SILENT NIGHT

2012 / Director. Steven C Miller.
Review by Glenn Cochrane.

I've got this hang-up where I can't watch Christmas themed movies at any other time of the year and the last couple of years I missed out on seeing SILENT NIGHT. It was on my radar but I never managed to get to it... but this year... BINGO! Despite its title this is NOT a remake, reboot or reimagine of the classic SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT. Instead it is a fresh new slasher movie that shares the premise of a murderous Santa Claus. The script is terrible, the acting is lousy and the dialogue is atrocious.... and yet this movie still FUCKING RULES! Holy shit... I loved it. In a small town on Christmas eve a homicidal Santa goes on a bloody rampage, killing dozens of people. He uses all sorts of weapons from flame throwers to sickles to wood chippers and the staple holiday classic..... AN AXE. In true slasher form, the kills are the crux of the formula and they kick ass. I watched the film with my 13 year old son and we were cheering all the way to the end. People are scorched, sliced, diced and wood-chipped and the camera barely flinches. The gore is fantastic and the creepy lighting design gives the violence a jovial and festive lift. The cinematography is also good and the fact that it was shot so well makes up for the shoddiness of the script. So bad is the writing that I am astonished that they got the production past the first draft and so I guess it is to director Steven C Miller's credit that he was able to take something so sub-par and turn it into something so stylish and fun. The production notes do cite SILENT NIGHT to be "inspired by" the aforementioned 1984 classic, but there's little resemblance story-wise. Instead much of the premise was taken from the real life Covina Massacre, where 9 people were slayed by a deranged maniac dressed as Santa Claus. Wherever the influence came from I now rate SILENT NIGHT as a new festive-horror-favourite and I cannot wait to watch it again. 

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