she tries to adjust, she is invited to join the Plastics, a girl clique headed up by the beautiful but vicious Regina George. Despite her friends, Janis and Damian, warning her about Regina and her fellow clique members, Karen and Gretchen, Cady tries to see the good in Regina. That changes when she falls in love with Regina's ex-boyfriend, Aaron, and sees just how cruel Regina can be. Her acts of revenge, however, result in Cady assuming many of Regina's less-than-desirable traits and ultimately becoming a pariah. All while breaking out into song and dance because this is a musical. Who's in it? The movie stars  Angourie Rice ,  Reneé Rapp ,  Bebe Wood ,  Tim Meadows and Tina Fey . Review: I've seen the original Mean Girls multiple times, first when it originally came out then again with eac
Read more

Movie Review: Upgraded (2024)

Image
Synopsis: After running up a ton of student loan debt as an art history major, Ana's dreams of owning her own gallery hinge on being able to make an impression with her new boss, Claire, at a prestigious auction house. She gets that opportunity when she's invited to serve as an assistant on a trip to London, where a rare collection is about to be auctioned off. After receiving a surprise upgrade to first class, Ana meets William, the son of a British actress, and when he mistakenly believes she has her boss' job, she doesn't correct him. This creates complications as she begins to fall for William and learns his mother is the one selling the art collection. Who's in it? The movie stars Camila Mendes , Archie Renaux , Marisa Tomei , Lena Olin and Anthony Head. Review: I came across this movie on Amazon Prime yesterday and since it sounded like something my wife and I would both like, I added it to my list. We watched it tonight and, overall, I thought it wound up
Read more

Kwik Trip Kitchen Cravings Tailgater Pizza

Image
  When my wife and I decided on pizza for dinner last night, I stopped at Kwik Trip with the intention of just buying a cheap, frozen, cheese pizza for our daughters since we already had another pizza in our freezer. However, as I was walking up to the checkout counter, this particular pizza caught my eye and, even though I wasn't crazy about spending $8.99 when I already had another option at home, I was intrigued enough to make the purchase anyway. We ended up making the pizza in the oven when I got home. After trying it, I have to say it is one of my favorites. One of the things, in particular, that really stood out for me when it came to this pizza was the toppings. The combination of sausage and cheese curds was both unique and delicious, especially since the curds were fresh enough to still squeak when we were eating them. The pizza also proved to be surprisingly filling, both because of the thicker crust and the generous amounts of toppings and cheese.  Normally, when my wi
Read more