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From the B-Movie Vault: Silent Night, Deadly Night & Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2
Image Credit: TriStar Pictures
From the B-Movie Vault Issue #8: Silent Night, Deadly Night and Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2
Hello, everyone, and welcome to the latest From the B-Movie Vault. I’m Bryan Kristopowitz.
Over the years I’ve tried to review a Christmas themed horror movie around Christmas with minimal success. Sometimes my plan to do so worked out, and sometimes it didn’t. For this year, 2023, I thought it would be a good idea to bring back two Christmas horror movie reviews that I was able to do, one from 2014 and one from 2016 (the originals are, like everything else that appears in From the B-Movie Vault, are long gone from the internets). The 2014 review is for the classic Santa slasher killer flick Silent Night, Deadly Night, which originally appeared as a sort of “bonus review” during “It’s Dolph Lundgren December,” a December movie review marathon that focused on the movies of Dolph Lundgren (the Dolph Lundgren movie that Silent Night, Deadly Night appeared with was the low budget post-apocalyptic zombies and robots action flick Battle of the Damned, for those of you who may be wondering). The 2016 review is of the Silent Night, Deadly Night sequel (sort of), Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2, which appeared as a “Special Edition” of The Gratuitous B-Movie Column.
I also reviewed Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 3: Better Watch Out as a “Special Edition” of The Gratuitous B-Movie Column, and that review appeared in 2018 (and it still exists here). Hopefully, one day, I’ll eventually review the other two movies in the original Silent Night, Deadly Night franchise, Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation, and Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toy Maker. Maybe that will happen next year as a fresh The Gratuitous B-Movie Column Special Edition. That would be pretty cool, wouldn’t it? Wouldn’t?
Of course it would.
Anyway, here are my original reviews of Silent Night, Deadly Night and Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2. Enjoy.
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Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)
(Author’s Note: This review originally appeared in issue #337 of The Gratuitous B-Movie Column)
Basically, Silent Night, Deadly Night is the story of a mentally deranged young man who, after suffering through the trauma of watching his parents murdered by a psycho criminal dressed as Santa Claus and then the trauma of dealing with sadistic nuns in an orphanage, goes on a rampage, killing random people for being “naughty.” The killer, Billy (Robert Brian Wilson), is a generally nice guy when not experiencing horrendous nightmares featuring the murder of his parents. He has a job at a local toy store (Ira’s Toys, owned and managed by Mr. Sims, played by the great Britt Leach), he has a crush on a pretty woman he works with (Pamela, as played by Toni Nero), and he doesn’t feel the need to bitch slap the asshole he works with at the store (Andy, as played by Randy Stumpf). When the Christmas season rolls around, though, Billy starts feeling weird as he’s forced to stare at and work around Santa related merchandise and decorations. Billy does a good job holding himself together but, after being forced by Sims to dress as Santa and then seeing Andy rape Pamela in the store stock room, Billy goes batshit and starts killing people.
Now, had Billy’s comatose grandfather, played by Will Hare, not told Billy when he was a child that “the real” Santa Claus hurts “naughty children” on Christmas Eve right before the killer Santa (Charles Dierkop) killed his mother and father, Billy probably would have just been incredibly warped by seeing a Santa Claus shoot his father in the head and rape his mother in the middle of the street before slashing her throat. He would have been perpetually devastated, sure, but he probably wouldn’t have had it placed in his young mind that his parents were “naughty” and sort of deserved to die. And hanging out with those nuns for years on end certainly didn’t help matters, with the Mother Superior (Lilyan Chauvin) whipping him with a belt and tying him to his bed in an effort to “teach” Billy “gratitude.” It was all just a convergence of things, really. Billy never stood a chance. That isn’t condoning what he does, mind you, but when you look at what he went through in his life it isn’t all that surprising that, one day, he just decides that he’s had enough and goes off. It happens sometimes to seriously damaged people.
Were the people Billy killed “naughty?” Some of them were, yes. Andy’s days were always numbered, and that douchebag that steals the teen’s sled certainly deserved to get decapitated (what the hell was he doing going down that hill?). Everyone else, though, really didn’t deserve to die horribly. I mean, look at what happens to Denise (Linnea Quigley) and Tommy (Leo Geter), two teens trying to have sex on a pool table. Denise gets impaled on a deer head’s antlers and Tommy gets thrown through a window and ripped to shreds by broken glass. What the hell did they do besides try to have sex on a pool table while Denise babysat a neighbor’s kid?
And look at poor Mr. Sims. He had a big Christmas party with free booze right after closing up shop on Christmas Eve and he gave Billy a job. Did he really deserve to get a hammer in the top of his head?
Sister Margaret (Gilmer McCormick) is probably the only person in the world that really tries to help Billy. She tries to keep Billy away from the beatings doled out by the Mother Superior and tries to get people to understand that he’s disturbed, but she fails. I’m shocked that she isn’t targeted by Billy.
Silent Night, Deadly Night is a deliberately paced horror flick, much slower than most modern horror movies. It doesn’t really become a slasher movie until the two thirds mark and isn’t as depraved as its reputation would suggest. It’s a brutal movie, yes, as the violence is shocking and nasty, but the movie as a whole isn’t the relentless festival of depravity its reputation/”legend” suggests. The convenience store robbery that introduces us to the killer Santa is incredibly violent, with the killer Santa shooting the store clerk in the head after killing him with a bullet to the chest. The head shot was unnecessary but then that’s the kind of guy the killer Santa is. He’s an unrepentant killer and a raging piece of shit. And then when he kills Billy’s parents, Jesus Christ, it’s just awful to see. You’d think a guy trying to get out of town after robbing a store and killing someone would just steal the car and move on. But then, again, that’s just not the kind of guy that the killer Santa is. He likes killing people. Billy’s rampage is sort of explained so it isn’t as truly horrendous as the killer Santa’s rampage. Is this why the movie has its depraved reputation?
I mean, think about it; the killer Santa in the beginning of the movie isn’t caught by the police or hit by a runaway truck after murdering Billy’s parents. He’s a guy haunting Billy’s dreams, a real monster who doesn’t give a shit about anyone but himself and his sick needs. And he basically gets away with all of it. Billy’s rampage, while gory, comes off as kind of silly in the end. If the first Santa hadn’t been in the movie perhaps no one would have protested the movie back in 1984.
I enjoyed the scenes in Ira’s Toys mostly for nostalgia reasons as there are some very cool toys on those shelves from back in the day. The Star Wars toys were awesome and I think I may have had the G.I. Joe costume seen in the background for one Halloween back in the mid-1980’s. I was able to recall the smell of the plastic mask while watching the movie.
Now, the slasher death scenes are generally good. The sled decapitation is a classic sequence as is the deer antler sequence. I do think that Andy got off too easy. Why wasn’t he electrocuted by those Christmas lights as opposed to being “strangled” by them? Or why didn’t he get the hammer to the top of the head? Am I the only one who thinks Andy got off too easy?
I was disappointed a bit with the ending. Mother Superior, one of the worst people in the history of children’s orphanages in movies, certainly deserved to be thrown down a flight of stairs while still in her wheelchair. But nothing happens to her. What the hell, man?
The performances are generally good across the board. Robert Brian Wilson manages to carry the movie despite not showing up until around thirty minutes in. And the actors inside Ira’s Toys are just a dirty sitcom waiting to happen. Brit Leach is just awesome as Sims. And you will never forget Chauvin’s Mother Superior. She’s sadistic and clueless and those two things are a dangerous tandem. And, of course, Will Hare’s Grandpa is hilarious. Why the hell did he just decide to wake up and start talking to the young Billy? Is that dealt with in any of the sequels? And how do we not have a Grandpa action figure yet? Imagine having an action figure where you can switch out heads, with one head being “normal” Grandpa and the other head being “unhinged storyteller” Grandpa. That would be awesome.
And then there’s the nudity. Some of it is quite wonderful, while some of it is kind of skeezy. The hair on Robert Brian Wilson’s ass is terrifying. And why would Denise go answer the door topless beyond the obvious reason (director Charles E. Sellier, Jr. needed to have it that way)? Nice shorts, by the way.
Silent Night, Deadly Night is a great bit of Christmas slasher sleaze and mid-1980’s horror nastiness. I’m glad that I decided to check it out again. If you’re a horror movie nerd and you’ve never seen it you need to make an effort to see it as soon as possible. It’s a classic through and through. I’m going to have to re-watch the sequels, now. I do remember watching part 5 on Cinemax back in the day. Mickey Rooney (the top box office draw from 1939 to 1940! Spanning two decades!)!
See Silent Night, Deadly Night. See it, see it, goddamn see it.
So what do we have here?
Dead bodies: 13
Explosions: None.
Nudity?: Copious.
Doobage: A big ass station wagon, screwing around with a child’s understanding of Christmas and Santa, a mental facility, a convenience store robbery with a brutal murder, bullet to the head, attempted carjacking, another bullet to the head, road rape, throat slashing, a disturbing depiction of Santa and decapitated reindeer, off screen sex, a beating by belt, multiple nightmares, a job montage, a Santa banner, great old toys, a sex nightmare, a hysterical “don’t be naughty” message, back room rape, a bloody switchblade knife, strangulation via Christmas lights, box cutter up the torso, hammer to the top of the head, arrow through the back, people having sex on a pool table, a hot babe answering the door topless for no real reason, door breaking, axe throwing, impalement on a deer head’s antlers, fire poker to the face, attempted strangulation via phone cord, person thrown through a window, nasty glass shards, sled theft, a hilarious decapitation, a dead Santa, axe to the gut, multiple bullets to the back, and an ending that sets up a sequel.
Kim Richards?: Almost. Multiple times.
Gratuitous: Twas the Night Before Christmas book, Christmas music on the radio, Utah, a comatose grandparent, a Santa robber, white snow boots, Jack in the Box kids toy, hairy ass sex, vintage toys, booze drinking on Christmas Eve, drunken singing of Christmas carols, nut crackers, Christmas pop music, Linea Quigley, a headless sled rider, children trying to sing “Deck the Halls,” a snowman decapitation, and an ending that sets up a sequel.
Best lines: “Why doesn’t Grandpa say something?,” “Don’t worry, Grandpa isn’t going to hurt you,” “Christmas Eve is the scariest damn night of the year!,” “You see Santa Claus tonight, boy, you better run! You better run for your life!,” “Mommy, were you naughty when you were a little girl?,” “31 bucks? Merry fucking Christmas!,” “You filthy devil!,” “I see nothing but greed. There should be gratitude,” “You will learn gratitude,” “What the hell is wrong with that kid?,” “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?,” “Seven o’clock! It’s over! Time to get shitfaced!,” “Stick with me, kid. By the time this party is over you’ll think you really are Santa Claus!,” “Go get’em Santa! Go get’em!,” “You goddamn little bitch!,” “Naughty!,” “Two ball in the corner pocket,” “I’m gonna killer her,” “Look at this hill. Virgin, man! The only kind you’ll ever get!,” “Are you having a religious experience or did you pee your pants?,” “Hello, Santa,” “There is no Santa Claus!,” “Santa Claus is gone,” and “Naughty!”
Rating: 8.5/10.0
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Check out previous issues of From the B-Movie Vault!
From the B-Movie Vault: Phantasm and Phantasm II
From the B-Movie Vault: Phantasm III: Lord of the Dead and Phantasm IV: Oblivion
From the B-Movie Vault: Phantasm: Ravager and John Dies at the End
From the B-Movie Vault: Scanners
From the B-Movie Vault: Scanners II: The New Order and Scanners III: The Takeover
From the B-Movie Vault: Scanner Cop and Scanner Cop 2
From the B-Movie Vault: John Wick and John Wick: Chapter 2
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The Gratuitous B-Movie Column Special Christmas Edition: Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2
Hello, everyone, and welcome to a very special Christmas edition of the internets movie review column that thinks it’s about time some cable channel did a full on Christmas horror movie marathon (you’d think El Rey would be all over that shit) (remember when El Rey used to be an actual TV channel as opposed to whatever the hell it is now?), The Gratuitous B-Movie Column, and I am your host Bryan Kristopowitz. In this very special Christmas edition, I take a look at Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2, the sequel to the notorious, not as messed up as once thought but still pretty dang messed up anyway slasher classic from 1984 Silent Night, Deadly Night, which this column already reviewed (and you’ve already read the review for that movie if you’ve made it this far. Ha).
Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2
Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2, directed by Lee Harry, is one bizarre goddamn movie. And that seems to be what was intended from the beginning, which is cool and all, but very off putting at first. You don’t expect the movie to spend so much time directly rehashing the events of the first Silent Night, Deadly Night, and once you start thinking about the story being told it seems impossible. But when the movie starts telling its own story the flick becomes interesting and somewhat entertaining.
The movie stars Eric Freeman as Ricky Caldwell, the little brother of the killer in the first movie, Billy (Robert Brian Wilson and Danny Wagner and Jonathon Best, playing Billy at various ages, in footage from the first movie). Ricky is a murderer and psychopath, confined to a psychiatric prison of sorts. When we first meet Ricky he’s being interrogated/examined by Dr. Henry Bloom (James L. Newman), a man who claims not to be scared by the twitchy inmate. Ricky is about to go on trial for murder, and Dr. Bloom is there to see if Ricky is sane enough to actually go on trial (or something like that). This big interrogation is taking place on Christmas Eve, which seems like a big mistake considering Caldwell’s family history when it comes to the Christmas season. But then people, even smart people, do stupid shit all of the time.
So the interrogation begins and Ricky starts talking about his brother’s troubled life, his own troubled life, and his family’s personal hell. Via flashbacks to the first movie, we see a good chunk of the attack on the Caldwell family by the psycho criminal dressed as Santa Claus (father killed, mother raped, mother’s throat slit). We then see Ricky and Billy in the orphanage run by nuns and the absolute hell that whole thing was (the Mother Superior, as played by Lilyan Chauvin, was a terrible, terrible person). And then we see Billy, aged out of the orphanage, trying to live a normal life but becoming a psycho killer himself, offing a bunch of people in a toy store, in the woods, and a topless Linea Quigley, among others. It’s at this point you’ll likely wonder how the hell Ricky could have directly witnessed most of this stuff since he wasn’t around for most of it, plus he was a fucking baby when his parents were killed. How the hell would a baby remember anything they “witnessed?” But then the movie “gets around” all of that by having Ricky say “he was there.”
Sure. Because that explanation makes sense.
After about forty minutes of those flashbacks (I want to point out that these flashbacks are not uncut, so if you watch the uncut version of the first movie and then part 2 you’ll wonder where the gore is. That’s what I did), we finally get to see Ricky and his own life. We see him as a child with his adopted parents, and then we see Ricky as a teen out in the woods, where he witnesses a rape in progress. This incident causes Ricky to commit his first murder, as he steals a jeep and runs over the rapist and backs over the guy several times. A disturbing scene, yes, but also sort of exhilarating as it’s a cinematically righteous murder. The rapist wasn’t going to stop. So, really, what else is a concerned citizen supposed to do in a situation like this? Call the cops? Right.
So then we see Ricky in his “present” older teen form, working in a restaurant and trying to hold back the murderous rage inside of him. But then Ricky sees a mob shakedown in the alley behind the restaurant and decides to intervene and kills the mob aggressor with an umbrella (one of the greatest slasher murder implements of all time). Are we witnessing the birth of a public avenger of sorts here? A vigilante that wants to take out any and all law breakers? He does keep saying that he wants to take out the “naughty.” But then Christmas imagery (sometimes that just means red cloth somewhere) does seem to provoke him into killing people. A slippery slope kind of thing, maybe, where Ricky can go either way?
Ricky’s life, outside of the murders, is pretty awful up until this point. His adopted family is broken (his father is dead and his mother is in perpetual mourning), he has no one to support him, and the guy has serious, undiagnosed mental problems. But then something great happens and Ricky meets Jennifer (Elizabeth Cayton), a wicked hot blonde chick who is really into the whole weirdo dude thing. They get together, they’re a couple, they have sex, and all seems right with the world. But, as is the case when it comes to the Caldwell family, this situation turns to shit pretty quickly when Jennifer’s ex-boyfriend Chip (Kenneth Brian James, now known as Ken Weichert) shows up, starts fucking around with both Ricky and Jennifer, and Ricky finds out that Jennifer banged Chip back in the day. That’s naughty! That can’t happen!
The rest of the movie is Ricky exacting his revenge on pretty much everyone he’s interacted with up until that point. No one is safe, although he does allow a little girl on a tricycle to pass by. I really thought he was going to take her out with his stolen police sidearm. Eventually, Ricky decides to go after the old Mother Superior from the orphanage, a retired old woman living alone.
The best parts of the movie all involve Ricky’s descent into madness. The flashbacks aren’t as interesting as they originally were in the unrated version of the first movie. They exist in this movie solely to pad out the runtime. When we see Ricky in action, as Ricky, the movie is pretty dang fun. It’s ludicrous, sure, but it’s still fun. Freeman gives a superb performance. His Rick Caldwell is a bomb just waiting to go off most of the time, and when he does go off things get messy. I’d love to know why director Harry couldn’t come up with more new stuff for Ricky to do. And I’ll ask it again because it bothers me: how the hell is a baby going to remember seeing his parents killed before his eyes? How would the baby know what was happening? Why couldn’t the whole flashback thing have been what Ricky assumed happened after hearing about it? That would have made more sense.
The rest of the movie’s characters aren’t all that interesting. Dr. Bloom would have been interesting if he had more to do than listen to Ricky and occasionally change tape and smoke a pipe. Jennifer is topless for a short period of time, which is always cool, but then she’s dispatched before she can do anything beyond scream. The woman being raped in the woods could have been a cool character but she disappears before that potentially cool stuff can happen. Chip is hilarious as one of the movie’s best/actually sort of interesting characters and is easily one of the top douchebags of 1980’s slasher cinema. I think you’ll love the way he gets it in the end.
I would like to call attention to an insane car stunt that happens during Ricky’s suburban massacre with a cop’s stolen gun. Ricky shoots a car that then spins out of control, comes right at him, then gets up on two wheels and flips and explodes. The car is so close to the stuntman in the scene it’s amazing that the stuntman wasn’t hit. How the hell did the moviemakers accomplish that stunt?
And the now infamous “Garbage day!” scene deserves to live on forever as one of those ridiculous, completely out of context YouTube scenes that you watch over and over again because it’s so goddamn ridiculous. Amazing stuff.
Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 isn’t a great movie. It is interesting, though, and contains just enough good stuff to warrant a watch. It isn’t the sleazy slasher classic that the first movie is, but it holds its own and deserves a place in the Christmas B-Movie Hall of Fame. I just wish there was more “new” stuff in it. Seemingly endless flashbacks are never a good idea. Never.
See Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2. It isn’t a slasher horror classic, but it is a weird beard classic. That makes it worth a rental at least.
See Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2. See it, see it, see it.
So what do we have here?
Dead bodies: About 26, and that’s including the people killed in the flashbacks (if you just want to count the people killed in the regular part of the movie then it’s 13).
Explosions: One. And it’s shockingly big.
Nudity?: Yes, both in flashback and in present time.
Doobage: Foot tapping, smoking, more smoking, multiple flashbacks, a street murder, rape, off screen throat slitting, a horrible orphanage, off screen belt whupping, multiple bad dreams, strangulation via Christmas lights, gut stabbing, off screen hammer to the head, bow and arrow hooey, deer antler impalement, guy thrown out a window, a sledding decapitation, axe to the chest, multiple shootings, nun talk, a picnic in the woods, attempted rape in the woods, running a guy over with a Jeep and then backing over him several times, an alley shakedown, a vicious knee to the face, blatant sadism, a freak out over the color red, umbrella impalement, a minor motorcycle accident, sex, a fadeout butt grab, a movie theatre excursion, a slasher movie commentator, jumper cables to the mouth, exploding eyes, strangulation, a vicious head shot, shooting the neighbors, bullet through a metal trash can, wild flip with exploding car, attempted suicide, off screen strangulation via tape, multiple off screen murders, a dead body that sort of looks like Jack Elam’s stunt double, a messed up face, door breaking, attempted door locking, TV smashing, a horrendous stair fall, off screen axe murder, a sweet as fuck .357 magnum, a wicked shotgun blast, and a decapitated head.
Kim Richards?: Very close, multiple times.
Gratuitous: Plugging machine into electric socket, reel-to-reel recorder tape threading, argument about how valuable time is, finger wagging, flashbacks to the first Silent Night, Deadly Night movie, bad dreams, pipe smoking, shooting the wrong Santa, a “Real Men Wear Black” Raiders T-shirt, nuns, Red Carl, forehead sweat, audio preview for a horror movie called Chaos, a movie theatre douchebag, a guy named Chip, pay phone hooey, a wind up Santa toy, and a decapitated head.
Best lines: “You can leave now. Now!,” “Fuck off, doc,” “Sit down, Ricky,” “Need a ride, Santa Claus?,” “Bastard! He left us out there to die,” “You in a hurry, doc? Am I wasting your valuable time?,” “She! Was! Naughty!,” “Do you dream, Ricky? I don’t sleep,” “What do you see out there? Bars,” “Punishment is good!,” “The others were innocent? Oh, no, they deserved it,” “Wait, what if I hit a tree? Just go,” “You don’t scare me. Not yet,” “You tend to get paranoid when everyone around you is dead,” “Eddie, you are such a pig,” “You’re an asshole, Eddie!,” “Thank you,” “Going too fast for you, doc?,” “Got any kids, doc?,” “You’re really starting to get to me, doc,” “Richard, do you know why you’re here?,” “Jennifer. She’s the only thing I ever cared about,” “You got a problem, pal?,” “You know, I really like you, Ricky,” “Go ahead, studdly! Kiss her!,” “Faggot! Well, we know that’s not true,” “Go away, Chip. I have a date,” “This movie is so bogus!,” “What are you doing? Are you out of your mind?,” “Motherfucker!,” “Garbage day!,” “No more bullets. Young and stupid. That was my problem,” “Oh, good! I love a chase!,” “You’re looking well!,” and “You’re being very, very naughty! Naughty this!”
Rating: 6.9/10.0
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Well, I think that’ll be about it for now. Don’t forget to sign up with disqus if you want to comment on this article and any other 411 article. You know you want to, so just go do it.
B-movies rule. Always remember that.
Merry Christmas!
Happy Holidays!
Silent Night, Deadly Night
Lilyan Chauvin– Mother Superior
Gilmer McCormick– Sister Margaret
Toni Nero– Pamela
Robert Brian Wilson– Billy at 18
Britt Leach– Mr. Sims
Nancy Borgenicht– Mrs. Randall
Randy Stumpf– Andy
Will Hare– Grandpa
Linnea Quigley– Denise
Leo Geter– Tommy
Charles Dierkop– Killer Santa
(check out the rest of the cast here)
Directed by Charles E. Sellier, Jr.
Screenplay by Michael Hickey, based on a story by Paul Caimi
Distributed by TriStar Pictures, Aquarius Releasing, USA Home Video, International Video Entertainment (IVE), Avid Home Entertainment, Image Entertainment, Anchor Bay Entertainment, Brainstorm Media, Screenvision, and Shout! Factory/Scream Factory.
Unrated
Runtime– 96 minutes
Buy it here
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Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2
Eric Freeman– Ricky Caldwell
James L. Newman– Dr. Henry Bloom
Elizabeth Cayton– Jennifer
Jean Miller– Mother Superior
Kenneth Brian James– Chip
(check out the rest of the cast here)
Directed by Lee Harry
Screenplay by Lee Harry and Joseph H. Earle, based on a story by Lee Harry, Joseph H. Earle, Dennis Patterson, and Lawrence Applebaum and based on characters created by Michael Hickey and Paul Caimi
Distributed by Ascot Entertainment Group, Silent Night Releasing Corporation, International Video Entertainment (IVE), Image Entertainment, Avid Home Entertainment, Anchor Bay Entertainment, and Shout! Factory/Scream Factory.
Rated R for graphic violence, nudity, and language
Runtime– 88 minutes
Buy it here
