We are up to day 16 of our Awful Advent calendar. Behind door 16 is a classic Christmas slasher from 1984 – Silent Night, Deadly Night. We checked out Silent Night, the loose remake of this, just a few days ago. It was a perfectly adequate festive thriller and quite enjoyable. Having watched that I figured I would take a look at the original as well. You know, as something of a comparison.
The story here is pretty simple, as it was with most 80’s slashers. A young boy witnesses his parents being murdered by a maniacal killer dressed as Santa. Traumatised, the boy is sent to a psychiatric hospital and spends his youth despising anything to do with Christmas. Years later, Billy is released from the hospital and is ready to start his life. Only, the spectre of Christmas still haunts him, prompting him to go on a murderous rampage of his own.
A Fun Christmas Slasher
Silent Night, Deadly Night is a good old fashioned Christmas Slasher in a similar vein to Black Christmas and the like. The plan is very simple. Billy is going to dress up as Santa and decide for himself who has been naughty and who has been nice. The only catch is that Santa won’t be handing out coal and presents this year. He will be handing out vicious, brutal, kills and a whole lot of pain.
For the first half of the movie, Silent Night, Deadly Night doesn’t feel like a slasher at all. A heavy focus is placed on Billy’s childhood and new job working at the grocery store. There is a surprising amount of story, perhaps even enough to put off pure slasher fans who just want to get to the action. Once it gets going, however, the kills come thick and fast and Billy’s childhood is well in the past.
It’s formulaic stuff and, to be honest, not all that great but you will probably love it anyway. I mean, how much can you expect from a low budget 80’s slasher? Kills are fairly brutal with some of them being legitimately quite funny. Victims range from a babysitter and her boyfriend, to a couple of bullies and even Billy’s own co-workers. It’s an absolute hoot for the most part and very typical of what you might expect. The usual slasher tropes are all here. There is lots of blood, limbs are removed and inventive slayings abound. On top of that, there are more boobs than you can shake a candy cane at. You know how horror got down in the 80s.
Tons of Controversy
Released around the Christmas holiday. Silent Night, Deadly Night caused an absolute uproar back in 1984. Times were a little different back then and people were even more sensitive than they are today. Well, with regards to religion they were, anyway. Silent Night, Deadly Night’s Christmas theme was already going to be a bit of a problem. Silent Night, Deadly Night’s marketing heavily focused on the fact that the killer wears a Santa outfit. Something that was even more of an issue.
It’s hard to imagine something like this causing a stir nowadays. I mean, it is hard to imagine any horror causing any kind of controversy in the 2020s. Back then, however, this was an incredibly hot button topic. With that being said, the release of Christmas Evil a few years before didn’t cause so much as a ripple. Silent Night, however, was almost deliberately poking the bear. I mean, can you believe that they actually advertised this during Little House on the Prairie? Surely they must have realised this was asking for trouble? Throwing fuel on the fire, the Parent and Teacher Association were up in arms about it.80’s Overreactions
Parents complained saying that their children were now terrified of Santa. Tristar pulled ads almost immediately and shortened the movie’s cinema run drastically. Naturally Siskel and Ebert pissed blood about how awful the movie was which didn’t help. Needless to say, this isn’t a particularly controversial movie when viewed through a modern lens. Held up against things that come out nowadays, it is extremely middle of the road. It is fun to look back on these types of films and see how things have changed. I’ll bet part of the reason people remember this movie is down to the controversy it caused.
Some Really Fun Kills
Once the movie gets going, the kills are a tremendous amount of fun. I laughed out loud at a few as they are, visually, quite silly. It’s actually quite strange to watch a movie like this and see the killer’s face. Played by the late Robert Brian Wilson. Billy is not your typical slasher villain. He is a rather handsome guy with blonde hair and something of a baby face. Wilson doesn’t look at all fitting as a terrifying villain but he does a good job. It’s hard not to feel a little bit sorry for Billy, given his back story. Some of the people he kills are absolute asshats as well so you may actually find yourself rooting for him in a few points.
It’s established early that Billy is a hulk of a man. Standing quite tall, he manages to lift people up with ease. This leads to a number of unique kills. One of which had to be heavily edited for the censored American release. He never really feels super human, though. In fact, at least one person puts up a hell of a fight and Billy takes a fair bit of damage. Again, this is another way in which Silent Night, Deadly Night feels quite different.. It really stands out from other similar Slashers.
Acting is suitably hammy. Lilyan Chauvin is bags of fun as the cruel Mother Superior. Relishing the chance to play a harsh, domineering woman. Britt Leach, as Billy’s boss Mr Sims, has a great turn as a festive drunk on Christmas eve. Again, it’s hammy but a hell of a lot of fun. Horror vet Linnea Quigley has a fun but brief role. She ends up naked on a pool table but, this is Linnea Quigley, so you probably could have guessed that. The rest of the cast are pretty much what you would expect.
Should You Watch Silent Night, Deadly Night
Let’s be honest, without the controversy, we might not be talking about this movie now. It came out during the dying days of the Slasher Golden Era, right at a major transition point for horror. In fact, Silent Night, Deadly Night was actually released on the same day as A Nightmare on Elm Street. To be honest, it probably should have been sent to hell by that. It doesn’t stand out from other slashers in any major way and there really isn’t a huge amount to praise. What it is, however, is a perfectly watchable film that does things a bit different. The kills are fun, there is some interesting backstory and a unique killer. It’s perfect for a December night in front of the fire with a few drinks. Just don’t expect anything ground breaking and you will have a good time.