DVD Review – Silent Night (2012)

Directed by Steven C. Miller.

Starring Malcolm McDowell, Jamie King, Donal Logue, Ellen Wong and Brenden Fehr.

SYNOPSIS:

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

In the same vein that World War Z is a loose adaptation of the Max Brooks novel of the same name, Steven C. Miller’s Silent Night shares very little in common with Silent Night, Deadly Night. In fact, the only things that really ties the movie with the 1984 controversial cult classic is the killer wears a Santa suit, one of the deaths and the first half of the title.

But should this be seen as one of the movie’s shining qualities? After all, one of the main complaints about remakes (particularly horror ones) is that they never try to do anything new with the idea and just copy and paste from the source material. In the case of Silent Night, it could almost be its own movie with no ties to its predecessor. As a remake, the movie falls pretty flat in comparison – but on its own two feet, it’s actually pretty good.

Set on Christmas Eve, Silent Night sees troubled cop and widow Aubrey Bradimore (Jamie King) attempt to track down and stop a crazed man dressed up like Santa who is killing people in various gruesome fashions. As the death toll increases, Aubrey starts to question her skills as an officer which isn’t helped by her unsympathetic boss Sheriff Cooper, played with a beautifully phoned-in performance by Malcolm McDowell.

Although Silent Night is different enough to stand alone without the shadow of the original hanging over it, Miller often works in little nods to the source which are handled expertly and serve as what they are meant to be – subtle winks to the audience. Some scenes like the catatonic grandfather spouting “Christmas is the damn scariest night of the year” do sadly feel forced and contrived, but the death that is mimicked as well as the hilarious throw away line of “that scene” from the sequel all serve the movie very well by being little nudges to the fans while not excluding newcomers who don’t know the movie is a remake to begin with. It’s these little touches that help Silent Night stand above other horror remakes (looking at you A Nightmare on Elm Street).

What really hurts Silent Night as a movie however is that our killer doesn’t have the character motivation needed to make him a credible villain. Instead, he’s just a guy who is running around town taking care of ‘naughty people’ in a Santa suit and mask. His backstory is explored eventually, but it’s done through lazy exposition from a town drunk and then followed up just before the credits roll. The original took the time to explain why Billy’s mind snaps and why he goes on his murderous rampage. While Billy is the man doing the deed, the true villain of Silent Night, Deadly Night is the Mother Superior who ‘raised’ him. Silent Night doesn’t have this kind of emotion or drive which almost makes the killer’s actions seem worthless until they are badly explained during the movie’s closing moments.

Which is a real shame as the design of the movie (particularly the killer’s mask) is great and the high gore levels will satisfy even the most blood-thirsty of slasher fans, but the story is so weak that the film often feels slow and almost dull. When the killer isn’t doing his thing (which is the true highlight of the movie), it’s just people sitting around spouting half-baked dialogue to simply move the plot forward. Audbrey is given somewhat of character growth and her final stand is pretty triumphant, but the rest of the movie is kind of a chore. It’s not groan-inducing like Smiley, but it’s really nothing to write home about.

As mentioned, the kills are great, the violence is high and the killer looks cool, it’s just everything around him is a bit tired, dated and bland. His backstory needed much more fleshing out to enforce an actual character, but at least Miller tried to make something that wasn’t a carbon copy of the original movie. Silent Night was released around this time last year in America, so we’ve been waiting a long time for a DVD release and those desperate to see it will have already tracked it down through some means. If you decided to wait for a Region 2 release you might be disappointed, but Silent Night has enough entertainment value to make it worth a watch.

It’s better than the Silent Night, Deadly Night sequels. Let’s put it that way.

Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★

Luke Owen is one of Flickering Myth’s co-editors and the host of the Flickering Myth Podcast. You can follow him on Twitter @LukeWritesStuff.