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I thought I'd kick the new year off with another movie marathon. I thought it was time to check out a few old school mystery flicks. Som...

Wednesday, December 12, 2018

Silent Night (2012)




The Twelve Days of Christmas horror marathon continues with another killer Santa Claus movie. This one is supposed to be a remake or maybe sequel to the Silent Night Deadly Night franchise. It’s a different story and origin for the Santa Claus killer but does have some references to the classic that kicked off the franchise.

The small town of Cryer is known for one thing, its annual Santa Claus parade. Lots of different folks dress up as the holly jolly fella and stroll around trying to win a contest. While that might normally be a fun thing when you have a mass murderer hanging around dressed like Santa it becomes problematic. Lucky for them they have Sheriff Cooper, played by Malcom McDowell, on the job and he is determined that they solve the crimes. He isn’t really all that good at the task because even after the killer is locked up the deaths don’t stop! Yep he arrested the wrong guy. More murders happen and eventually our main character deputy Bradimore finally gets her man. See she was the only one that realized they maybe had the wrong suspect.

Not normally a remake guy but this movie is a lot of fun. Let me begin by warning you that while this movie has a much different story to tell it still embraces the silliness that many of us love from the original series. It is very cheesy while still delivering some decent kills. The fun kicks off from the first scene with a death by Christmas lights and keeps right on rolling to the end with Santa cleaning house with a flamethrower. Things are spread out over the duration so that there isn’t a slowdown or wasted scene. Everything that isn’t murderous mayhem goes towards developing the plot and adding to the suspect list. We get several red herrings along the way until they final reveal the killer’s identity at the very end. There are also a few sleazy scenes if you are into that.

Best Christmas themed kill ever!
Since Silent Night is a Christmas slasher movie we have to talk about the kills. We have a couple of people dispatched with a scythe, one of them to the “sack” which I suppose is festive. You know because Santa has a sack of gifts for all the boys and girls. There is the flamethrower action, an axe to the back, another victim is gutted, and yet another is beaten to death with brass knuckles that have a message to share. Seriously pay attention! They also call back to the original series with an unfortunate young lady meeting up with some antlers, though this time it is on screen in all of its glory and not just seen as a shadow. My favorite kill has to be when the internet “model” meets up with Santa on a Christmas Tree lot and he makes use of the handy nearby woodchipper. This movie has a ton of gore practical and CGI. Both are done decently enough to make this a good time.

Some other things I enjoyed are the little bratty girl meeting up with a cattle prod, the deputy complaining that it must be “garbage day”, and finally the ending which ties things up. I won’t spoil the movie other than to say that the final few minutes not only reveals the identity of Santa but also explains why he went on his rampage to punish the naughty. The filmmakers already had a fun slasher movie and then topped it by dropping a twist ending that explains everything and teases at a possible sequel. I’m highly recommending Silent Night.



© Copyright 2018 John Shatzer

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