Christmas, that special time of year when people give and
get, go out of their way for their fellow man, and yes, the suicide rate spikes
through the roof! This holiday has always had its dark side, simply because one
person’s happiness is often another’s misery. Sorry, that’s just the way it is.
Not that I’m a scrooge or anything, but ones happiness and success often
magnifies another’s failures and sadness. I think we do society a great
injustice by not recognizing that simple and important fact.
That is why there is always at least one horror film during
the holiday season. People need to get out that aggression and work though
their hidden desires to hurt and maim. Horror films do this, but it wasn’t
always that way. Horror films during the holiday season or more to the point,
about the holiday season, weren’t always acceptable. Not until one film changed
the playing field forever…Silent Night Deadly Night.
Silent Night Deadly Night begins with a bit of fun. A man
and his totally 80’s hot wife (yes I know it’s supposed to be 1971), are on
their way with their kids to visit his father in a rest home. When they get to
grandpa, he is supposedly catatonic, but this is an act as he proceeds to
terrorize the older of the kids, Billy. “Christmas is the scariest damn night
of the year! If you see Santa, you’d better run!” Well isn’t that creepy? I’d
be traumatized too. On their way home, Billy explains that he doesn’t want to
see Santa but it doesn’t matter, Santa is coming to see him. Minutes earlier, a
man dresses as Santa robs and kills a clerk at a convenience store and then
breaks down on the road ahead of young Billy and his family. What ensues is
something right out of the Crow comic and as a matter of fact, I wonder if one
influenced the other as far as staging.
The aftermath of the encounter leaves Billy an orphan who
goes on to be tortured by the Mother Superior of the orphanage until he is an
adult. When and why he becomes Santa is a series of coincidences but the result
is Billy, dressed as Santa and drunk for the first time. Not a good
combination. Billy is disappointed again and with the idea in his head that he
really is Santa, decides that enough is enough. He has an agenda now. To punish
the naughty, and there are a lot of naughty people at Christmas.
This is one of those films whose reputation is talked about
more that the film itself. Is it actually a gem amongst horror films? A film whose
merit can be argued time and again? Or is it just another slasher from the era of
boobs, blades and blood? In all reality, it is a bit of both.
Silent Night Deadly Night was sort of the bad boy of
slashers. It didn’t really deviate from the formula and hell, every movie was
about naked girls having sex back then (awe the 80’s, forget the fashion and
most of the music. It was about the films). The problem that this film ran into
is that it did it with a Christmas theme. People were so outraged at the
thought of a killer Santa that there were protests in the streets. It was a
different era back when parents still gave a damn. Though it is no work of art,
it does have its nuances. Billy is betrayed by everyone he looks up to (or at
least should look up to), his Grandfather, Nuns, first love and co-workers. He
isn’t equipped to deal with the world because he has never been in it. As ludicrous
as it sounds, you can understand Billy if you truly want to.
Is it a film to
watch every Christmas? Not really, because lets face it, there is better
offensive material out there to have a black Christmas with (like Black
Christmas for instance). But the film should be in your collection. It is a
part of horror history that can’t be denied and though it is debated and
discussed thoroughly when brought up, the problem is that it is rarely brought
up at all.
The acting could be better, but for the time and type of
film it is, we’ve seen worse. And for every couple of bad performances we get a
good one (or at least a memorable one). After all, this film does have Linnea
Quigley in a typically sexy performance and some of the kids are priceless.
The important thing here is not whether or not the film is
solid, but is it entertaining? And that it is. It’s one of those films that
still carries a sense of “WOW I can’t believe I’m watching this”. That alone is
something worth experiencing. This film, if nothing else, has some of the most bizarre and disturbing imagery ever.
This year, if you’ve never given this film a shot. Pull it
out and grab a drink or four. It’s a fun movie with friends and could be even
more fun as an adult drinking game/ strip movie night. Have a happy jolly
Christmas indeed.
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