Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Silent Night Deadly Night


Well Kiddies it’s the holidays again and I am here to share two of my favorite Yuletide flicks for you to check out.

Silent Night Deadly Night was released in 1984 to much controversy which is what I want to start off with.

Featuring the image of the arm of Santa Claus emerging from a chimney clutching an axe the poster of the film sparked rage from Parents Groups and PTAs eventually succeeding in having the film pulled from theatres after a couple of Weeks. 


Siskel and Ebert openly bashed the film referring to the profits of the film as Blood Money.


The 2003 Anchor Bay release even featured much of the hate mail that was directed at the film including ravings from Mickey Rooney who went on to appear in the 5th Installment of the series.

I have many times felt that the hate directed at the film was unnecessary since the film did not even feature The actual Santa Clause but multiple men dressed as Santa Clause.

The plot follows Billy Chapman who when he was 8 Years old is told by his institutionalized grandfather   (played by veteran actor Will Hare) that Santa Clause was going to harm him that night. An unfortunate set of unrelated circumstances leads to a man dressed as Santa Clause killing his father and raping and murdering his mother while young Billy watches from the bushes where he hides. The only survivors of the massacre are Billy and his infant brother Ricky.

The movie then skips ahead to St Mary’s Orphanage where Billy and Ricky are kept under the strict watch of Mother Superior and the kind sister Margaret. Mother Superior subjects Billy to harsh punishments and lessons of Punishment being absolute and Good while traumatizing him by attempting to force him to sit on Santa’s lap.

Eventually Billy is given a job when he turns 18 working at a toystore where he starts off well even developing a crush on his coworker Pamela. However when Christmas time arrives he is plagued with Nightmares about his feelings for Pamela and the fear of punishment from Cris Cringle.

On Christmas Eve the actor playing Santa Clause breaks his leg and Billy is given the position. 

That night after the store is closed the owners treat their staff to a Christmas party where Billy is given many drinks and drunken advice from his boss before going to the back where he sees Pamela being attacked by his coworker where the flashbacks finally make Billy Snap and he begins his Christmas killing spree taking out many that he encounters that he deems to be “Naughty” hacking out his own trail back to the orphanage and Mother Superior.

Unlike many Slasher films of its era this film follows the killer throughout his life showing the events that made him into the killer and giving the view not just more depth but also with the audience being shown his side of the story the killer is given sympathy.

The Controversy was the implication that Santa clause was on a killing spree where the film just depicted a man in a costume due to his own childhood traumas. 

Silent Night Deadly Night is not the only film with this.

Both the 1972 Amicus Tales from the Crypt film as well as its 1989 HBO counterpart featured adaptions of the famous Vault of Horror #35 story of a killer Santa terrorizing a murdering mother.

In 2005 former World Heavyweight Champion Bill Goldberg Portrayed the actual Santa Clause going on a killing Spree in Santa’s Slay but I say pass on that flick as a whole though it is worth a buy on Fearnet just for the opening scenes.

The image of a creepy Santa Clause that children are afraid to sit on the lap of owes more to Bob Clark’s A Christmas Story.

The film also features one of the most memorable kills in the history of cinema.

The scene in question stars my good friend Linnea Quigley being impaled on deer antlers all while topless.

13 Dead Bodies
6 Breasts
3 Beasts
1 Impaling
Arrow through the back
Hammer to the Head
Hanging
Slashing
Shooting
Heads Roll

4 Stars

I did attend a screening of the Fangoria rerelease at the Angelica and alot of the effects have been edited out of the cut so look for the Anchor Bay Release. 


Silent Night Deadly Night spawned four sequels but the only one that I say check out is the second flick.

Part 2 follows Billy’s brother Ricky who in the beginning of the film the audience finds out is now incarcerated on Death Row for his own killing spree.

Traumatized by the events of the first film Ricky grows up in a Jewish family and develops murderous impulses when seeing the color red.

At first Ricky only kills the ones that he deems “Naughty” but after killing the woman that he loved he embarks on a killing spree resulting in his own arrest before escaping and targeting Mother Superior to finish what his brother started.

The first half of Part Two features Ricky in prison telling the story of the previous film consisting of Flashbacks. This was probably brought on by the fact that the first movie was banned in so many places.
The movie has developed a cult following especially on the Internet for the hokey acting and Dialogue.

The Scene where Ricky kills a man taking out the trash has become a popular internet Meme.

As with all of the great horror flicks of the 80s Silent Night Deadly Night in 2012 receved the loose Remake Treatment being titled Silent Night.

Taking place in a small town in Wisconsin the film follows a Deputy Sheriff (Jamie King) Who is in persuit of a killer Santa going around the town killing those that he deems to be harming society including Soft Core pornographers, Bratty Children, Creepy priests and the evil mayor.

The movie also features Malcolm McDowell as the inept sheriff in a role rare for the great actor but he is fun to watch.

Some of the kills in the movie are great tributes to the kills in the original such as the deer antler scene is featured but the top kill is the wood chipper scene with actress Cortney Palm.

13 Dead Bodies
2 Breasts
2 Beasts
1 Backstory
Burnings
Impaling
Slashing
Shootings
Strangling
Santa Fu
Priest Fu
Antler Fu
Wood Chipper Fu

2 ½ Stars



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