Horror Movie Review: Silent Night (2012)

Silent Night is a very loose remake of the famous Christmas horror Silent Night, Deadly Night. Very, very loose. It also takes points from the real life Covina Holiday Massacre that occurred in 2008.

Getting to watch a decent Christmas horror is rarer then your creepy uncle not getting drunk & hitting on you or your teenage sister. Getting to watch a good Christmas horror is about as likely as Santa Claus actually showing up with that bike you always wanted!

Watching a great Christmas horror…well you get the idea. Silent Night is such a film, a Christmas horror that mixes gory horror with Yuletide mayhem. The final result is a thrilling & entertaining watch that will please most horror nuts.

In a small American town a killer Santa is on the loose. This Santa takes no prisoners, his methods are brutal & even children don’t stand a chance. The local Sheriff & his deputy are on the case but this psychotic Santa is able to hide in plain sight thanks to the annual Christmas parade.

Just who is this killer Claus & just why is he on this rampage?

Silent Night spreads the cheese thickly while pouring buckets of gore over everything in sight. The kills come thick & fast with this murderous Santa & there is plenty of variety. An axe, a flamethrower, Christmas lights, a wood chipper (my personal favourite!) & some deer antlers. That last one is a particular highlight & a tribute to Silent Night, Deadly Night where everyone’s favourite scream queen Linnea Quigley got impaled on a pair of deer antlers (while being topless, naturally).

The use of practical gore effects really sells the brutality of the kills.

The cast are a good bunch with Malcolm McDowell (Sherrif) & Jamie King (Deputy) in the two lead roles. The Sheriff sees it as his personal mission to stop the crazed Santa, almost excited by the prospect while the deputy is a bit more nervous about the whole situation. They play off each other well & neither over-shadows the other.

The real star of the film though is the killer Santa, an intimidating figure with a mask that really adds a creepy layer to the whole outfit. The ‘who is the killer Santa’ plot point is the only real black mark on the entire movie, it’s not that interesting & the reveal at the finale is nothing more then a shoulder shrugging moment.

One of the best modern day Christmas horrors out there. Worth watching for the gory kills. I mean who doesn’t enjoy Santa tasering a little girl!?