Silent Night

Let me get this out of the way. I had not seen the original "Silent Night, Deadly Night" until last week. I am a huge horror fan and this one kind of slipped under my radar. The original is by itself pretty bad. The acting is bad and any shades of a good horror movie are lost in the mess of bad acting and nonsensical plot. This movie attempt to rectify the problems with the original by establishing a much simpler storyline. The kills are there for sure. The practical effects are for the most part pretty good. It's a welcome sign to see a horror film that attempts to take full advantage of the advances in practicals. There are some cool callbacks to the original and its sequel while at the same time the film separates itself from the original series. The major issue with the film is that it's just not very exciting. Kills happen, and they are cool, but there is just no tension built. Even though the storyline has been slimmed down compared to the original, it feels like they missed a lot of opportunities to develop some three-dimensional characters. Everyone is just kind of there. Malcolm McDowell is the weakest part of the movie. I'm not sure when he decided to start playing every character the same, but his crazy old man routine is getting stale. Jamie King is mostly okay. We really don't much of a back story on her character and her eventual transformation is kind of out of left field. Donal Logue is probably the best thing in the movie, but his character is also just another throw in. It's a weird movie because it looks professional enough to be a wide release movie, but the holes in the film are just too wide to overcome. All and all it's a fine rental if you have 90 minutes to waste, but it certainly doesn't break any new ground. The original is certainly not hallowed ground. It's the kind of movie that just begs to be remade. I'm fine with what we ended up with. This isn't The Exorcist, The Thing, or Halloween so I'm not going to go off the deep end over a classic being remade.

A pretty straightforward remake of the sicko seasonal 1984 classic "Silent Night, Deadly Night", this is all just insane enough, mean-spirited enough, and sadistic enough, to tickle genre fans looking for a no-fooling-around good time. Filmed in my own home province of Manitoba, in Canada, it's actually set in Wisconsin, as a demented moralizer dressed in Santa Claus garb is hellbent on punishing the naughty - insufferable brats, pornographers, slutty teens, everyone is fair game. A young police deputy (the lovely Jaime King) who's not sure she's cut out to be an officer of the law is among those following the mutilated corpses that Psycho Santa is leaving in his wake. Die hard horror fans will relish the high body count and the plethora of practical gore; digital bloodshed is kept to a minimum. They'll also be happy with the amount of female skin on display; Courtney-Jane White, playing Tiffany, is a real looker, but it's Cortney Palm as porno actress Maria who delivers a pleasing dose of extended gratuitous nudity. Palm also figures in what has to be the highlight of the piece. I won't say too much, but let's just say it's similar to something that happens in the Coen brothers' "Fargo". Commendably, none of this is ever played TOO seriously, and fans of the original "Silent Night, Deadly Night" parts 1 and 2 will love the nods to memorable sequences and lines from those two films. This makes for good no-brainer entertainment, and it's done with a reasonable amount of slickness; note the lighting and the atmospheric quality of the final showdown with Aubrey and the killer. It's also worth a mention how the filmmakers are willing to slaughter the younger members of the cast. Director Steven C. Miller keeps the action flowing, and the cast gives this a great effort. King, who'd pulled remake duty in "My Bloody Valentine 3-D" as well, is winning in the lead, and veteran Malcolm McDowell is a total hoot as her macho, posturing sheriff. Donal Logue as cynical Santa performer Jim, Ellen Wong as dispatcher Brenda, Lisa Marie as Mrs. Morwood, and Brendan Fehr as ill-fated deputy Jordan round out a good group of actors. The only real complaint on this viewers' part is that there's no wintertime feel to any of this. Would it have killed the filmmakers to at least have SOME snow on the ground? Overall, though, not bad. Seven out of 10.

The police force of a remote Midwestern town search for a killer Santa Claus who is picking off citizens on Christmas Eve.

First of all, let me get this off my chest: the film takes place in the Midwest on Christmas Eve and there is not one flake of snow... and the grass is still green. Even when we have no snow on Christmas (rare, but possible) the grass is quite dead... not sure what these people were thinking.

And second, calling this a "loose remake" of the 1980s slasher "Silent Night, Deadly Night" seems to be just a way to get around the fact the idea of a killer Santa has already been done. The films have practically nothing in common beyond the title... and could be treated as completely unrelated without anyone noticing.

But comparing a 2012 slasher to a 1980s slasher is unfair from the start. The styles are different, the culture is different. And frankly, for as bad as most slashers are these days (particularly the remakes) this one holds up surprisingly well. We like seeing Santa chase people down, we love the ax... and we really love the wood chipper. Sure, I still prefer practical effects, but they did not go overboard on the CG like they could have.

With the festive period now upon us, it's the time of year to bring out those films that are best watched at Christmas time. You've got Home Alone, The Muppets Christmas Carol, Scrooged, Miracle on 34th Street, It's A Wonderful Life, The Empire Strikes Back, Batman Returns, Bad Santa and a slew of others that give that special festive feeling. Quite how much of a festive feeling the last three in that list give to people is open to debate, but they're regularly on my list of Christmas viewing. One thing that you don't see that much of these days, bar 2006′s Black Christmas, is festive horror films. With the release of Silent Night, we have another festive slasher to add to this small collection.

Loosely based on 1984′s Silent Night, Deadly Night, the film tells the story of a murderous Santa on a killing spree on Christmas Eve in a small American town. Complete with classic tag-line – "He knows if you've been naughty" - the film is an unashamedly kitsch, cheesy, brutal hark back to the days of the traditional slasher flick. The kills come thick and fast, with Santa showing no remorse to those that have been naughty in his eyes. Each kill is different to the others, with the brutality and gore plentiful. Ol' Saint Nicholas uses a variety of weapons – an axe, hatchet, knife, flame thrower, a wood chipper (hey, Fargo!), deer antlers and Christmas lights amongst others – as he tears his way through his naughty list. Out to stop him is the local Sheriff's department, with Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange, Gangster No 1, Rob Zombie's Halloween) in the role of Sheriff Cooper. Cooper's team is made up of Jaime King (Sin City, The Tripper, The Spirit), Ellen Wong (Scott Pilgrim vs The World) and Brendan Fehr (Roswell High, CSI: Miami). Early on in the film, Jaime King's Aubrey Bradimore is firmly established as the lead of the piece, with the nervous, unsure of herself Bradimore leading the hunt to track down the dastardly Santa.

To complicate matters, with the film being set on Christmas Eve, there are Santas everywhere. The small town has a seemingly endless amount of people dressed up as Kris Kringle, most of them having worked as Santa for the festive period and most of them having an attitude. One such Father Christmas is played by the naturally charismatic Donal Logue (Grounded For Life, Blade, Shark Night 3D). Logue plays the part of a blunt, aggressively honest, down-on-Christmas Santa. Along with Malcolm McDowell, he chews up every scene that he's in. With McDowell, it's a very fine line between whether I like his performance or if it's just horrendous. As a McDowell fan, I'm inclined to lean towards the former. The problem is his delivery and his accent; at times he sounds English, at other times he sounds English with a far too forced American twang. Hearing him deliver 'ass' and 'garbage' just sounds wrong. That said, the same could be noted of his performance as Sam Loomis in Rob Zombie's visions of Halloween and Halloween II. It also doesn't help that some of the lines that McDowell's Sheriff Cooper comes out with are just pure unadulterated, cheesy one liners. At first they sound cringeworthy, but they get better as the film goes on. That may be down to the fact that I grew up on action films riddled with embarrassingly bad one liners. I'd fully understand if others found this to be a major annoyance though.

So, with the majority of the dialogue and performances seemingly tongue-in-cheek, the film could be nothing more than a fun, gory, Christmas slaughter ride. The direction by Steven C. Miller (Scream of the Banshee, The Aggression Scale) is actually surprising for a film of this standard. At times, the direction is fresh, crisp and detailed – much like a Christmas night. There's also a well utilised festive soundtrack to accompany the bloodsplattering action. Jaime King in the lead role is sympathetic and fine for what she needs to be. The performance doesn't set the world alight, but it gets the job done. In fairness to King, she does seem to be one of the few that is playing the film straight. It's just a shame for her that the rest of the cast are hamming it up. There's also the slight problem of finding yourself cheering on Santa at times, especially when it comes to a slimy, perverted man of the clergy that he takes out.

Personally, I like that the film is a little tongue-in-cheek. At times, particularly with the relatively innovative deaths and the gore used, the film gives an almost Troma-lite feel. Anybody familiar with myself or my interest in film knows where I stand on Troma, so that is another plus point for Silent Night.

If you're expecting a tension filled masterclass of suspense, Silent Night is not the film for you. Silent Night is not to Christmas what John Carpenter's Halloween is to Halloween. However, if you're after a unique, sinister, gory, festive film to kill 90 minutes, then this film fits the bill perfectly. In regards to the original, this is a remake in the very loosest of terms. There are a few nods to the original film here and there, such as the catatonic grandparent, but little else apart from the big bearded fella in the red suit.

Silent Night is a throwaway film in the best possible way. It's the type of film that you can just pop on without having to engage your brain. If you like your ho-ho-horror (bad Christmas pun) bloody, to the point, cheesy and with a dark sense of humour then I'd recommend Silent Night for at least a one-off viewing. For those that go into this with an open mind, I give this festive slasher a respectable 6 out of 10 stars.

Silent Night is technically a remake of Silent Night, Deadly Night though it could have easily been Silent Night, Deadly Night 6 and have been just as effective. That said this movie is still a bloody good time that was better than expected.

Silent Night is about a killer Santa who is unleashing his wrath on Christmas Eve. It's up to the local law enforcement to stop him.

Overall Silent Night is a fun movie. It's got a lot of violence and gore, moves at a good pace, and pays homage to the first two films. Overall if you want a fun Christmas slasher, check it out.