Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)

This movie became infamous because of how controversial it was in that it featured a serial killer dressed as Santa Claus. The idea of an evil Santa has been done many times before, especially with the legend of the Krampus. The Krampus was a demon that punished naughty children that worked for Santa. I know he's not the same person as Santa, but it still comes off as strange people were so offended by this. That being said, this is still a really bad movie, at least for me. It's just amazing how trashy this film gets. I swear that there's four sex scenes in it! Two of them are rape scenes!There's a scene where a topless woman is impaled by deer horns. This movie just came off as rather offensive to me. I guess it is a little good with how they didn't get into the violence right away, but then the movie just came off as boring to me! Well, some people seem to like this and that's fine. For me, this is a pointlessly cruel film with gore galore. I admit that it's not as bad as the sequel, but for me it's still dumb. I know a 5.9 isn't that high of a rating, but I think we're being way too kind to this film. *1/2

I actually mixed this installment and it's sequel up, and I only saw reviews for Deadly Night sequel, and apparently it sucks, but if I do a review for that movie, I'll get around to it. So starting off I didn't look forward to watching it, but this is totally different from what I expected. Not perfect, and it being over 30 years since it's release, I've seen a ton of other horror movies that sadly take away from the more effective elements and plot points that have since become clichés and tropes.The story follows our main character Billy, who is sent to an orphanage along with his brother after their parents are killed on Christmas Eve by a man dressed as Santa. Years later, Billy is still effected by that night and even more effected by the abuse he suffers from the manager of the orphanage, Mother Superior. While trying to live a normal life, something awakens in Billy, turning him overnight into a psychotic killer, using his religious teachings and traumatic past to punish his victims.I just wished all of his victims were actually connected to him; I couldn't remember how his fifth and sixth victims were connected to him, but he still gets across his twisted idea of punishment.I wanna know how the sequel deals with Mother Superior, as most of what turns Billy into a killer really comes from her; she's the one who really sends Billy over the edge. I accepted him killing his first victim as he was enacting a traumatic action from his past, but as for him killing teens who are engaging in non-marital sex; that was all her teachings, that they should be punished. Definitely want to see her take some responsibility for it; I just hope it's in the sequel.Looking forward to the sequel, all I can say.

First,the good,the killer,he is unique and very interesting when it comes to his personality.The kills,they are creative and have great effects.The setting and the beginning are very creepy.The score and cinematography are good.There is a great scene where the killer talks to a little girl.I like how the movie shows that nobody is completely nice.The best part is the first 30 minutes,similar to the Halloween remake,they both delve into the killer's mind and how he is affected by the world around him.Now,the bad,the characters,they are all unlikable and you don't care about any of them.Another flaw is that there is too much nudity,it makes you feel awkward while watching it.There is no suspense and the killer gets worse once he starts killing everyone in sight for no reason and only saying the word "punish".Silent Night,Deadly Night is very overrated(horror fans love it),although it has good kills,setting,and concept,it also is too in your face,with no characters to care about.

I've watched numerous 'slasher' films over the years, so I flatter myself I've seen most things when it comes to the genre, but 'Silent Night, Deadly Night' kind of left me speechless. Yes, there's nothing that new about what you get here – killer stalks various people and despatches them in bloodthirsty ways. However, the whole feel of the film just left me unsure of what I was watching.This 'vibe' I'm talking about is either a deliberate attempt to do something a little different with the genre, or just bad film-making. I think there are arguments for and against each of these. I'm not sure whether the structure was supposed to be all over the place, but I was left never really sure where this film was going until about the final third (where it does start to conform to a more generic slasher film structure).You've probably seen the promotional material depicting a 'killer Santa' so I'll just leave it at that and I won't go into too much detail regarding the plot because I'd never seen the film before and I genuinely didn't know what to expect (besides the obvious slasher stuff). There are some bits that are actually quite neat and offer a slightly more refreshing take to a genre which was already pretty old when this film was released in 1984.Then you have bits of the film which suddenly become so damn cheesy and daft that you wonder whether this is a film that's a little more 'self aware' than you gave it credit for. Bits of it are so over the top I could see them being parodied on something like South Park.The gore isn't great, most likely due to budget restraints, so don't expect too much of the red stuff or any death scenes that you haven't already seen before. It may all be a bit tame (and very dated!) by today's standards, but, if you're looking for a classic slasher film with a few weird quirks and things you might not expect, this one may do the job.