Silent Night (2012) – Santa’s Progressed From Coal to Mass Murder

I can’t say if 2012’s remake of 1984’s Silent Night, Deadly Night is better than the  original because I’ve never seen it, but I will say that it beat my (admittedly low) expectations, and that is a good thing. 

Christmas horror films are awesome in concept due to the fact that it’s supposed to be a time of peace and hope, and not killings and horror. This film delivers enough of both to stay interesting. 

So, it’s Christmas, and bad folks are being wiped out left and right in a sleepy little town.Police officer Aubrey Bradimore has been called into work on Christmas as a fellow officer has not shown up for work. Her first call is to deal with a sarchastic fake Santa that is depressing local kids by delivering somber and realistic Christmas messages. That guy’s an ass, but there is not much she can do about him – he’s got a permit.

Bradimore is called to another location as there is a report of a terrible smell emanating from a home. Upon entry she finds a nightmare of a scene, and discovers that her fellow officer was killed in a horrific, Christmas lite related murder, as well as his lover having been dismembered. Then things get bad. The police force, headed by an incompetent Sheriff James Cooper (played well by Malcolm McDowell) tries to mobilize and stop the Santa Clause disguised serial killer in there midst. Well, it turns out that there is more than one bad Santa amongst the crowds, making finding the actual murderer just that much harder.

This movie is not great by any means, but it is good enough to be entertaining.  There are some great death scenes and enough gore to be interesting, and surprise, surprise, the acting isn’t half bad. Although the Santa is evil, he is mostly killing other bad people, so in some cases you don’t really feel for his victims, and that is a neat twist. If you like cheezy horror, and are in a holiday mood, then check this one out. Because of this remake, I think I may be watching the original next.

Here is the trailer: