Silent Night, Deadly Night review
Santa Claus is coming (back) to town.
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Silent Night, Deadly Night
Directed by Mike P. Nelson
Written by Mike P. Nelson
Starring Rohan Campbell
Silent Night, Deadly Night Review
I only vaguely recall the original Silent Night, Deadly Night. The pieces I remember mostly come from the legendary disaster that is its sequel Silent Night, Deadly Night 2. When you approach a remake it isn’t important to have seen the movie it is remaking. But it does help you get some references and callbacks that can add to the entertainment value. There’s a montage late in Silent Night, Deadly Night that calls back to a famous kill from the original film. The reference that stood out most, however, was a brief call back to the most infamous moment from its notorious sequel. The truth is that the original Silent Night, Deadly Night is a forgettable movie that’s fine in its own weird way. But it’s first sequel…full of bad choices, worse acting and a lot of the original’s footage…holds a lot of power over the franchise.
Which makes 2025’s Silent Night, Deadly Night an interesting venture. Yes, there have been other sequels and even another soft reboot in the series’ history. But Silent Night, Deadly Night 2 still looms large over all of them. Especially since the advent of meme culture. This new reboot isn’t a remake of the legendarily bad sequel. It’s a remake of the more straightforward original. The one best remembered as pieces inside the mess that is Silent Night, Deadly Night 2. If that sounds in any way confusing…it ultimately doesn’t matter. Aside from some references and callbacks you might remember…you can walk into this movie with a clean slate.
For whatever it is worth…Silent Night, Deadly Night loosely follows the plot I remember from the original. For a while. It makes a few different moves to set up where it is ultimately heading. There is a different goal in mind with this movie, and its Santa suit wearing killer, than the original had. It’s actually a rather clever way to tackle a remake. The bones are still here…but they’ve added new flesh on top of them. The story still opens with young Billy witnessing his parents’ murder at the hands of a man in a Santa suit. It still flashes forward to an older Billy and even gives him some of the same story beats to play. But it ultimately changes the meaning behind his murders in a way that is both interesting and somewhat awkward.
The first change you’ll notice, should you remember the original, is that Billy (Rohan Campbell) has a voice inside his head. It’s the voice of the man who killed his parents…and it knows things Billy couldn’t possibly know. Yes, there is a strong supernatural element to Silent Night, Deadly Night. The conversations between Billy and the voice play out a lot like the Venom movies. There are a few genuinely funny moments that come from it. More importantly, it’s not a simple case of split personality or possession. The movie has a better idea for this than I expected when the story began.
Which leads to the awkward part of the deal. 2025’s Billy isn’t a bad guy. I don’t mean…he’s a good guy who snaps or isn’t in control of his actions. I mean he is murdering people for a good reason. He believes that he needs to spend his Decembers filling an advent calendar with the blood of evil people or someone good will die. And the people he kills…they are evil. We’re talking a party full of Nazis celebrating their definition of a white Christmas level evil. The issue is that it’s impossible to build any suspense or scares into a story where you not only follow the “antagonist” …but root for him as well. That’s fine. It’s a different kind of movie. But that type of movie doesn’t exactly fit with the throwback slasher theme the rest of Silent Night, Deadly Night is presenting.
How big of an issue is it? Ultimately…not that big. Because Silent Night, Deadly Night wisely builds a much different second half of its story. It diverts completely from the original’s bones and gives us a reason to want Billy to succeed. It gives him a love interest who seems capable of matching his crazy…and a local child kidnapper/murderer to add to his naughty list. It works. It isn’t the Silent Night, Deadly Night you expect when you buy your ticket…but it’s almost certainly the best movie the franchise has seen in a long time. Hell, there’s a borderline effective emotional resolution to the whole thing. As well as a supernatural climax that ensures a future for the franchise should anyone want that to happen.
Although Silent Night, Deadly Night isn’t striving for suspenseful slasher…it does have more than enough kills to satisfy the average slasher fan. The nazi slaughter sequence is the highlight of the killing spree. There are some nice practical effects…and a lot of axing someone just off camera. The sheer number of kills in the film wins you over before too long. The relationship between Billy and Charlie (the voice) works well too. As does the struggle between Billy’s mission and his desire for a more normal existence. Silent Night, Deadly Night does a lot more than I expected from a modern reboot. The best thing it does it change course from the movie it is rebooting.
Scare Value
There is a quiet oddity about 2025’s Silent Night, Deadly Night reboot. It stems from the movie’s gradual shift away from its source material. Or, at least, recontextualizing of its meaning. The result is a slasher movie that often doesn’t feel like a slasher movie. It takes a bit to get on the same wavelength the story is on. But changing things to defy expectations ends up being the ultimate strength of this remake. A more complete story with a fine cast and lot of blood is here for anyone who wants it. It’s unlikely to challenge the memories of Silent Night, Deadly Night 2 as the franchise’s calling card. But maybe they’ll find a way to work that mess into a sequel of their own one day. If they do…there’s more than enough here to enjoy watching as it is repurposed all over again.
3/5
Silent Night, Deadly Night Link
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