It’s the 14th of December and time for another entry into our Awful Advent Feature. There are a hell of a lot of Christmas slasher movies doing the rounds. At one point it was definitely the genre du jour when it comes to Festive Frights. With that being said, you can probably guess the type of movie we are looking at today. Yep, it’s Christmas slasher Silent Night from 2012.
Directed by Steven C. Miller, this is something of a remake of the 1984 slasher Silent Night, Deadly Night. Despite this, Silent Night is also based on a true story but we’ll get into that a bit more later. The story follows a pair of police officers tasked with stopping a maniacal Santa Claus who is killing everyone he deems to be naughty this Christmas.
Based on a True Story
So, as mentioned above, this is a remake of slasher movie Silent Night, Deadly Night from 1984 but Silent Night also happens to be based on a true story. The movie is inspired by the real life Covina Massacre. A man entered a Christmas party, taking place on the 24th of December, wearing a Santa costume and killed 9 people via gunshots and arson. Apparently, investigators believe the perpetrator committed the massacre as something of an act of revenge. Whether this is true or not we will never know as he offed himself at his brother’s house the next day.
I suppose there are moral issues regarding horror movies based on real life events. I am not sure that you can ever justify making entertainment out of people’s suffering. In this case, however, If I am being perfectly honest; I believe the influence of the Covina Massacre, as far as Silent Night goes, is minimal. I think the makers just wanted to have that “Based on a true story” tag at the beginning of the film. People love that type of stuff, after all.
Christmas Slasher Fun
At its heart, Silent Night is very much your standard slasher. Everything you have come to expect from the genre is present and accounted for here. We have brutal, and often quite inventive, kills, buckets of gore and tons of violence. We have tongue in cheek humour, a topless woman running from a crazed killer, an action packed ending. This is absolutely Slasher 101! With that in mind, it is easy to set your expectations to a reasonable level.
Slashers tend to sink or swim based on their kills. Sure, it helps if you have a decent cast and an interesting villain. Oh and a bunch of laughs can really help. I am sure plenty of people would point to nudity as a must, as well. At the end of the day, however, the most important thing is the kill count and how interesting said kills are.
With regard to Silent Night, the kill count is fairly modest. It ramps up toward the end but there is a fair bit of exposition between murders. The officers have a case to solve, after all. The kills themselves are a mix of the more traditional along with a few novelty kills. Naturally, I don’t want to spoil anything but I am sure the words Fargo, Wood and Chipper will give you an idea. There’s some brutal stuff here and it is all delivered with a suitable amount of gore and blood.
Santa Incognito
Something which makes the movie a little more entertaining is just how difficult our killer is to track down. As you can probably imagine, finding a killer in a Santa outfit, around Christmas, is a tough task. There are mall Santas everywhere, people in the streets are collecting charity donations dressed as the big guy, as well as others simply heading to fancy dress parties. This plays a pivotal role in Silent Night’s plot as the cops are forced to consider anyone who fits the bill as a potential suspect.
Deputy Bradimore has to interview ill tempered guys just trying to make a buck. Question people dressed as Santa heading for a post work drink and just, generally, annoy people. This leads to a few nice bits of comedy as well as a fair bit of tension. Most of the people aren’t very accommodating and the no nonsense cop refuses to take no for an answer. It’s also something of a coincidence that her former cop dad also took down a bad Santa years before. Maybe Aubrey wants to prove that she isn’t the only Santa vanquishing Bradimore? It’s nice to have an established back story even if it is a little silly.
A Decent Production
Silent Night is a pretty nicely done production. It’s hard not to assume that Christmas themed slashers are going to feel a little cheap. I mean, look at Jack Frost as a perfect example. Even some of the bigger budget ones aren’t particularly great. Black Christmas 2019 I am looking at you. But in this case, Steven Miller’s direction is pretty tight and the film feels fairly cohesive. Events don’t jump around from one place to another too much and the action is all pretty tight.
Joseph White’s cinematography is decent; in fact, this is a much nicer looking slasher than many.. This doesn’t feel like a particularly low budget shoot. Set designs are generally good. Special attention to detail has been paid to objects that can be used to enhance kills. Nothing feels too out of place despite how some of the things are utilised as weapons. The soundtrack is very fitting for this type of movie. It is all pretty well put together.
Lighting is fantastic, in parts. The end scenes, in particular, are worthy of note and feature a blend of red and green lights bleeding into smoke. It looks excellent and ties nicely in with the festive theme. Given that there is a lack of snow in this movie, that’s a good thing. It’s not the most Christmassy of Christmas horror movies but the ending segment is very enjoyable for it’s aesthetics.
Great Acting and a Fun Script
Jayson Rothwell had a whale of a time here with the screenplay. Some wise cracking Santas with attitudes make for some of the movie’s funniest scenes. Rothwell has written some absolute zingers for Malcolm McDowell’s Sheriff Cooper, as well. He’s a cantankerous old coot and hilarious with it. A scene between two young lovers is comical for its awkwardness. A speech by a slimy priest also does a nice job of setting up a fantastic, old fashioned slasher kill.
Acting is absolutely fine for this type of film. Jamie King, as Deputy Bradimore, is decent playing the hard nosed, never say die cop. She gets to flex her emotional acting chops later on. You may remember her from the remake of My Bloody Valentine and her previous experience with slashers comes in handy.
Malcolm McDowell chews the scenery here in the best possible way. He appears to be having a lot of fun as Bradimore’s demanding boss. Some of his lines are hilarious. McDowell’s attempt to put on an American accent is funnier than it should be. I am a big fan of McDowell and I love his commitment to lower budget films. Particularly during this time period. All in all, acting is okay.
Should You Watch Silent Night?
This is a very basic slasher with all the negatives of basic slashers. You really can’t expect too much as, generally, it is a very milquetoast movie. Despite this, Silent Night is still worth a watch. This is simply one of those movies you can throw on when you just want something easy. You don’t have to think too much. You can just chill out and enjoy the kills. If you are looking for blood, gore, violence and boobs, Silent Night is a great option. This is especially true if it is coming up to Christmas. While it’s not a great horror movie, it’s a perfectly competent slasher.