As for Silent Night,
it's a semi-remake of the infamous 1984 film Silent Night, Deadly Night, which attracted massive controversy, spawned four sequels and attracted a sizeable cult following. In
reality, the only thing that connects Silent
Night to its predecessor is that it's about a man in a Father Christmas
costume who goes round killing people. In the original, disturbed Billy Chapman
is the main character and we follow his journey from traumatised young boy to
serial killer. In this offering, Deputy Aubrey Bradimore (King) is the
protagonist and the identity of the murderous Santa Claus is a mystery, as is
his motivation for the killings. To be honest, it's an improvement. Far too
many horror films these days (remakes or otherwise) give us endless flashbacks
to something that happened in the murderer's childhood that turned them into a
sadistic killer. It makes for such a nice change to see a killer whose identity
and motivation are unknown. I'm not saying that the killer's identity and
motivation are never revealed, just
that for most of the film, we're as clueless as everyone else in the film is.
Instead, we follow Aubrey and Sheriff James Cooper (Malcolm
McDowell) as they try and track down the bearded maniac. Finding a man in a
Santa suit in a small Wisconsin town? No problem! Except that it's Christmas
Eve and there's no chance of backup arriving. Oh, and the town's hosting an
annual "best Santa" competition, so there are 499 other bearded men
in red suits walking around the place.
Things get off to a promising start, with Santa electrocuting
a man with Christmas lights and then paying a visit to a bitchy little girl. In
a scene that nods at My Bloody Valentine
3D, he also drops in on a local pornographer. After dispatching the
camerawoman and the director, the model, Maria (Cortney Palm), runs away and he
gives pursuit. Did I mention she was topless? Yes, it's clearly influenced by
Betty Rue's very memorable scene in the earlier film, although Palm does at
least keep her underwear on (booooo!).
While it may only be a loose remake, there are a few nods
to the original films. The catatonic Grandfather is present, but it's not the
killer who visits him. Rather, the skeezy boyfriend of the mayor's slutty
daughter (Courtney-Jane White). Later on, Santa visits the two of them and fans
of the original will be pleased to see that the most memorable kill from the
original is also present here. Finally, in a throwaway moment that will
probably pass quite a few people by, Sheriff Cooper asks Deputy Jordan (Brendan
Fehr) to take out the trash. "What is this, garbage day?" he asks.
Belying the film's undoubtedly small budget, it's well made,
nicely shot and the acting varies only between good and competent. King is her
usual resilient self, bringing depth and sympathy to her character and McDowell looks like he had great fun playing Sheriff Cooper. A parody of small town sheriffs, he has some of the best lines of
the film. The kills are also very well done and include, in addition to those
mentioned above, a very, very good head-splitting, someone getting their face
punched in with knuckle dusters embossed with the words "ho ho ho", and death by woodchipper.
It's not a perfect film by any means. There are a few plot
holes and logical inconsistencies (a little girl is murdered in the morning and
her mother doesn't report it until the evening?); the final confrontation isn't
quite up to scratch; and the ending feels hurried. But, on the whole, a good
slasher film. More importantly, perfect seasonal viewing!
7 out of 10.
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