Horror Movie Review: Silent Night, Deadly Night – Part 2 (1987)

Oh my, I just can’t…

This is the problem with being a horror fan…for every Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street or Friday the 13th there is a Halloween Resurrection, a Freddy’s Dead or Jason Takes Manhattan to muddy the waters & damage the franchise as a whole.

The 2nd movie into a 5 film franchise & my feelings on the original Silent Night, Deadly Night has been affected. It can’t be that bad, right?

The sequel begins on Christmas Eve years after the first movie. Ricky, the younger brother of the first films killer is being held in a mental hospital. It seems that he has committed a series of murders with little motivation. While being interviewed by a psychiatrist Ricky tells the story of what his brother did in the first movie.

When I say tell… I’m not joking. The film is 88 minutes long & the first 40 minutes is Ricky telling the story using flashbacks from the first movie. The first half of Silent Night, Deadly Night  2 is great because it pretty much shows everything that happened in the first.

Ricky’s delivery…wow…if you hear anything about this movie it is going to be how bad an actor this boy is. Everything is delivered with the same expression, the same fake tough-guy act & the same awful fake laugh. You have to see it to believe it; I can only think he was working for free.

Anyway…after Ricky has recapped the entire first films plot, including memories he could never have had he tells the story of how he ended up in the hospital. Turns out he has a screw loose as well but his foster family never treated it even though they were good to him. After his foster father dies he goes a bit ‘off’ & ends up killing a few people who are deemed ‘naughty’.

Things get better for Ricky after he meets & starts dating Jennifer. Everything is going well until they run into her ex-boyfriend, Chip. Ricky kills Chip in epic fashion & before turning on Jennifer. A police officer attempts to arrest him but Ricky gets his gun & goes on a shooting rampage.

A failed suicide attempt results in Ricky’s capture & incarceration. The story re-capped, Ricky escapes the hospital after murdering the Doctor. He kills a local Santa & dons the suit with one aim, finish what his brother Billy began…kill Mother Superior.

Don’t let people fool you, this might have a cult-following but it is one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen. Sure Ricky’s acting is so bad it is borderline good but a total wafer-thin story that is held together by clips of the first movie is just awful.

Not to suggest the rest of the cast are any good though…the cinema scene is up there with some of the most cringe-worthy scenes I’ve ever seen.

So what is good? Well beside Ricky’s “garbage day” delivery…there are some cool deaths. Ricky’s size & imposing demeanour make him seem like a viable threat so it’s not surprising he can kill other men with ease…it’s just a pity that it’s backed up with that horrible laugh.

A sequel bait ending seemed about right & at least the movie doesn’t over-stay its welcome. The 3rd movie in the franchise follows on from this film!

Those 3 points there are pretty much for the “garbage day” scene, Chip’s death scene & all the clips from the first movie. Not great…