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Sorry, this movie sucks

Simply Perfect

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

A kid who sees his parents get butchered by a maniac in a Santa suit grows up to be a killer Claus himself in another '80s gorefest with a sense of humor and Linnea Quigley.After HALLOWEEN, Friday THE 13th, MOTHER'S DAY, and MY BLOODY VALENTINE, it was only a matter of time til Christmas rolled around and when it finally did in November 1984, the film even out-grossed A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, which opened the same week. I actually remember the tidal wave of backlash which soon followed, making SNDN one of the more controversial films of the decade, along with William Friedkin's CRUISING. Outraged by TV & print ads showing Santa with a bloody ax, "the PTA fought to have this film removed from theaters" and "large crowds (mostly angry families) formed at theaters and malls around the nation to protest the film". Siskel & Ebert read off the filmmakers' names on their TV show, saying "shame, shame" and the film was soon withdrawn from theaters for awhile. (The free-wheeling '70s were a lot more chill - when I saw BLACK Christmas at the drive-in back in December 1974, there wasn't an uproar in the press or anywhere else.)SILENT NIGHT DEADLY NIGHT was eventually re-released with cuts and without the offensive ads that scared so many kids and the DVD I have is "the most complete version" spliced together from two different film elements -one crisp and the other dark- so it was interesting to see just what had been cut (mostly lingering or explicit shots of the more gory murders). No better or worse than most '80s slasher films, the low budget didn't hamper the decent kills and Linnea Quigley as a randy babysitter helped make this something of a cult film over the years.

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.

"Silent Night, Deadly Night", would never be up there with "Halloween", or "Nightmare on Elm Street", as far as absolute suspense or sheer terror goes however as a tale of the mind being totally taken over by the trauma of an early horrific experience it does hold some interest. Within the limitations of the role Robert Brian Wilson does reasonably well as the young man who is suddenly set off on a killing spree by having to be a store Santa Claus. His innocent good looks actually serve the part very well and he is definitely a scary individual once his mind is affected by the traumatic flash backs to the murder of his parents. None of the supporting characters have much to build on in their characters as is generally the case in these types of films however Gilmer McCormick as the kindly Sister Margaret does a good job in her efforts to protect Billy from himself. Having a lot of the action set in a Catholic Orphanage is quite interesting and the two nuns are quite distinct characters that show interesting good and bad elements. Even though these things don't hold much importance in these types of films, "Silent Night, Deadly Night", does have the benefit of some beautiful on location photography in snowbound Utah which does give the film a better look than most of its kind.I'm going to be honest about this film. It didn't really scare me a whole lot, but it was kind of creepy. You have to admit, some of the violent scenes were hilarious, and the scene with the bullies was very original. That's what makes this a good film. There are lots of twists and surprises too. It's hard to know which Santa Claus is the killer when you see many of them walking around on the streets. Although it gets kind of cheesy and aside from the gratuitous nudity, some of the death scenes are classic like the sledding decapitation scene. Oh, and another thing, don't miss out Linnea Quigley in one of her first roles. She gets naked and is then killed and impaled by dear antlers in one of the films best and most memorable scenes. Check it out if your a fan of 80's slasher films.Overall rating: 7 out of 10.

This is one of the most heart warming Christmas movies ever. A Santa Claus that goes around and shoots stupid people just makes me believe that there is a god. God would allow this to happen, right? Right. So anyway, this movie is great if you like death. I know I like to see little kids' parents murdered on Christmas. Those little noise makers don't deserve a mom or dad anyway. In fact, they shouldn't even get Christmas. They deserve a hard slap on the face or an axe to the face. My two favorite parts are when Santa kills a dumb store cashier. I loved watching this guy die, knowing he wouldn't be able to have Christmas again. Eh, his family won't miss him. Maybe his wife will go insane and kill their children. I hope that's what happened. And then he kills a boy's parents. He tried to rape the mother, which would have been hilarious. He then slaps her and slits her throat. Way to go, mom. What else are you going to ruin for your poor son? And the dad is just plain stupid. I was glad to see him go. And for some reason, he didn't kill the noisy baby. Jesus that baby is noisy. I wish he would have just ended it's life right there in the car. The rest of the movie is okay. Plenty of abuse and death to make you lose your faith in God. Here's to spending Christmas with the devil. It's nice to know the ones who were killed are burning away in eternal flames. I hate those people. They deserved to die. To wrap this review up, the movie will definitely make you believe in Santa again. Happy holidays and go kill some horrible parents. It's what "God" wants you to do, apparently.