Silent Night, Deadly Night... the movie

Ah, the holiday season rapidly approaching. Family gatherings. Food. Liquor. Carols. And Christmas movies. A Christmas Carol, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas, ELF, Scrooged, Christmas Vacation, and the list goes on and on and on. One movie, or rather a series of them, that is not talked about much and too often not enjoyed is "Silent Night, Deadly Night" (and the sequels). Have you ever heard of it? Have you ever watched it in it's entirety?

It was released in 1984 and and all ads were pulled after only 6 days due to the controversy it created. Shortly after, the movie was also pulled from all theaters due to protesters and movie critics constant cries.

I have to laugh because 99.9% of the protesters probably never saw the movie. They were just upset with the whole idea of a killer Santa Claus. The film was released just 7 weeks before Christmas. One critic said "What's next? A child molesting Easter Bunny?"

The jist of the movie is about a young lad named Billy Chapman. It's Christmas Eve, he and his family (mom, dad and baby brother) are returning home from visiting Grandpa. They see a man dressed as Santa Claus stranded on the roadside with a stalled vehicle. It's Christmas Eve, surely they must help Santa get on his way to deliver toys to all the children across the planet. Santa turns out to be not so nice. He kills dad with a bullet as he tries to reverse the car and get his family away from the mean man. Santa then drags mom out of the car, attempts to rape her, but her resistance just pisses him off and he slits her throat. Billy watches this all from a hiding spot, clutching his baby brother in his arms.



The movie jumps ahead 13 or so years. Billy leaves the orphanage and starts a new life. He gets a job in the town's toy store as a stock boy. It's Christmas time once again. The store Santa calls in sick and Billy is forced to don the Santa suit. Can you guess what happens next? Yup, Billy snaps. He goes on a killing spree throughout the rest of the movie hacking, slashing and doing other things to kill the naughty people he finds about the town in his travels back to the orphanage where he has plans for the mean old head nun.



I guess 25 years later the movie doesn't sound that bad, does it? We see a lot worse in real life, never mind the Hollywood screen.

Part two is a worthy watch as well... but the first 30 minutes is a re-cap of part one being told by his younger brother Ricky. It's more laughable to me and one scene is rather famous for those who have seen part two. Anybody visualize the scene where Ricky shouts "Garbage day!"

I found and purchased part 3 recently for $0.50 on VHS. Unfortunately it's not even worth a tenth of that. I guess it's better than finding it as some rare release in one Toronto's more specialized movie stores and buying it for $35. Part 3 takes off a year or so after part 2. Ricky (baby brother) has been in a coma. The doctor brings in some blind clairvoyant girl to try and awaken Ricky... which she eventually succeeds, unknowingly. It's just a really bad stupid movie. Ricky is running around with a clear plexi-glass bowl over his head, brains exposed, and flashing little lights on the helmet. He begins a killing spree. It seems he has interest in the blind girl. So, when they end up in a house near the end of the movie, I found it rather comical how a blind girl running from the killer finds her way through the house with ease from one room to another, door to door, turning handles with no fumbling. Then, when in a room, the fumbling and feeling around begins. So lame, not even laughable.

I just discovered there is also a part 4 and 5... "The Initiation" and "The Toy Maker". Probably really rare movies to find and I have no desire to hunt them down.

So, if you've not seen the first two... check 'em out! They are on dvd now as a two pack! If you saw them years ago... re-visit. I'd still not recommend showing them to any young'uns.