A Masterpiece!

There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

A female reporter (Neith Hunter) is investigating the bizarre suicide of a woman in flames who jumped off a building. Kim gets heavily mixed up in a satanic cult that wants to make her a sacrifice for the holidays. Why were four STV sequels necessary? The first one was a very entertaining slasher movie that had major balls. The sequels are about as a bad as a blind date. Brian Yuzna is responsible for one of my favorite horror movies! He made the wonderful Society, but this was just trash. Society was a disturbing film, this was just stupid. I was actually looking somewhat forward to this because of Yuzna's name! I should have known better. It's like they told Yuzna "Do your thing and make things as weirdly as possible, who cares" I kept asking myself what the point was. It doesn't have much to do with the first three. I also had trouble ignoring some things. Why did Kim keeping going around them? I get that a cult can overpower you, but I would have avoided them as much as possible. It's also really boring! It can throw in all the weirdness that it wants, but it can't hide the boredom. The best thing about this movie is the gore. There is an abundance of it! We get bug guts squeezed all over someone's face (And she enjoys it!) women cough up huge insects, ankle biting, and more! This one is pretty nasty. The acting is alright. Neith Hunter is off and on as the lead. She isn't very likable and I wasn't into her plight at all. Clint Howard is a revered horror actor, but I couldn't stand him in this movie. He annoyed the crap out of me with his antics! Maud Adams is all class and gives a great performance! Too bad it wasn't another movie. Horror favorite Reggie Banister shows up as well. The only thing I liked about this movie other than Maud Adams was the ode to City of The Dead with Christopher Lee (1959) In some ways, this movie is like that. Only nowhere near as good. Check out Society and leave this one alone! I'm a die-hard horror fan and I can honestly say it isn't worth it. There is no Killer Santa! 3/10

The second in a trio of Brian Yuzna-directed early-90s sequels to 80s horror classics, this one stands out - as particularly uninspired. Bride of Re-Animator was a decent direct sequel, continuing the story where it ended in Re-Animator, while Return of the Living Dead III surprisingly re-animated a left-for-dead franchise with a new story bearing only some connections to the original (and missing its humor). Both of them were B-movies, sure, but they had good ideas, the weird make-up effects that Society, Yuzna's freaky debut, made him known for, and lots of B-charm of their own. Why Yuzna even bothered with the trite SNDN series I don't know - probably it started with a late-night call like this: " Well, that last Silent Night Deadly Night movie did OK, so if you have anything which we could somehow distribute under that franchise, we'll do it." The only thing that connects this one to the others is the character of Ricky (this time it's the great Clint Howard in one of his lamest performances) who's shot-to-goo brain has healed remarkably well in just one year. Well, the bum he plays may as well be named Ron or Gerald - and probably was before they tried to make some unnecessary connection with the SNDN series. The story is uninteresting from the start, the acting is bland (the unknown Neith Hunter probably got the lead because she was willing to do the slime-trenched nude scenes) and yes, there's Yuzna's trademark scenes involving Screaming Mad George's body melt effects which are fun as always, but they are few and short, hardly worth the wait. As there's hardly any Christmas connections either, this one doesn't even qualify for a Trashmas video night in the holidays.

When I was 14 I went through a phase when I needed to watch as many horror flicks as possible.Initiation: Silent Night, Deadly Night 4 (1990),with Allyce Beasley,was one of them.I have read almost all of the comments here, and I find them all pretty accurate--even if severely divergent. The votes are very polarized--like the appreciations in the comments. Both the positions are true. On one hand, the movie is a mess, junk out of junk, utter garbage;on the other, it is,on the very contrary,quite fascinating and involving.It made a strong impression on me:it was the ultimate apotheosis of the loathsome,the heights of the hideousness, with the ugliest means: an overflowing of disgust, the trepidation of the hideous; and the lowest level of the horror,as well.When I have seen it, I was very repulsed by the numberless cockroaches and creeping creatures--and by Mme. Beasley (whom I knew already from the Willis TV series) as well.The polar assessments are equally justified.The film has this uncanny atmosphere, obtained with the most brutal and gross means. For the adolescent I was, this played quite effective.

None of the Silent Night: Deadly Night films will ever win an Academy Award, but at least you don't feel cheated out of a couple of hours of your life watching them. This one is absolutely awful!!! It shouldn't even be allowed to carry the Silent Night/Deadly Night title.It has nothing at all to do with the Christmas killer theme of the others & is sorely lacking any interesting storyline here. Nothing but a bunch of has been or never were actors from the 70's and wannabe actors from the 90's in this one. The script is awful, the acting's even worse & the special effects are lame & rely on slimy reptiles & cockroaches in the sink to get bang for the buck.If you get a chance try & book some time watching paint dry instead of watching this garbage.