Slay Bells Ring: The Story of Silent Night, Deadly Night (2017)
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
It's time to rejoice fans of SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT! After all these decades we've finally gotten a 45-minute documentary that takes a look at the making of this controversial film. We get interviews with star Robert Brian Wilson, writer Michael Hickey, Executive Producers Scott Schneid and Dennis Whitehead, editor Michael Spence as well as composer Perry Botkin.
If you want to know the history behind the film then you'll certainly enjoy this documentary that has some terrific stories and especially about the pre-production. If you're familiar with the film then I'm sure you're curious how it got made and we get some pretty funny stories about the early screenplays and how certain elements got past Tri-Star. The casting of the picture is discussed as well as what everyone thought of the subject matter. Also covered is the controversy of the film including the outrage shown by Siskel and Ebert and how it actually helped sell the picture.
There are a lot of really good stories told here and it was certainly great fun getting to hear from Robert Brian Wilson who of course played the killer Claus.
