everything you have heard about this movie is true.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

.Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

In 1974, Bob Clark released Black Christmas. At the time it was probably great, but to me, it's kinda tame in today's time. In 1980, we got Christmas Evil, aka You Better Watch Out. I'll admit that it has grown on me over the years, but there's one Christmas horror film that beats 'em all; Silent Night, Deadly Night. It was extremely controversial when it was released in 1984. Tons of angry mothers petitioned to have the film removed from theaters, and they were all crazy! I was about 10 when I first saw this, and I've loved it ever since. It's a must watch if you're a horror fan that loves Christmas. The movie has a great sleazy tone, and it has a pretty depressing storyline. At a young age, Billy witnesses the murder of his parents by a guy in a Santa Claus suit. Billy believes he's the real Santa and that he was punished for being naughty. He and his brother Ricky (Who takes over in the later sequels) are sent to an orphanage where the brutal Mother Superior tries to discipline him. Years later, Billy gets a job at a toy store, but it soon takes a turn for the worse when his boss asks him to play Santa for the kids. All the repressed memories come out, and Billy goes on a mission to punish the naughty by killing them. With an axe, a crossbow, deer antlers, Christmas lights and other deadly gadgets. This is the perfect film to watch and get cozy with as you celebrate the bloody Christmas season. I highly recommend SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT!!!

This movie became infamous because of how controversial it was in that it featured a serial killer dressed as Santa Claus. The idea of an evil Santa has been done many times before, especially with the legend of the Krampus. The Krampus was a demon that punished naughty children that worked for Santa. I know he's not the same person as Santa, but it still comes off as strange people were so offended by this. That being said, this is still a really bad movie, at least for me. It's just amazing how trashy this film gets. I swear that there's four sex scenes in it! Two of them are rape scenes!There's a scene where a topless woman is impaled by deer horns. This movie just came off as rather offensive to me. I guess it is a little good with how they didn't get into the violence right away, but then the movie just came off as boring to me! Well, some people seem to like this and that's fine. For me, this is a pointlessly cruel film with gore galore. I admit that it's not as bad as the sequel, but for me it's still dumb. I know a 5.9 isn't that high of a rating, but I think we're being way too kind to this film. *1/2

I actually mixed this installment and it's sequel up, and I only saw reviews for Deadly Night sequel, and apparently it sucks, but if I do a review for that movie, I'll get around to it. So starting off I didn't look forward to watching it, but this is totally different from what I expected. Not perfect, and it being over 30 years since it's release, I've seen a ton of other horror movies that sadly take away from the more effective elements and plot points that have since become clichés and tropes.The story follows our main character Billy, who is sent to an orphanage along with his brother after their parents are killed on Christmas Eve by a man dressed as Santa. Years later, Billy is still effected by that night and even more effected by the abuse he suffers from the manager of the orphanage, Mother Superior. While trying to live a normal life, something awakens in Billy, turning him overnight into a psychotic killer, using his religious teachings and traumatic past to punish his victims.I just wished all of his victims were actually connected to him; I couldn't remember how his fifth and sixth victims were connected to him, but he still gets across his twisted idea of punishment.I wanna know how the sequel deals with Mother Superior, as most of what turns Billy into a killer really comes from her; she's the one who really sends Billy over the edge. I accepted him killing his first victim as he was enacting a traumatic action from his past, but as for him killing teens who are engaging in non-marital sex; that was all her teachings, that they should be punished. Definitely want to see her take some responsibility for it; I just hope it's in the sequel.Looking forward to the sequel, all I can say.

This is one of the best Christmas-themed horror movies I ever saw, I was surprised at how well made it was when I first watched it. It was quite competently put together and for an 80's slasher very measured and slow-burning in how it tells the story. I had a feeling I'd find it a fun one when the glorious little title with the animated blood popped up, such a classic touch! It tells its story in a very straightforward and even blunt manner, and as opposed to most slasher movie killers where you only learn who they are and what their insane motivation is in the last ten minutes or so, this movie establishing everything that happens in the killer's life in the first half hour, that twists him from innocent child to axe-wielding maniac and leads up to his Christmas Eve night of terror. His progression is layered, and it forces you to sympathise and relate to the killer as a character despite the horrific things that he does, and that was a clever and different approach to me when I watched it. So a little kid named Billy, his slobbery baby brother and their parents decide it'd be a great idea to go visit the seemingly comatose grandpa one Christmas, only for the wily old coot to spring to life when everyone except for poor little Billy leaves the room, and he tells him a terrifying fact about Santa that puts the fear of god into him, and oh my but Will Hare as that crazy grandpa was so epic, what a hilarious and deliciously creepy blast he made that scene, you the man gramps! Soon after the tyke sees his parents murdered by a crook in a Santa Claus outfit, and he and his brother get raised in a catholic run orphanage, which further traumatises and warps his impressionable young mind thanks to the puritanical influence of the abusive mother superior. The scene where the much uglier young Billy punches out the Santa that he's been forced to sit on in order to conquer his Santa Claus-strophobia cracks me up every time. Flash forward to where the now handsome and wholesome-looking youth that Billy has become at 18, is given a job at a toy store around Christmas time where they soon stick him in a Santa suit, which really starts the meltdown gears turning as he essentially becomes the terrible punisher of the naughty that he's always feared. Then the final straw that truly breaks the psychological camel's back and causes him to go over the edge for good is when, while working late one night he sees a coworker attempting to rape the first girl he's ever been interested in, and after she doesn't respond very well to his gruesome rescue of her from her assailant he kills her and embarks on a murderous Yuletide rampage of blood! And it's a great little rampage, his (now) trademark war-cries of "Naughty!" And "Punish!" as he punishes the naughty are so ridiculous yet so awesome and they fit right into the tone. There's some good suspenseful sequences and gorily satisfying kills, with the dickhead on the sled getting his ugly head lopped off mid-ride and the always cool and lovely Linnea Quigley getting impaled on reindeer antlers being the ones that stand out. And then as the picture reaches it's end it's a bit of a tragic end for Billy as he's gunned down before he can strike the only one that perhaps deserved his rage, and as he dies clawing at the crippled mother superior's dress and she looks down on him dispassionately and gets away unscathed after she was partly to blame for he monster he turned into, the notion that she could be seen as the real villain of the movie is pretty unmistakable. Then I love that groan-inducing classic twist in the tale as it pans to Billy's younger brother who gives the mother superior a nasty look and says "Naughty!", strongly implying that he himself may someday be going crazy for Christmas, and we all know what came of that(!) So I really don't believe that this movie deserved whatsoever all the s**t that was heaped upon it way back at the time of its release, besides being harmless, it was absolutely not the first thing ever to bring Santa and horror together. I don't think it taints the Christmas Spirit at all, in a way I think it screams it - be damn good or die!!! Despite being chock full of blood and death, it still strangely does have a certain nice festive feel to it, I love how eerie and sinister they make the moving Christmas mascots in the department store seem, and the soundtrack really suits it, even some of the more schmaltzy and downright dumb song choices that make it feel like a sitcom. What a shame though that the film was robbed of its prime that way by a petty flash in a pan media circus. But hey it's certainly found its place now as a 'cult' horror flick, to use a term I don't personally like. It deserves to be appreciated and remembered though definitely, because it's a nasty Christmassy horror movie that's a lot of fun, don't need no more reason than that! And the joke ultimately was kind of on them as the minor controversy gave the movie a touch of infamy. So while it's not a slasher I could watch every week, it's still a very enjoyable, entertaining and solid horror film and the best in a series of increasingly bizarre sequels. Watch around the happy holidays for a slashing good time! Ho-ho-horror!! x