Silent Night, Deadly Night DVD review

The Film:

It’s the time of year when people want to be in a peaceful mood, being thoughtful, spiritual, and all of that good will to men stuff, but there are a few select individuals that might not be. It’s well-known that some people suffer from the “holiday blues”. This could lead to depression, possible criminal activities due to the pressure the holidays bring on some people, or it gives us killer Christmas horror films!

What a strange subgenre this is. Christmas is generally regarded as a family time, a peaceful and religious time of year, so when you mention a Christmas horror film, you’ll get some odd looks. I love it. Sneers, eyes roll, questions about yourself, it’s the best. It’s a relatively small genre, but the pure goofy, raunchy, gratuitous Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) is a blast.

Taking the form of a slasher film, like any other 1980′s film, they themed it with Christmas and in time became a cult hit. It’s easy to see why. At the time, it was critically banned, Siskel and Ebert put “shame, shame” after each name in the credits, Leonard Maltin questioned the nature of the idea, and PTA members actively sought to have the film outright banned. Controversy sells, and it went out to be a popular and successful film. Why did they go ape-shit over it?

The film starts out with a grandpa giving a dire warning to his grandson about how Santa punishes the naughty on Christmas Eve and later that night a killer dressed up as Santa uses the image to sucker some good Samaritans into a ride, in which he kills the dad and as the son looks on in horror, his mom is stripped topless, raped, and killed-all in the first few minutes! After years of being in a Catholic Orphanage, Billy still can’t get over the fear of Santa Claus and after going through one more traumatic situation on Christmas he snaps and decides to punish the naughty himself as Santa.

Hilarious. If you love the slasher genre, you’ll know the expectations and the rules, and Silent Night Deadly Night plays by them exactly. Each kill is more outrageous, each girl is prettier and nuder, but really it’s just a fun scenario for all of the horror hounds and bah-humbuggers out there. If we can all sing about grandma getting run over by a reindeer, then what’s wrong with a killer in a Santa suit? Stop being PC people and enjoy some gore under the mistletoe.

The DVD:

Audio/Video: Anchor Bay does a good job in the audio; it’s solid, clear, but not very robust. The picture is hard to accurate judge since they decided to use a few prints to compile the uncut version, so we get really clear and precise scenes and some are a little fuzzy.

Interview: This is a great piece as we sit down with director Charles Sellier, Jr. as he talks about the production and the controversy. Curious about the film, see this.

Poster and Still Gallery

Conclusion: Ho, ho, ho! Nah, for the bah humbuggers and fans of slashers!

Rating: