‘SILENT NIGHT DEADLY NIGHT’

 

For me, the ‘SILENT NIGHT DEADLY NIGHT’ movies are the most enjoyable in the Christmas Horror genre. Yes ‘BLACK CHRISTMAS’ and ‘CHRISTMAS EVIL’ are great, but there’s nothing more fun than traversing the SNDN franchise 🎅🏻🪓 

You start out with a classic. Young Billy is forever changed by witnessing a criminal dressed in a Santa Claus outfit murder his mother & father. Now forced into being raised in an orphanage by a crazed nun, he is tormented by thoughts of killer Santa & clearly does not understand sex haha Years later he is triggered into a killing spree after dressing as Santa at his job in a toy store. “Naughty! Punish!” It’s just so beautifully simple and brutal. You almost root for him to finally get Mother Superior.

Then we get Captain Eyebrows himself, Eric Freeman, playing Billy’s younger brother Ricky. After witnessing his brother getting killed in the first film, he takes the reins and goes on a killing spree himself. It’s primarily just a replay of the events of the first film followed by a few short segments of Ricky walking down a street killing every person he sees 😂 hardly even a Christmas movie, but I hold a bias for this film, as my college roommates & I spent countless nights watching it…while making a giant “Garbage Day!” banner in our little 2nd floor dorm room. Iconically so bad it’s good. 

Part 3, sees Ricky played by genre icon @choptopmoseley now adorning a glass encased brain following being shot up in part 2 lol awakened from his coma…he has unfinished business. The weakest of the films to me, but a delightful slasher nonetheless. 

Part 4 isn’t even really a Christmas movie at all 😂 it’s a Brian Yuzna body horror film about witches, spontaneous combustion, and people turning into insects?! It feels like Yuzna trying to make a David Lynch film…so much fun. Fans of ‘SOCIETY’ this one’s for you. 

Part 5 follows a toy maker played by Mickey Rooney, who famously championed the boycott of the original film 🤔 yet here he is…in part 5. He makes toys that come to life and slaughter people. It’s just lovely. Christmas gifts coming to life to kill!

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While not for everyone, these movies certainly hold a special place in my heart