'Silent Night, Deadly Night' Compendium

 As teased last week, I bundled all of these gifts together for you.

If you want to know my take on all of the Films (save the 2025 Remake), here they are...

1) Silent Night, Deadly Night (MONDO BIZARRO: Yuletide Classic: Silent Night, Deadly Night): A Cult Classic that traumatized a generation...of yuppies and baby boomers...with its ad campaign.

The actual Film is typical '80s Slasher carnage with a festive flair.  Woo!

2) Silent Night, Deadly Night- Part 2 (MONDO BIZARRO: Holiday Trash: Silent Night, Deadly Night- Part 2): A Film that started out as a blatant cash grab became a world famous meme.

As you may or may not know, the plan was to shoot a tiny bit of footage of the Brother grown up and mix in the original Film footage to sell the same Film twice.

They added so much that it became much more.  It became true Garbage (Day) that people love.

3) Silent Night, Deadly Night 3 (MONDO BIZARRO: Forgotten Sequels: Silent Night, Deadly Night 3): Ah yes, the Film that I once bought on VHS...since that was all it had at the time.

This Threequel follows the Brother, who somehow survived being shot in the head.  He's now Bill Mosely and he's tracking a blind, psychic lady on Christmas...because reasons.

4) Silent Night, Deadly Night 4- The Initiation (MONDO BIZARRO: Tubi Thursday: Silent Night Deadly Night 4- Initiation): aka the cash grab one by Brian Yuzna.

This is the least connected 'Sequel' so far with Ricky now a hobo (with his head restored) who works for Witches that empower women...or something.

Great VFX by Screaming Mad George though.

5) Silent Night, Deadly Night 5- The Toymaker (MONDO BIZARRO: Holiday Tubi: Silent Night, Deadly Night 5- The Toymaker (1991)): The Film that accidentally made one man into a hypocrite (against his will).

Outspoken Critic of the first Film Mickie Rooney is playing an evil Toymaker whose 'son' is a killer doll.   

No Ricky to speak of...since this was an unrelated Film that got rebranded to sell more VHS tapes.

6) Silent Night (2012) [MONDO BIZARRO: Merry Deathmas: Silent Night (2012)]: The kind of, sort of Remake that nobody wanted.

Over 20 years after the last Film, this one- likely inspired by the wave of Horror Remakes- does little with the premise, raises a million questions and is, honestly, not that good.

Bonus: The Japanese Cover Art for the original Film (MONDO BIZARRO: Lost in Translation?: Silent Night, Deadly Night)

Tubi Thursday: Silent Night Deadly Night 4- Initiation

 A Christmas gift that was lost in the move.

For a brief period, I posted many Reviews to a different site and didn't bother to put them here too.

As such, I 'missed' this one to complete my Omnibus for Silent Night Deadly Night.

This is Brian Yuzna's...

A woman named Kim wants to be a Reporter, but her Boss (Reggie Bannister) won't pay attention.

So when a woman jumps to her death *while on fire* from a building, she follows the story.

She runs across a woman (Maud Adams) who runs a weird Bookstore.

She also has to keep away from Clint Howard...

He witnessed the burning and seems confused.

This is contradictory to what we find out later, but alright.

He's also somehow Ricky, who went from a blond guy who says 'Garbage Day' to Bill Moseley with a brain pan to...this.

She is drawn deeper into the Cult that this lady is running.

Kim starts seeing weird things, like bugs everywhere.

This is a Film with Screaming Mad George on VFX, so they go for it.

The Cult keeps dosing her and she doesn't realize it.

She's not smart.

Ricky kills her boyfriend and then...things somehow get worse.

They want her to kill her boyfriend's brother to complete the ritual.

If she doesn't, she'll explode in fire like the last lady.

She, of course, turns the tide and we get a happy-ish ending.
This is also the origin of the Hotdog Fingers effect.

The End.

Everything Trashy Everywhere All The Time

A weird Film that is technically canon...maybe...i guess.

Is this the same Ricky from Silent Night Deadly Night 2 and 3.
He's noticeably different looking here, but he was in 3 as well.

That said, his brains got blown out in that one and his head has zero scarring.
Maybe the Witches fixed him.  Magic!

The Film keeps insisting that it is seasonal, featuring a Christmas part, decorations all over the streets and the Phantasm guy saying 'Merry Christmas' right into the camera like some terrible FMV Game.

In spite of that, it is full of gross out effects, bugs and gore.  Thanks, Screaming Mad George.

If you like weird Films and don't mind a barely passable connection to the Series, this is fine.  I won't tell you the other Film that was 'inspired' by this one.

A Film that is technically a Christmas Film, but mostly an excuse to connect Scenes of crazy effects.  That said, they are fun (and gross) effects.

Holiday Tubi: Silent Night, Deadly Night 5- The Toymaker (1991)

 Between work and family, it is hard to make time to watch crappy Movies!  This is the final Film (so far) in the Silent Night, Deadly Night Series.  After 4 Films, we've gone from an evil would-be Santa to a killer Yuppie to a killer Yuppie with Exposed Brain to a Cult.  Where do we wrap things up?  With an evil Toymaker, of course!

From Producer Brian Yuzna (who made the last Film), we have a barely-connected thing.  In one Scene, someone can be seen watching Part 4.  That's it.

Notably, the Film features Mickey Rooney, who famously-campaigned against the first Film.  He didn't sign up for this one as a SN,DN Film, of course.  He's here as the titular Toymaker and he might be up to no good.  With the infamous Screaming Mad George making his props and gore, he sure is now!

Is this one the PS5 you couldn't get yet or a pair of plain white socks in your last Christmas present box?  To find out, read on...

In a drawn-out Intro, an off-screen person gives a present to a kid at night...but his Dad shoos him off.

He opens the present (when it makes some noise) and it kills him (kind of).
It makes him hit his head and die...which the kid saw.

He's been mute ever since (how much time has passed is unclear), so she needs to help him out.

She takes him to Joe Petto's Toy Shop (get it?!?!?!?) and he offers the kid some toys.

A strange man buys a bunch of toys and acts suspicious.

On top of that, his Son Pino (GET IT?!?!?!?) offers him a toy, which ends up with the other guy...and then his Hotel Manager.  It kills him.

Pino is all sorts of creepy, breaking into the House while Mom is away.

Toys keep injuring and/or killing people (they kill adults, but only hurt kids).

As we near the Third Act, Yuzna and George just throw all of their leftover Puppet Master prop ideas (this came out in 1991, as that Series arguably-peaked) to kill one guy and bloody the Babysitter.

You get toy tanks, killer snakes, a random arm, toy soldiers and a toy car that is just 90% sharp object.

Petto kidnaps our Lead during all of this, which seems to be his endgame.

But why?

Psych- it was actually Pino.

As it (not shockingly) turns out, he was a Robot 'Son' made by Joe, who he's now killed.  He wants the Mom to be 'his Mom.'

It all ends in a big Action Scene involving Pino, the Mom, the Strange Man (who's actually the kid's Dad) and the kid.  They defeat him, but they leave some pointless Sequel-Bait in there.  The End.

A weird and bloody affair for the Holidays.  Part 5 has nothing to do with Ricky (save for having a Clint Howard Cameo as a Mall Santa named Ricky) or the whole Killer Santa thing.  You briefly get Pino and Joe dressed up as Santa, so...close enough?  It is at least nice to see a Mall Santa as a Hero- the first time since Elves- for a change though.

The Plot is goofy.  The Acting is...uneven.  The Special Effects are mostly quite good, so thank you Mr. Screaming Mad George.  It definitely livens things up, since you know that you'll get some old school prop death after each boring Plot Scene.

There's no getting around it- the Plot Twist is super obvious.  It makes you feel a bit dumber for thinking that THEY felt so clever.  Joe Petto has a son named Pino- really?  Really?

The Film is a fun, but uneven experience.  See it for the silliness, effects and gore- but don't expect anything more exciting in the Plot.  I mean, how can you top this epic stare down?!?

Next time, I try to wrap up some Films before the year is over.  What is up first on the agenda?  Stay tuned...

Lost in Translation?: Silent Night, Deadly Night

It's that time of Year.

Were you Naughty or Nice?

If you were the former (and in Japan), this was your fate....

Kind of a creative design, to be honest.

It's not the most exciting Poster, but kudos for doing something a little bit different.
Minus 6 points for that Clipart Axe though.

Here's the original...

Don't be Naughty this Year or else!

Holiday Trash: Silent Night, Deadly Night- Part 2

Review Day!  This is Silent Night, Deadly Night: Part 2, the Film that inspired a Meme.  Show of hands for people who have seen more than just the Gif.  Yeah, not too many of you.  

Back in 1984, a Film 'shook the Nation' by being about a guy killing teenagers...but dressed as Santa.  After a Trailer was released, protests began.  Why?  They didn't want kids to think that Santa was a killer.  I already did the Film where *the real* Saint Nick was a murderous Pirate, so I'll hold in my outrage.  A couple years later, someone wanted to *re-sell* the Film to people.  The idea: have Ricky (the Brother of the killer) be interviewed about what happened.  Somewhere along the line, they just kept shooting new footage with Eric Freeman and an actual Film was born.  

The result is barely even a new Film- shocking.  The Acting is terrible, the Production is sometimes laughable and the whole thing is just ridiculous.  Let's watch, shall we?

Ricky here is the younger Brother of Billy.  His brother went crazy after numerous traumas and killed people about 10 years earlier.

Eric Freeman here is playing 'Ricky.'  He's an amusingly-terrible Actor, not aided by the Script.

The 'Film' takes up over 39 minutes just with Ricky talking to some guy in a Facility and recapping the first Film.  Yes, even the parts he was a baby in AND the parts that he wasn't there for.

Before you say the 'Billy told him,' just remember that some of these parts happen in the gap between the pair last meet and when Billy shows up for like a minute before dying (seen below).  He didn't recap shit!

Now that the Film is half-over, we see how young Ricky is scared of Nuns (sure) and then we see 15-year old Ricky kill a guy who tried to rape his girlfriend.  He doesn't kill her too, so he's better than Billy in one regard.

This Actor, by the way, is in like 100 Animes doing Voice-Acting.  Good for you.

On top of the random killings by Billy, Ricky gets in on the act.  This one is for you, Mythbusters.

Now an Adult, Ricky gets a girlfriend and goes to a see a Film with her.  It...is about a killer Santa.

Three things:
1) That is so META that it hurts.
2) Why is there a Film about this 10 years after Billy's small-time killing spree?
3) This is just footage from the first Film!  It's also in a WORSE Aspect Ratio than the same Footage from earlier in this Film!

With less than 20 minutes left, Ricky snaps and goes on his infamous killing spree.  Head shocking and choking galore!

While the 'Garbage Day' bit is hilarious, I almost find this one to be funnier.  Random Cop shows up and holds his gun right in front of Ricky.  It ends...poorly.

After killing folks and being locked up for...um...some amount of time, Ricky escapes to kill the Nun.  We have 10 minutes left, so get in that costume!

He somehow tracks the Nun down (who now has facial scarring for some reason) and kills her...only to be shot by the Police like Billy.  Joy.  The End.

Ugh.  To be fair, this Film is funny as hell.  Mind you, it is NOT a Comedy.  It is just so juvenile and inept at doing the basics of what you'd expect from a Slasher that it makes you laugh.  Eric Freeman was clearly not given a good Script or direction (keep making mean faces- perfect!).  All of the Acting is pretty over-the-top, but never quite in the 'in on the joke' sort of way.  Obviously, half of the Film is a complete waste.  I have to ask one thing too- why is the Footage used as a fake Film Within A Film in a worse Aspect Ratio?  It is the same Film that they used seamlessly earlier in the Film!  It is also worth examining the amusing timeline of this.  First- the Intro is now clearly in 1977.  Second- the bulk of this Film now takes place in 1994.  Does it look like it?  It is kind of like how that last Universal Mummy Film from the Golden Age has to take place in 1995, mere years before the actual Reboot happened!  The Film is just chock full of questions.  

Why cast a different Actor for 15 year old Ricky if he's only 18 as Freeman?  

Why are there 5 people playing the guy (Baby Ricky, Original Young Ricky, New Young Ricky, 15 year old Ricky and Freeman's Ricky) in one Film?  

How does he escape the facility?  

How does he know where the Nun lives?  

How does he cut her head off with an axe and then reset it so cleanly (since severed heads don't bleed) that she appears to be alive?  

The guy made a quite literally-seamless cut across her neck!  The whole thing is just pure '80s trash...and I kind of love it.  It doesn't work as a serious Film, but it is the most amusing of the Series for me so far.  Yes, even funnier than 6th Ricky (aka Choptop) stalking a blind Psychic on Christmas.  I'm laughing...even if the Director isn't in his Cameo.

Next time, we skip past the Holidays with one last bit of Andy Sidaris.  Will the streak be broken?  Stay tuned...

Merry Deathmas: Silent Night (2012)

Did anyone really ask for this?  

Today's films is Silent Night, a Remake of Silent Night, Deadly Night.  

For what it's worth, the original is a good movie.  It's still a Slasher film and is full of the cliches of the Genre, but it's smarter than it's given credit for.  

So, when I found out that there was a Remake, I was...suspicious.  

When I found out that Malcolm McDowell was in it, I was really suspicious.  

The result: not good.  

The whole spirit of the original is gone and we just get a nameless, faceless killer.  So what is the plot?  A man dressed like Santa kills people in a small town for no clear reason.  

That's basically the film, save for when they finally get around to explaining his motivations...in the last two minutes.  

This, of course, makes you question everything in the film, but not in that Sixth Sense kind of way.  

I won't SPOIL that reveal for those who really want to be surprised, but I will say this: prepare for disappointment.  

That's actually a good summary for the film as well.  To find out why I disliked it so much, read on...

A mysterious man in a Santa suit- complete with plastic mask- has invaded a small town and begins to kill people for their supposed sins.  

How he knows their sins is anyone's guess.

Seriously, if you watch the whole film, you'll really question this in the end!

As HIS luck would have it, it's Christmas time and the town has an Annual Santa Parade.  

This, of course, means that people walk around ALL DAY in the outfits.  

No, really.

In one of two scenes that come from the original, we get the 'Grandpa wakes up to freak out a guy' scene.

The problem(s): it happens to an adult; it has no consequences and does not build up our killer.  

Why did you pick this moment to include, while you excised so many others?!?

Instead of playing Dr. Loomis, McDowell plays Sheriff...Sheriff.  It's a Mario thing.

Aside from a few jokes, even he seems to dislike him being in this movie.  

"One more house payment..."

Since this is a 'modern' horror film, we have very bloody kills that border on being silly.  

This is a problem, since they stop short of their actual point here.

In one of the few compliments I'll give this film, Jaime King (who otherwise sucks here) does some good Acting in one dramatic scene.  

Sorry, other 88 minutes of the film!

In the other scene they take from the original, this lady gets killed by being stabbed on some deer horns.  Yea.

To ruin any joy, the killer Santa throws an axe...that just manages to cut her Achilles Tendon.  That was either really impressive or really coincidental!

I will SPOIL this one moment for you- since it deserves it. 

 McDowell is confronted by the killer and his flamethrower.  He says, 'You made one mistake- you brought a flamethrower to a gun fight.'

Naturally, he doesn't shoot and gets killed by the flamethrower.  

Of course- you freaking moron!  You DID NOT FIRE YOUR GUN!!!!

I won't SPOIL the Ending if you really care, but I will mention that the Police Station has Red and Green Backup Lights.  

Silly.  

The End.

I sure hope that the Remake of this review is funnier.  

In all seriousness, this is not a terrible film.  There are enough well-thought-out moments that salvage it.  The problem is that there are a ton of stupid moments that drag it down.  

The idea of silent killer is okay- it just fails in comparison to the one in the original two films.  Yes, the guy in the crappy third film- which I own on VHS- doesn't talk, which I guess was an odd bit of foreshadowing.  

The theme of killing the guilty is a good one.  

The problems are two-fold.  

One- his way of knowing about their 'sins' is ridiculous and not thought out.  

Second- the scale of their 'sins' is dubious.  

Dirty priest- sure.  Lady and man who take photos of a model- not so much.  

Seriously, if you wanted to be dark, there's all sorts of things that you could have implied that they were doing.  

You want to be dark and twisted- show them bringing a sheep out before the killer shows up.  It would be kind of funny, but it would be better than 'photographing a topless woman means that you die.'  

Furthermore, they don't build up him seeing them in the act- he just shows up as its happening.  If you want to build suspense, show scenes of people doing bad things and show that they're being watched.  When the killer show up, he has his motivations.  

In one case, there's an over-the-top bitch of a girl that he kills...since he just happens to show up at the door when she did her 'sin.'  

If you're going to pull that crap, just say that he's killing 'sinners' and is crazy for doing so.  He's either the luckiest killer of all time or in a shit film.  Don't.  do.  that.  Did I just write a better film?  

Oh, and without SPOILING anything, the most important kill of the film happens off camera.  

The worst sin of all- they outdo the lens flare by just flat-out shining a light in my face.  What a dick of a film!

Up next, do you like Die Hard?  Well, here's a TV movie rip-off starring Dean Cain that's not Firetrap.  Stay tuned...

Forgotten Sequels: Silent Night, Deadly Night 3

I'll admit that the movie is somewhat well-known in the internet movie community, especially with the new DVD release. Let's be honest though: we're a bunch of weirdos. How many normal people find a movie like Ghoulies IV or Eko Eko Azarack II and go 'I need to see this right now?' Self-analysis aside, this movie is notable for being a sequel to an iconic Christmas horror film, but ignoring most of what made it work. Mind you, it is better than just literally playing clips from the first film for at least a third of it and killing someone with a car battery. Of course, that film featured a lead that looked related to the original killer and this one has Bill Moseley. He does a decent job, but the whole idea of him being there is just odd. The plot is not exactly Christmas-related and they miss one of the key things necessary for this to work as a Christmas horror film. Before I say too much, let's jingle our way into...

Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out!

The film begins with a woman running around a white room. In fairness, she is at least not running around a junkyard. However, like Psycho Santa, the movie takes its sweet time explaining any of this. She runs into another room and finds a comatose man on a hospital bed who looks like Cesare from The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. In some quick-fire editing, he is up and covered in blood. She runs at full-tilt, but he seems to be casually-shambling and keeping up with her- a cliche that's deconstructed by Behind The Mask. A minute or so later, she wakes up on a hospital bed covered in leads. As we are explained via exposition, a scientist has been doing scientific tests on people with psychic powers. I should also note that the young woman is blind, which makes me question how she can see anything with her mind. Ignoring the non-science related to this, how does she have any concept of what anything looks like?!? She goes 'into the rabbit hole' again and runs into a flashback from Silent Night, Deadly Night. This is happening because she tapped into the comatose man's mind, who is apparently Ricky from Silent Night, Deadly Night 2. He was a baby when this part happened! There's no way he remembers any of that!

*

Things get odder as our heroine runs into a rude hospital receptionist. Geez, it's a good thing that she wasn't dying or anything, lady! Our heroine has a flash of the woman with her throat cut...somehow, despite never really seeing the lady the first time! Her brother- who seems like he walked right out of Hard Rock Nightmare- takes her in his truck and they deliver more exposition. They are going to their grandmother's house for Christmas and he is bringing his girlfriend. I would complain about this bit of logic, but she is played by Laura Harring, so go right ahead. Meanwhile, anorexic Ricky wakes up from his coma to go find the young woman, since she 'touched his mind.' Yes, they really do say that. In one of the biggest disappointments of the film, he kills a man dressed as Santa, but does not take the outfit! Instead, he just wanders around in his hospital gown with his exposed skull. He gets picked up by a man and somehow gets to grandma's house before our leads! Even after stopping to kill a gas station attendant for no reason he is ahead of them! A bit later, our heroes show up and only our blind heroine thinks that something is up. The brother has more important plans: taking a bath with Laura Harring.

*

Finally, after some filler, the killer decides to make his presence known. Before that, we get numerous scenes with the lead detective (played by a character actor that the VHS box promotes the hell out of) and the doctor driving around. This is so disconnected that it almost feels like a parallel film. When they finally show up, only the doctor is there- huh?!? He gets killed and the brother gets stabbed, leading our two heroines to run inside. In fitting with movie tradition, the blind woman is the brave one and the normal girl is scared shit-less. The latter goes to check for the killer, but gets pulled under a bed. So, he was hiding under there? For a 6-foot tall man with an exposed brain, he is freaking Solid Snake when it comes to stealth! To cut a long story short,- kind of- the killer confronts our heroine in the basement. Yes, we do get the cheap fake-out scare when she discovers grandma's body. Our heroine knocks out the light, but walks right into Ricky, killing the whole point of that. Blah blah blah, they struggle, she gets outside and someone finally shoots Ricky dead- for real this time! The End.

*

This movie is not terrible, but it has some obvious flaws. First and foremost, the connection to the series is really stretched here. I get that it counts on the basis of this being Ricky, despite him not looking remotely-similar. However, he does not act like crazy, sporadic-killer Ricky from Silent Night, Deadly Night 2, nor does he dress up like Santa Claus or even say 'Punish.' I should reiterate this point from earlier: why doesn't he dress up like Santa Claus?!? For the only time in all three films, he has a legitimate reason to disguise his identity and doesn't! On top of that, this Ricky seems calculated and patient- the kind of guy who would use a disguise. I won't even get into the many medical issues with this film, the least of which is a man getting up and walking after being in a coma for six years! That said, there is some good atmosphere and some interesting ideas. I applaud them for only using one bit of stock footage from Silent Night, Deadly Night, although that is a back-handed compliment for sure! Honestly, it's better than you might think, but is questionably a Christmas horror film.

*

Just to cleanse our palettes, here is a Christmas special from the 1980s. It has children, robots and winged horses. Oddly enough, this was made for guys. Stay tuned...

Yuletide Classic: Silent Night, Deadly Night

I feel like the last guy at a wedding who has to tell a story about the bride and groom. The other guys have taken all the good stories (how you set them up, their first date, etc) and you have to think of something interesting. 'Hey guys,' I start to say, 'remember that time that you accidentally killed a drifter and tried to hide it from everyone? That was fun, right?" That is the situation that I am in today writing about Silent Night, Deadly Night. You all know the movie, you all know the plot, but I would be remiss without talking about it. It's like talking about The Omen and not mentioning killer monkeys- it just can't, and shouldn't, be done. So, let's take a different approach in my review of...

Silent Night, Deadly Night

In case you don't know, the movie is all about Billy, who gets driven crazy by a series of events and begins to kill people while dressed as Santa Claus. Rather than giving you my usual in-depth plot summary, I want to highlight some of the odd moments that stand out to me.

*Why do the people at the grandfather's rest home not notice his condition? They're doctors and nurses, but can't see that he is faking it? Or is the kid supposed to be imagining this?

*Billy's really just unlucky, isn't he? The odds that there is a crazed robber dressed as Santa that night and he crosses his parent's path has to be pretty damn low, doesn't it?

*The idea of letting out the giant mental patient out in the public is just bad to begin with.

*Why does the girl he likes yell at him when he breaks up a rape attempt against her? How about a thanks before you scream at him, lady?!?

*On the scale of the 'sins' done by the citizens, how high can sledding at night against your parent's wishes be?

*Make note of how the younger brother is a baby in the traumatic bits- it's important for when you see Parts II and III.

For a full review of the movie, look elsewhere. I do enough of those to be allowed one exception, don't I? Besides, I think 600 other pages are doing that.

*

I liked this movie, in spite of all the controversy. As people like The Cinema Snob have pointed out, the movie actually spends a good amount of time building up its villain and explaining his motivations. Compare that to a movie like Halloween, which just says 'he's Michael Meyers, he's crazy and and he kills people- enjoy.' If you are going to compare Silent Night to a normal film, it has some plot holes and very underwritten characters. As far as slasher films go, it actually has a pretty high pedigree. It's not just controversy- it's an actual, decent film.

*

I know you're probably expecting me to do Silent Night, Deadly Night 2, but I don't feel like it. Instead, I'm going to cover a Christmas slasher film by the co-writer of Night of the Living Dead. It has to be good, right? Stay tuned...