Silent Night, Deadly Night

Not to be confused with the 1972 horror film Silent Night, Bloody Night.

Silent Night, Deadly Night is a 1984 American slasher horror film directed by Charles E. Sellier, Jr., produced by Ira R Barmak, written by Michael Hickey, and starring Robert Brian Wilson, Lilyan Chauvin, Gilmer McCormick, Toni Nero, Linnea Quigley, Britt Leach and Leo Geter. Set during Christmas, the story concerns a young man, who after witnessing his parents murdered and raised tumultuously in an abusive Catholic orphanage as a young boy, begins to suffer traumatic experiences years later and emerges into a spree killer (donning a Santa suit) himself.

Released by TriStar Pictures on November 9, 1984, the film gained controversy upon release towards the advertising's deception. In response, the film received negative reviews and was pulled out of theatres a week after its release. While successful during its opening week, the film was a moderate success with $2.5 million made overall. Since its release, the film has developed a cult following and was followed by four sequels (with the fourth and fifth installment having no connection to the film) and a loose remake released years later. This was the only film in the series to be distributed by Tristar Pictures

Plot

In 1971, on a visit to his institutionalized grandfather who warned 5-year-old Billy Chapman that Santa Claus punishes the naughty, Billy's family happens across a man dressed in a Santa Claus outfit seemingly having car trouble. The man, actually a criminal who has just used the disguise to rob a liquor store, mercilessly kills Billy's father with a handgun and slashes Billy's mother's throat with a switchblade in front of Billy and his infant brother Ricky. He leaves the children alive. Three years later, Billy and Ricky are celebrating Christmas in an orphanage run by Mother Superior, a strict disciplinarian who persistently strikes children who misbehave and considers punishment for their wicked actions a good thing. Sister Margaret seems to be the only one who sympathizes with the children; she tries to help Billy open up and play with the children, but Billy is constantly subject to Mother Superior's scrutinizing eye and regularly punished. On Christmas morning, the orphanage has a man in a Santa Claus suit visit the children; because of his childhood experience, Billy is terrified. Mother Superior drags Billy kicking and screaming to Santa, whereupon Billy punches Santa's face and flees to his room.

Ten years later, 18-year-old Billy leaves the orphanage in hopes of finding a normal life. He obtains a job as a stock boy at a local toy store and develops a crush on his coworker Pamela. Billy's sexual thoughts regarding Pamela are often interrupted by morbid visions of his parents' murderer, however, and he steadily grows unstable.

On Christmas Eve, and despite his protestations, Billy is coerced by his jeering coworkers into dressing up as Santa Claus for the store. Shortly after the store closes and the store staff party begins, Billy happens upon Pamela almost being raped by another coworker, Andy. Billy snaps. Finally insane, Billy hangs Andy with a string of Christmas lights and summarily executes Pamela with a utility knife, uttering darkly that punishment is good. Billy's boss, Mr. Sims, happens upon the scene, prompting Billy to murder him with a hammer. Mrs. Randall also discovers Billy's grisly work and attempts to flee; for this she is attacked and killed with an arrow.

As Billy's rampage continues, Sister Margaret discovers the carnage and returns to the orphanage to seek help via telephone. Meanwhile, Billy breaks into a nearby house and kills two unmarried young adults, Denise and Tommy, who are having sex. Denise is impaled on a set of deer antlers while Tommy is thrown through a window. Tommy's little girl (who was told to get in bed minutes before by her dad's girlfriend) interrupts Billy; rather than attack her, Billy simply inquiries whether she's been naughty or nice, smiles warmly and "gifts" her the utility knife used earlier. Billy exits and witnesses bullies picking on two sledding teenage boys; Billy decapitates one of the bullies, causing the other to flee. Meanwhile, the authorities are investigating the ongoing murders with the aid of Sister Margaret, who has deduced that Billy is the killer and postulates that he is making his way back to the orphanage.

The next morning, a man dressed in a Santa Claus outfit approaches the orphanage. Officer Barnes warns the man to stop but the man does not, forcing Barnes to fire on and kill him. To his horror, Barnes discovers that the man was in fact Father O'Brien, a deaf pastor on his way to the orphanage. Billy is nearby and kills a distraught Barnes with a double-bit axe as punishment. Billy arrives at the orphanage and, through use of his Santa costume, gains entry. Mother Superior, now in a wheelchair, disbelieves in Santa Claus. Billy raises his axe and, yelling "Naughty!", prepares to kill her but is interrupted by Captain Richards' firing on him. Billy is struck in the back and collapses; he looks at the nearby children and reassures them that "You're safe now, Santa Claus is gone" before succumbing to his wounds. As the children gather around, an attending Ricky coldly stares at Mother Superior before eerily uttering "Naughty".

Cast

• Robert Brian Wilson as Billy Chapman (age 18)
  • Danny Wagner as 8-year-old Billy
  • Jonathan Best as 5-year-old Billy
• Alex Burton as Ricky at 14
  • Max Broadhead as Ricky at 4
  • Melissa Best as Infant Ricky
• Lilyan Chauvin as Mother Superior
• Gilmer McCormick as Sister Margaret
• Toni Nero as Pamela
• Britt Leach as Mr. Sims
• Nancy Borgenicht as Mrs. Randall
• H.E.D. Redford as Captain Richards
• Linnea Quigley as Denise
• Leo Geter as Tommy
• Randy Stumpf as Andy
• Will Hare as Grandpa Chapman
• Tara Buckman as Ellie Chapman
• Jeff Hansen as Jim Chapman
• Charles Dierkop as "Killer Santa" (criminal in a Santa Claus outfit)
• Eric Hart as Mr. Levitt
• A. Madeline Smith as Sister Ellen
• Amy Stuyvesant as Cindy
• Max Robinson as Officer Barnes

Production

Initially throughout production, the film was titled as Slayride, before TriStar decided to change the title to Silent Night, Deadly Night at the last minute.

Release

The film was released theatrically in the United States by TriStar Pictures on November 9, 1984.^[3] On its opening weekend, the film outgrossed Wes Craven's landmark slasher A Nightmare on Elm Street, which opened the same day. Before being pulled from theaters, it grossed $2,491,460 at the box office, still making the film a success against its $750,000 budget.^[4]

In November 2013, it was announced that Fangoria in association with Brainstorm Media and Screenvision would be re-releasing the film to theaters in the United States throughout December 2013.^[5]

Home media

The film was released three times on DVD in the United States by Anchor Bay Entertainment. The first release was a double feature disc alongside sequel Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 in 2003.^[6] The second release was in 2007.^[7] The first two region 1 releases are currently out of print.

The film was released on DVD in the United Kingdom in 2009 by Arrow Video; this set includes an audio interview with director Charles E. Sellier Jr., poster, booklet including "Deadly Director: Charles Sellier Interviewed by Calum Waddell" and "Silent Night, Sex Night: The Slice and Times of Linnea Quigley".^[8]

The film was re-released on December 12, 2009 in the Brattle Theatre as a double feature with Black Christmas.^[9]

On December 4, 2012, the film was again released alongside Part 2 as a two-disc "Christmas Survival Double Feature", containing the same archival bonus features as the 2003 release.^[10]

On September 16, 2014, the film was released on Blu-ray by Anchor Bay/Starz Entertainment as a 30th Anniversary Edition. No new special features were included, with the exception of a few new commentaries, none of which any of the actors participated in. The Blu-ray contains exactly the same release as previous DVD editions with the extended scenes edited back into the film with noticeable picture quality changes. There has yet to be a release of the full, uncut print from a single source.

Controversy and reception

Silent Night, Deadly Night was one of the most controversial films of the 1980s because the ad campaign, particularly posters and TV spots, made significant emphasis on the killer being dressed as Santa Claus. The PTA fought to have this film removed from theaters due to its subject matter and the fact that it was shown around Christmas, although an earlier film with a similar premise had gone unnoticed.

Upon its original release in 1984, the film received a negative reception. Siskel and Ebert condemned the film and went so far as to read names of the film's production crew on air, telling them, "shame on you". Siskel also said that all the money the filmmakers were making off of this film was blood money.^[11] Leonard Maltin also denounced the film, calling it a "...worthless splatter film", giving it zero stars and asking: "What's next, the Easter Bunny as a child molester?" Large crowds (mostly angry families) formed at theaters and malls around the nation to protest the film. TriStar Pictures, its original distributor, pulled all ads for the film six days after its release (November 15). The film itself was also withdrawn shortly thereafter, due to the controversy.^[12]

The film was later re-released by an independent distributor, Aquarius Films, in May of 1985, with an ad campaign replacing the original "Twas the night before Christmas"-theme with a new one that centered on the controversy surrounding the film and edited out all close-up shots of Billy, in the Santa suit, with weapons. The print ad material also replaced the original 'Chimney' picture with one that talked about the controversy.

In the United Kingdom, the movie was never submitted for certification to the BBFC, and its sequel was denied a video certificate in 1987 after the distributors refused to make the cuts required for an '18' certificate. However, in 2009, Arrow Films submitted the film to the BBFC for classification, who passed the film uncut with an 18 certificate.^[13] The UK DVD was released on November 23, 2009.

Related Works

Sequels

Years after its release, the film had spawned spawned four sequels.

• Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 (1987)
• Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out! (1989)
• Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation (1990)
• Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toy Maker (1991)

Remake

A loose remake of the film, entitled Silent Night was released on December 4, 2012. The film was directed by Steven C. Miller and stars Malcolm McDowell, Jaime King, Donal Logue, Lisa Marie, Ellen Wong, Brendan Fehr, Courtney-Jane White, Mike O'Brien, Cortney Palm, John B. Lowe, Curtis Moore and stuntman Rick Skene as Ronald Jones Jr., The Killer Santa.^[14]

References

• Psychotronic Video Guide (1996) - Michael J. Weldon

External links

• Silent Night, Deadly Night at the Internet Movie Database
• Silent Night, Deadly Night at AllMovie
• Silent Night, Deadly Night at Rotten Tomatoes
• Silent Night, Deadly Night review with animated screenshots
• At the Movies, 1984-Silent Night, Deadly Night