by Jason Daniel Baker

Created on: February 21, 2009   Last Updated: October 02, 2009

Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) Starring Robert Brian Wilson, Will Hare, Lilyan Chauvin, Charles Dierkop, Gilmer McCormick, Linnea Quigley, Tara Buckman, Toni Nero, Nancy Borgenicht, Leo Geter, Geoff Hansen, Randy Stumpf, Britt Leach.

Directed by Charles E.Sellier.

Runtime: 79 Minutes.

Rating: R (Nudity, Sexuality, Violence, Coarse Language)

"Santa knows when you've been naughty!"

Santa has become an axe murderer in this controversial 1980s slasher film which poorly attempted to cross a holiday movie with a Friday the 13th/Halloween theme. This production and its sequels became something of a cult favorite on video.

Billy Chapman watched his parents get brutally murdered by an evil criminal (Dierkop) in a Santa suit when he was only five. Christmases since were very hard for him because of the reminder provided annually of the tragic occurrence.

Raised in a Catholic orphanage by a diabolically strict and sadistic Mother Superior (Chauvin), Billy was further warped but still grew into a strapping young lad, clean cut, giving all outward appearances of mental and physical health.

Billy is able to get hired after a recommendation by a sympathetic nun and a single look by the proprietor of a toy store who sees a burly cherub that can stack shelves with the heaviest of boxes and not break a sweat.

Billy is made to play Santa during the Christmas shopping rush and with all the turmoil going on inside his head he has to deal with brats sitting on his lap. During the Christmas party where he ingests a few glasses of hard liquor, Billy is made to snap believing himself to be Santa and seeing his role as punisher of those that have been naughty.

Many people at the time protested at the theme and these were the usual people who hate this kind of movie anyway. I am not one of these people but I think if one is going to do a film with this type of premise it should be done right.

While bold in its premise and its presentation the film flounders and fizzles almost immediately after a gripping and intense beginning. The biggest chills are found early on. First Billy's insane grandfather (Hare) pretends to be catatonic in an asylum but becomes cognisant when he is alone with Billy and terrifies the child with a spooky rant about what Christmas really means.

Then, the crude bank robber who has disguised himself as Santa to perpetrate his murderous crime wave elicits fear and sheer wonder at his shocking cruelty. If the Santa killer in the film had been the grandfather or

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