Silent Night, Bloody Night : The Homecoming (2013)

As titles go, this isn't one that trips of the tongue. The awkwardness continues throughout this low-budget would-be slasher, with variable acting and sound design. The opening moments, there to lure in the viewer, are amongst the least effective thanks to some artless CGI and mismatched sound dubbing.Things pick up a little after the effective opening credits have rolled. One of the reasons I often enjoy low-budget productions is that they use, out of necessity at times, inventing ways of telling a story that negates the need for flashy effects. Such is the case here, with some interesting direction and camera angles used to partially obscure the details of some of the gory moments – of which there many. Much of the action takes place without dialogue, which adds an extra sinister layer to events.This seems to be James Plumb's project; he is credited as director and writer, but as the film is often a scene-by-scene recreation of a 1972 American horror, Plumb's is a pretty ambitious claim. Discrepancies occur – the nicely seedy Wilfred Butler dies and leaves his house to grandson Jeffrey. When we meet Jeffrey, he immediately makes a bad impression – perhaps that is the point, inviting us to believe he is the masked, brutal killer who is this film's violent protagonist. And Jeffrey is just a petulant boor with no charm whatsoever. When the killer is revealed to be Wilfred (not dead after all), we are left to wonder how old this man actually is, and how he manages to physically assault and kill so many people.This is a fairly interesting, if mangled film in which the often underwritten characters' sole purpose is the brief lead-up to their own murder.

I always try to be positive about low budget British horror films, for in the main there is good intentions and some skill involved from the makers, Silent Night, Bloody Night: The Homecoming is practically impossible to be positive about. From the cheapness of the opening shot, picture is awash with bad effects, bad acting, boorish plotting and direction (James Plumb) that wouldn't pass muster as an entry in a first time teenage director competition. In short it's an absolute mess, like a bunch of people sat in a bar drinking one day and decided to pop around to the local abandoned house and play Am-Dram and see what happens. Basically an unofficial remake of an early 1970s film that itself wasn't exactly good, this is best avoided by anyone who values low budget horror. For this may just turn you off the medium. 2/10 purely for the house itself and some rather nifty artwork that has promoted this drek.

I thought from seeing this film that it was going to be great, but unfortunately it wasn't all I thought it was going to be.The effects were pretty crap! The blood effects & sound effects especially! The editing was sloppy & badly done, like it was done by some brainless teens doing it for a college project! The music was badly scored & didn't flow with what was going on screen! The film itself was dull & depressing & had no life in it! The scoring/music, again, didn't help as their'y be silence in dramatic scenes which didn't need silence! It was so diluted & sour! The acting was OK, not the best, but OK. The characters in the film seemed thin & watery & not well known! Story-line was abit weak & slightly confusing! I also felt that in most scenes in the film dragged on for too long! Sometimes their'd be no dialogue for 3-4 minutes! The less important things were focused on too much than they needed to be dragging the film on for longer, this was awkward! The scene in the van at the end of the film had this treatment!The deaths were tame as much as the amount of blood & gore! It was quite a let down for a film titled: 'Silent Night, Bloody Night: Home Coming'Overall it was disappointing & not as good as it leads on to be! 2/10

I agree with the other reviewer. I was also fooled by the favourable reviews on the DVD cover and the great-looking picture on the box. However, this turned out to be the equivalent of cinematic excrement. The plot doesn't make sense, the sound quality is abysmal and I have seen better acting in a pantomime. Believe me, this film makes the Friday The 13th franchise look like Citizen Kane. Don't waste your money on this film or your time by watching it. If you want to see a good Christmas-themed slasher movie, then check out Silent Night Deadly Night or the original Black Christmas. You will thank me later. This film is truly awful and only belongs in a bargain bin, but even that would be too kind a fate for this. Utter rubbish of the highest order.