Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)

You won't be disappointed!

Powerful

A Masterpiece!

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

I actually mixed this installment and it's sequel up, and I only saw reviews for Deadly Night sequel, and apparently it sucks, but if I do a review for that movie, I'll get around to it. So starting off I didn't look forward to watching it, but this is totally different from what I expected. Not perfect, and it being over 30 years since it's release, I've seen a ton of other horror movies that sadly take away from the more effective elements and plot points that have since become clichés and tropes.The story follows our main character Billy, who is sent to an orphanage along with his brother after their parents are killed on Christmas Eve by a man dressed as Santa. Years later, Billy is still effected by that night and even more effected by the abuse he suffers from the manager of the orphanage, Mother Superior. While trying to live a normal life, something awakens in Billy, turning him overnight into a psychotic killer, using his religious teachings and traumatic past to punish his victims.I just wished all of his victims were actually connected to him; I couldn't remember how his fifth and sixth victims were connected to him, but he still gets across his twisted idea of punishment.I wanna know how the sequel deals with Mother Superior, as most of what turns Billy into a killer really comes from her; she's the one who really sends Billy over the edge. I accepted him killing his first victim as he was enacting a traumatic action from his past, but as for him killing teens who are engaging in non-marital sex; that was all her teachings, that they should be punished. Definitely want to see her take some responsibility for it; I just hope it's in the sequel.Looking forward to the sequel, all I can say.

In 1971 Billy and his family are traveling to see Grandpa at a Utah Mental facility. Grandpa seems to be suffering from Alzheimer's disease. The parents along with his little brother, Ricky see the doctor privately. They leave Billy alone with Grandpa in the rec room. When Grandpa suddenly talks, it scares Billy. He tells him Christmas Eve. is the scariest time of year. If children have been the least bit naughty, Santa punishes them. On the way home Billy tells his parents what Grandpa said. They are shocked and tell him not to listen to his stories. While traveling on a pitch black road a guy in a Santa suit waves them down, well Billy freaks and tells dad don't stop. Well they do anyway to see if he needs help. When the guy in the Santa suit approaches the car; he pulls a gun on the family. They try to escape, but the only one able is Billy. He runs into the field where he sees his father shot and his mother murdered and raped.Three Years later in 1974 Billy is 8 and Ricky is 3, they are in St. Mary's Orphanage, in Utah. Billy still has the scars of that night and it shows. One day in class he draws a grim picture of Santa and his Reindeer. He is immediately sent to see Mother Superior. The Mother Superior is stern and believe in punishment. Sister Margaret feels for Billy. She knows he is severely traumatized, and the Christmas season makes him worse. The Mother Superior ignores Sister Margaret and punishes him anyway for the picture, among other things that occur during his stay at St. Mary's. It's 1984 and Billy has aged out of the orphanage. He needs to find a job and with Sister Margaret's help he does. Billy gets a job at Ira's Toy's, and he is the ideal worker at first. He impresses his Boss, Mr. Sims that it makes his co-worker Andy jealous. When the Christmas Season rolls around though, Billy changes. One day the store Santa hurts his leg ice skating. When Billy is approached by Sims to work someplace else in the store, Billy is all for it. When he finally finds out what his job will be, he S##T's in a way. He starts to change psychologically more. After playing Santa on Christmas Eve, the store has it's annual Christmas party. It seems to be going well at first everyone is jolly; Sims who is so drunk approaches Billy. When he says those words "you know what Santa does on Christmas Eve, don't you" Billy Starts to crack. Slowly he goes on a killing spree in the store, then though out the State of Utah. If he sees anyone doing anything Naughty( Bullying, Sex, E.T.C.)he will make them pay. This psychotic behavior is from those events of the night in 1971; and the treatment he received from the Mother Superior at St. Mary's Orphanage. Thus triggering him back to the Orphanage; to find the Mother Superior that was so abusive to him. This film is pretty cool,not too much gore; but you will have the typical boob show in this film.

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.

Silent Night, Deadly Night tells the story of a boy whose parents were killed in front of him as a child, and it was by a man dressed as Santa Claus. Not only that, the man shot the kid's dad in the head and tried to rape his mother before slitting her throat while the boy watched. He hid so he escaped, but the memory remained, even throughout Catholic school where the Mother Superior was strict and violent, saying punishment is good and all naughty children should be punished. Naturally, this messed with the kid's head, so one day when he's finally all grown up, Christmas time comes along at his job and someone has to dress up as Santa Claus. Well, who better than the kid whose parents were killed by Santa to play dress up! He then embraces being Santa Claus, a judgmental fat man who kills naughty people, and that's when the bodies start piling up.It's a truly dark story. The movie would have been much better had they focused more on the psychological aspect as opposed to it just boiling down to "Santa is a killer. Now I'm Santa. Now I must kill!" It felt like the whole setup was wasted for an anticlimactic, soulless killing spree. Sure, there are some good kills, and there are plenty of boobs in typical '80s B-horror affair, but it failed to make an impact on anything more than a surface level. It's an enjoyable movie, it's simply a matter of greater potential not being realized. Now this is a horror movie, not an unintentional comedy like its infamous sequel, and it's admittedly effective as one. It's refreshing when a horror movie has an actual narrative you can follow. Worth a watch if you're a horror buff or just want to watch Santa kill topless women for an hour and a half.