Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)
Studio: Arrow Video
Directed by: Charles E. Sellier Jr
Starring: Robert Brian Wilson, Lilyan Chauvin, Gilmer McCormick, Linnea Quigley
Reviewed by: Ben Bussey

On a Christmas Eve visit to his institutionalised Grandfather, innocent young tot Billy Chapman soon finds himself alone with the apparently catatonic old geezer. It is only once everyone else has gone away that Grandpa suddenly becomes active, and warns Billy of the true nature of Santa Claus: that he not only rewards the good, but also punishes the naughty. When on the drive back the family encounter a man in a Santa suit who proves far from friendly, Billy’s grandfather is proven right – and Billy is left an orphan. The Catholic orphanage he is sent to serves only to reinforce Billy’s terror of old Saint Nick, and the perils that befall those who haven’t been good all year. So when Billy at last reaches adulthood (in the buff and manly form of Robert Brian Wilson) and by circumstance finds himself forced to don the red and white suit for his job in a toy shop, it doesn’t take a doctorate in psychology to see that bad things are going to happen. Billy’s fragile mind is about to go snap, and those who’ve been naughty had better watch out…

Up until recently, pretty much all I knew of Silent Night, Deadly Night was what I learned from the documentary Going To Pieces; that hordes of outraged parents who were clearly too busy to burden themselves with the responsibility of discussing things with their children nevertheless found time to mount a protest campaign against the film and its marketing. This reaction seemed to have a major domino effect, contributing to the decline of the slasher genre in the mid-80’s and almost certainly fuelling the decision to never release the film in Britain… until now! And oh, how pleased I am that Silent Night Deadly Night is at last to be unleashed on disc, for it is one of the most perfect examples of a slasher movie I’ve yet had the pleasure to see.

There has been much speculation these last few years that Rob Zombie set about his Halloween remake with more interest in remaking The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Hills Have Eyes or even Friday the 13th. However, with the early scenes showing the root of our killer’s psychosis, the abundance of leering, sneering, dirty ol’ white men (Grandpa & the original Santa killer), and the unabashed use of sexual violence, I can’t help wondering if it was really Silent Night, Deadly Night that Zombie was most keen to revisit. But it’s safe to say this movie handles the pop-psychology way better, at least in part because this is not a movie which seems to be striving for ‘edginess.’ It’s shot in a simple, neat, typically 80’s fashion, the overall vision of Christmas no different to that which can be seen in countless safe, family-oriented festive films. That only serves to make it that bit more unexpected and darkly hilarious once things take a turn for the worse.

So where does Billy stand in the pantheon of slasher villains? Well, aside from being unusually young and pretty as celluloid psycho killers go, he takes care of business pretty damn well. Even though it takes a good third of the movie to get to the point when the killing starts, there’s an energy and spirit here that can only be found in the most entertaining of slashers, and once Billy’s mind cracks and the slay-ride begins (come on, I had to fit at least one yuletide pun in there) the movie barely lets up. I suspect that every time I pass anyone in a Santa suit this festive season, I’ll be backing off lest they whip out a fire axe and roar, “NAUGHTY!”

As for whether or not the movie warranted the controversy; well, it certainly does ask some serious questions about what we tell our children, prods at the dark underside of Santa’s big old belly. But anyone concerned about how this might affect the very young probably ought to bear in mind that this is not in any way aimed at the very young. Perhaps most likely to still shake up the viewer is the presence of rape, still quite rightly a sensitive area to explore on film. But the scenes in question are not handled salaciously, and there’s certainly no suggestion that the women in question want or deserve their treatment. Interestingly, though, it’s clear these scenes were never of any concern to the censors, given that there are a number of re-inserted moments of previously cut footage which unfortunately are of a visibly lower transfer quality, and no such moments occur in the rape scenes. (There is however a notable restored moment involving Linnea Quigley and her – ahem – rack…) but don’t worry, if The Wicker Man director’s cut can still work with low quality restored shots, so can this movie.

The 80’s is so often derided as an era for horror, with many proclaiming the total absence of the intelligent undertones that were so prevalent in the genre films of the 70’s. Silent Night, Deadly Night stands testament to the fact that not all 80’s horror movies forgot how valuable a dose of satire and subversion could be. I’m given to understand it’s largely a lost film in the US as well, so I expect this new Region 2 edition from Arrow (on sale Nov 23rd) will be high on the Christmas list of many a gorehound worldwide this year, and deservedly so. If you love slashers, you owe it to yourself to pick this one up. Then for God’s sake, make sure you’re good all year…

Brutal As Hell Rating: 4 out of 5