BHM Review of he banned 80s horror movie Silent
Night Deadly Night.
Silent Night Deadly Night is a
great horror film that is seriously twisted. After
hearing this horror movie mentioned so many times on BHM, Contributor
Ronnie Angel had to write a review.
Review by BHM
Contributor Ronnie
Angel December 16, 2006
Release:
1984 Directed by: Charles E. Sellier Jr. Written by: Paul Caimi and Michael Hickey
Starring:
Lilyan Chauvin as Mother Superior Gilmer McCormick as Sister Margaret Toni Nero as Pamela Robert Brian Wilson as Billy Chapman (age 18) Britt Leach as Ira Sims
"Naughty!"
In 1984 a horror movie was released that served as a true milestone in
the horror genre. This movie was so controversial on release that it
was widely boycotted and protested causing the
movie to be pulled from theatres. To this day many countries still ban
screenings of this movie. What movie could cause this much uproar? Why,
one of the greatest horror movies of all time, Silent Night
Deadly Night!
I must start by saying that while a truly, truly great horror film, Silent
Night, Deadly Night is as seriously twisted as you might
expect, so be prepared. The movie begins on
Christmas Eve as a family makes their way through Utah to visit loony
grandpa in the old-folks home. Grandpa sits in complete silence at all
times, until the adults are away. Once alone with oldest son Billy,
Grandpa warns him that if he sees Santa he should run far, far away.
On the way home the family actually comes across a Santa on the side of
the road with car trouble in the snowy night. It turns out that this
Santa is a very naughty escaped criminal in a Santa
suit who proceeds to murder the parents and tries to kill Billy and his
younger brother. The boys both escape into the woods.
Later the two boys find themselves living in a very strict orphanage
run by an insanely sadistic old nun who punishes
the boys, especially Billy for every little indiscretion she sees in
twisted ways.
Now fast forward to 1984, and Billy has turned 18 and gets a job at the
local toy store with help of a nicer nun. For a while things go great
for Billy and he seems to adjust well to life outside the
orphanage…Until Christmas time hits. Understandably, Billy
always suffers intensely around Christmas time.
To make matters worse, the toy store manager makes Billy dress up as
Santa on Christmas Eve for the kids coming in. You can probably see
where this is going already. One thing leads to another and Billy snaps
like a rubber band, killing all the other employees at the store before
taking his murderous rampage to the cold, snowy
streets and killing everyone in his way (and some who really are not in
his way, like Linnea Quigley in another great, and topless again,
horror movie role), in an attempt to slowly work his way back to the
orphanage to take out the sadistic nun who tortured him for years. Once
he gets to the Orphanage is when the movie gets really exciting.
I
have to say, Silent Night Deadly Night is a great
horror movie! It has all the traditional elements of a good horror
movie, including good acting (for the most part), setting, story
background, and most importantly, believability (to a certain degree).
Robert Brian Wilson plays the part of Billy very well, giving him a
very human side behind a very creepy killer. Just
as in Black Christmas where the dead silence of
winter sets an effective horror tone, Silent Night, Deadly
Night capitalizes on the surroundings and visuals.
Of
course, to enjoy Silent Night Deadly Night you
must get past the fact that the jolly traditions of Christmas are
turned into a murderous nightmare. Watch this one
over the holidays with the lights out...just not the sequel, which is
just a series of flashbacks from the original with some other nonsense
thrown in.
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On the way home the family actually comes across a Santa on the side of
the road with car trouble in the snowy night. It turns out that this
Santa is a very naughty escaped criminal in a Santa
suit who proceeds to murder the parents and tries to kill Billy and his
younger brother. The boys both escape into the woods.
To make matters worse, the toy store manager makes Billy dress up as
Santa on Christmas Eve for the kids coming in. You can probably see
where this is going already. One thing leads to another and Billy snaps
like a rubber band, killing all the other employees at the store before
taking his murderous rampage to the cold, snowy
streets and killing everyone in his way (and some who really are not in
his way, like Linnea Quigley in another great, and topless again,
horror movie role), in an attempt to slowly work his way back to the
orphanage to take out the sadistic nun who tortured him for years. Once
he gets to the Orphanage is when the movie gets really exciting.
Of
course, to enjoy Silent Night Deadly Night you
must get past the fact that the jolly traditions of Christmas are
turned into a murderous nightmare. Watch this one
over the holidays with the lights out...just not the sequel, which is
just a series of flashbacks from the original with some other nonsense
thrown in.
Blink
Del.icio.us
Digg
Furl
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Simpy
Spurl
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Y!
MyWeb