Silent Night, Deadly Night: Blood on Christmas Eve

For those who like their Christmas movies a little bloodier, Silent Night, Deadly Night makes for some great counterprogramming, especially when looking for something that goes against the grain. A remake of the controversial 1984 film of the same name (a film that would go on to spawn four sequels), from the minds behind the Terrifier franchise, this latest remake may not reach the heights of that franchise, but it still brings plenty of brutality in its own right. However, it is a much different film than the Terrifier franchise, or any similar slashers, therefore, audiences expecting more of the same may find themselves disappointed. That being said, it is still held together by an incredibly silly premise, one that it fails to commit to entirely, instead opting to ground to the story with a romantic storyline aiming for redemption. The problem with this choice is that it simply muddies the proceedings more so than helps. Failing to paint a full picture, for a film depending so much on its main character, and star Rohan Campbell, his effortless charm certainly helps to fill in many gaps, but he can only do so much here. Though it leaves a decent body count in its wake, something that will be more than enough for a lot of audiences, the film offers very little for them to latch onto.

As mentioned, this reimagining of Silent Night, Deadly Night centers around Billy Chapman (Campbell) who, after witnessing the murder of his parents at a young age on Christmas Eve by a killer Santa, becomes one himself. Absorbing the soul of Charlie (Acheson), the man who killed his parents, following his death that same night, Billy committed to a yearly spree of violence, setting his focus on who he and Charlie deemed as ‘bad people.’ Forced to fend for himself in the real world, he and Charlie, offering his insight and life experience, made for a formidable team. However, still a young man, certain disagreements would inevitably get in the way of that relationship as he increasingly started to fight back. Deciding to settle down in a rural small town, at least for now, Billy had his eye on Pam (Modine), a woman who worked for her family owned gift shop. Later taking on a job at the same shop, the two developed a strong relationship, as he essentially became part of the family. Meanwhile, balancing his relationship with Pam and a voice in his head in Charlie that kept pushing him towards his more murderous impulses the more he pulled away from him, Billy persisted in trying to make his new life work. For better or worse, something had to give, as trouble kept finding him.

Seeing a life for himself with Pam, Charlie was a consistent voice of dissent, trying to convince Billy otherwise at every turn. Whether he wanted to or not, he had a job to do and his choice of killing bad people was his way to exert some control on who got live and who had to die, because anyone could potentially be a target. Being a murderer himself, Charlie’s instincts proved to be correct more often than not, as the town had no shortage of deserving targets. Set five days before Christmas, for Billy, it was about meeting his quota before the big day. Reminding him of this, either our of concern for Billy, or that quota, Charlie wanted him to get back on track. Living a double life, while with Pam and working at her family shop, the shop was basically a revolving door for unsavory characters that he would soon have to then dispose of.

Over the course of the film, as the bodies began to stack up around him, keeping his life with Pam and his killer Santa alter ego separate grew more and more difficult. As Billy saw the walls closing in, it was only a matter of time until the police made the connection, so the next step, in his mind, was to bring Pam in. Coincidentally a murder buff, telling her the truth about himself and his story was a risk that paid off. Leaving one more big bad for the climax, the story rushes through its conclusion, only to find a way to give itself more life moving forward and throwing Billy aside. Choosing to frame his character development through the lens of his relationship with Pam, Billy would be left largely unexplored as a character. As a result, the ending is likely to leave audiences largely unsatisfied.

In spite of its flaws, what holds this new version of Silent Night, Deadly Night together is the charismatic performance of Campbell as Billy. While one can argue that there wasn’t much there in the script for him to work with, he gave the character more life than what was on the page. Though Billy is a killer, Campbell made him someone to relate to, even empathize with. Compelling to watch as he sorted matters both internally and externally, the film could have done much more with him, seemingly held back by a bevy of poor narrative choices. Meanwhile, Modine brought an erratic yet fun energy to Pam, a character who also felt constrained by the narrative. Having great chemistry, they certainly had potential together, but were ultimately underutilized.

Silent Night, Deadly Night is a nice reprieve from what many would consider typical holiday fare, delivering a decent horror that finds plenty of brutality and a charismatic Rohan Campbell in the midst of a silly premise and poor narrative.

still courtesy of VVS Films

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.