Silent Night is a throwback slasher. It mixes elements of a police procedural and a slasher like Maniac Cop and the sleazy, high body count, Christmas-themed slasher like Don't Open Till Christmas. While this is said to be a remake of Silent Night, Deadly Night it is much closer to Don't Open Till Christmas. Different people who dress up in Santa suits being killed or being red herrings, and sleazy pornography photoshoots remind me more of that movie. Silent Night benefits from a genuine small town setting atmosphere, well-timed use of slow motion, bloody kills and a lot of them, a colorful look, and fun supporting performances from Malcolm McDowell, Donal Logue, and Curtis Moore as the sleazy Reverend.
Synopsis: A vicious killer dressed as Santa Claus hides in plain sight during during a small town's annual Christmas festivities.
I like how this movie starts. Time is given to show a small downtown and you meet a lot of characters like all of the cops, the Mayor, the Reverend, and the parents of our main character, Deputy Aubrey Bradimore (Jaime King). The cinematography in the opening kills is great because one of them is in a basement where all you can see is the Christmas lights tying up the person who we later find out is another Deputy. After the Deputy is killed it is assumed the woman he was with is killed also. This killer "punishes" people for immorality much like Billy in the original movie but the similarities end there.
Bradimore starts to investigate and she eventually finds the bodies of Deputy Jordan (Brendan Fehr) and the married woman he was seeing, Alana (Ali Tartaryan). She eventually suspects three different men. A cynical, drunk Santa portrayer named Jim Epstein (Donal Logue). A sleazy Reverend (Curtis Moore). Lastly, the former mill worker turned drug dealer, Stein Karlsson (Mike O' Brien). I enjoy some of the early scenes where you meet both Epstein and the Reverend. The Reverend makes the most creepy advances on Aubrey saying he is always here for her and if there is anything he can do, in the most creepy way ever. He later takes perverted pictures of several women dressed in Santa costumes and is finally killed when the killer goes into the church and slices off his fingers before stabbing him several times. Epstein was called in as disturbing the children as a Santa in the park and he plays wise real well. He talks about how he is Santa now and the Easter Bunny and then something at Halloween but he goes by Jim Epstein. Donal Logue is great at playing characters like this.
The killer Santa goes on a killing spree of anyone he deems immoral. This includes two pornstars at a photoshoot, as well as the photographer. He later kills the Mayor's daughter, also part of that pornstar group, and her boyfriend. He surprisingly kills a young girl at the beginning who was begging her Mom to go shopping which shows no one was off limits. I like that mean spirited stuff. The effects and kills in this movie are top notch. While some of the effects do look like CGI and most of them are different cuts from the actor, they didn't skip on the blood. The wood chipper scene where Maria (Cortney Palm), the pornstar who had escaped is killed is the highlight of the movie. She is also topless which is nice. Something that most modern slashers skip on is the nudity which I'm glad this movie didn't, though most remakes do have it. The scene with the boyfriend and the Mayor's daughter is good. The kill where his face is split apart by an axe is great. The kill with the daughter is an homage to the Linnea Quigley kill where she gets pinned with the deer antlers is decent, but not as good as the original. I'm not just saying that because she didn't get completely topless, I think there was some CGI on the aftermath shots.
Apart from some of the FX shots I enjoy the authentic locations. The police station looks real. I like the little American flags on the desks, the long, tall counter near the reception desk, and the name tags on the desks. This movie has some great color to it as well. I all ready talked about the opening scene with the lights, which is repeated through the movie. I also enjoy the contrasting Green and Red colors that are in some scenes. The bar chase and the climax at the end in the police station where the neon red and green just scream Christmas colors! There is a great looking black and white sequence where you see the color red mixed in for the American flag and the Santa Claus suit. There is some great slow-motion during one headshot where the blood splashes all over a wall and a kitchen sink. There is another great slow-motion moment where the killer Santa throws an axe at someone's achilles heel. From a technical aspect I like a lot about this movie besides some shaky cam stuff during some close-up physical moments. The music was done by a person who mostly does video games though I like the music for Gears of War and Aliens: Colonial Marines, which are games Kevin Riepl did the music for.
The police procedural aspects are fun too. The relationship between Aubrey and Giles (Andrew Cecon) is fun. Early on in the film the dispatcher and front desk woman, Brenda (Ellen Wong), tells them the complaint about Epstein. Giles brings up that maybe he got a boner because of the kids sitting in his lap and Aubrey is repulsed and you know these conversations have happened before. After Aubrey finds the results of the first murder, her and McDowell, who plays the Sheriff, start talking about who to question next. Later in the movie Aubrey starts doubting the suspects and McDowell gets in some great lines like "Don't put avocado on the burger!" He thinks Aubrey is overthinking everything. I enjoyed some of the Silent Night, Deadly Night references like the Mayor's boyfriend's grandfather saying everything the Grandfather did at the beginning of the original. The garbage day reference from Giles was great too.
Spoiler Section
During a chase scene later in the film Karlsson gets the jump on Aubrey. She is saved by the Sheriff. While at the town's annual Christmas parade they try to track down the Santa and arrest Epstein when he runs away. Aubrey goes after Karlssen again and is forced to shoot him at his home, which is where the slow-motion gunshot happens. She recognizes a present and unwraps it to find coal. She realizes that the killer is marking his victims and that her father had received the same gift earlier. She goes home to find her Father dead and disemboweled while her mother was locked in the closet. The Santa meanwhile, shows up at the police station and kills Giles by stabbing him in the face, burns the Sheriff to death with a flamethrower, and beats Epstein to death with brass knuckles. Aubrey shows up and saves Brenda. She fights the Santa until she burns him with the flamethrower. Some time later it is shown the killer Santa survived. He is revealed to be Ronald Jones Jr. He is the son of Ronald Jones Sr. who showed up in the same town at his wife's Christmas party years ago and burned her to death with a flamethrower. Aubrey's father responded to the call and gunned him down. His son was watching in the car. This is shown in the black and white flashback sequence earlier. This movie is setting up a sequel that I wish we had gotten because I really enjoyed this. It feels like a great combo of yesteryear slasher with police procedural with a nice location and great kills.
SLASHER MOVIE ANATOMY:
- Prior Evil: A son witnessed his father kill his mother with a flamethrower while being dressed as Santa.
- Body Count: 17
- Whodunit: Yes
- Mask or outfit: Santa Claus
- Locale or organizer: Christmas in a small Wisconsin town
- Best Kill: Wood chipper
INSTRUMENTS OF DEATH
Electrocution via Christmas lights: 1
Tasered and stabbed with fire poker: 1
Dismemberment: 1
Scythe: 2
Wood Chipper: 1
Flamethrower: 3
Disembowelment: 1
Axe: 2
Headshot with Handgun: 1
Knife: 1
Brass Knuckles: 1
Strangulation with Christmas lights: 1
Mounted antlers: 1
SLASHER MOVIE TAXONOMY
- Kingdom: Post-Scream, Remake, 2010s
- Phylum: Serious, police procedural vibe with some levity provided by the characters and some pathos provided by them as well. A lot of Santa red herrings.
- Class: Slasher set in a small town at Christmas
- Order: 2012
- Family: Upper body and rear nudity from one woman
- Genus: Just as much of a fun setting and location as the slasher elements, location seems genuine
- Species: High body count, a lot of blood, some FX work, a few standout kills, trademark look and weapon with the flamethrower.
Rating: 9/10
Trivia: At one point Malcolm McDowell references CSI: Miami. Brendan Fehr who played Deputy Jordan played a main role in that show. This is also the third horror remake Jaime King has starred in after My Bloody Valentine and Mother's Day.
Watch movie here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pLEHon8NDo
Kill Count (Credit to Dead Meat): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpOyVeqWpGM
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