Forget Elf, Home Alone, or even The Muppets Christmas Carol, because there's a new Christmas movie in town that will fill you with holiday spirit. After all, a serial killer dressed as Santa Claus is perfect for a family Christmas, right? Well, if that sounds fun to you, that's exactly what Silent Night Deadly Night has to offer, and honestly, it might be the best Christmas movie released this year.
I have a small confession. I've never seen the original Silent Night Deadly Night, and when I watched it, I purposely avoided all the marketing and plot details so I could go in completely blind. The truth is, I was expecting something more like the Terrifier franchise, which I've never been a big fan of, so my expectations couldn't have been lower. Maybe that helped, but even so, I was pleasantly surprised by how much fun I had with this remake.
Director: Mike P. Nelson
Writers: Paul Caimi, Michael Hickey, Mike P. Nelson
Stars: Rohan Campbell, Ruby Modine, David Lawrence Brown
This new version is written and directed by Mike P. Nelson, and from what I discovered after watching it, it follows the basic story of the 1984 film. We follow Billy Chapman (Rohan Campbell), who at first glance seems like an ordinary guy. But after witnessing his parents brutally murdered by someone dressed as Santa Claus, he's had a voice in his head ever since. The best way to describe it is similar to the dynamic between Venom and Eddie, where only Billy can hear and talk to it. I wasn't expecting it at all, but it adds a very entertaining exchange throughout the film.
Every December, Billy is forced to kill one person a day and carries around a kind of disgusting advent calendar where he marks each day with his bloody fingerprint. By the time we meet him, it's obvious he's been doing this for years. Searching for his next victim, he ends up in a small, somewhat backward town and gets a job at a Christmas shop run by Mr. Sims (David Lawrence Brown). Things get complicated when he starts falling for Pamela (Ruby Modine), Sims' daughter, who has her own problems, including a stalker ex-boyfriend, Max (David Tomlinson).
What isn't obvious at first, but soon becomes clear, is that Billy's victims aren't random. The inner voice sees what people have done and chooses the worst of the worst. Once you realize that, the deaths become much more satisfying. They're still gruesome, but knowing that these people deserve a little karmic retribution makes everything different.
There's one scene in particular that I think will go down in history as one of the most memorable of the year. Billy ends up at a Nazi Christmas party, and the room is covered in swastikas and people are shouting Sieg Heil. It's obviously unpleasant, and understandably some might find it excessive, but once Billy starts rampaging through the room and eliminating everyone, I couldn't help but recall that scene in Inglourious Basterds where the Nazis suffer a similar fate. It only lasts about five minutes, but it's probably what this film will be remembered for.
As Christmas approaches and Billy realizes that Pamela will eventually discover his true identity, things get more interesting. After skipping two mandatory murders and facing the consequences, he uses Christmas Day to tell her everything. And the best part is that Pamela isn't perfect either. She has her own anger issues and inner fire, so she handles her revelation in a surprising way that's, in a way, perfect for the film's direction. The ending is frenetic, chaotic, and extremely satisfying, and it wasn't as predictable as these kinds of movies usually are.
One thing this film deserves a lot of credit for is its solid and captivating plot. That's where movies like this usually lose me. Horror movies don't have a very defined narrative, and that's probably why they don't grab me as much as I'd like. So, naturally, I was worried that Silent Night, Deadly Night would be the same, but the story is surprisingly solid, and that makes everything else work much better.
When a movie ends by setting up a sequel, I sometimes leave the theater with a bitter taste in my mouth, but in this case, if the deaths and the story maintain this level, I'd be more than happy to see another one. And who knows, maybe this could become a horror franchise that people revisit every Christmas. Based on this movie, I sincerely believe there's a chance.
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