Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Director:

Charles E. Sellier Jr.

Writers:

Paul Caimi (story)
Michael Hickey (writer)

Release Date:

9 November 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

You've made it through Halloween, now try and survive Christmas

Plot:

After his parents are murdered, a young tormented teenager goes on a murderous rampage dressed as Santa, due to his stay at an orphanage where he was abused by the Mother Superior.

Plot Keywords:

Orphanage | Sex | Killing | Mother | Young Boy

Cast

Lilyan Chauvin	...	Mother Superior
Gilmer McCormick	...	Sister Margaret
Toni Nero	...	Pamela
Robert Brian Wilson	...	Billy Chapman (age 18)
Britt Leach	...	Ira Sims
Nancy Borgenicht	...	Mrs. Randall
H.E.D. Redford	...	Captain Richards
Danny Wagner	...	Billy Chapman (age 8)
Linnea Quigley	...	Denise
Leo Geter	...	Tommy
Randy Stumpf	...	Andy
Will Hare	...	Grandpa Chapman
Tara Buckman	...	Ellie Chapman
Geoff Hansen	...	Jim Chapman (as Jeff Hansen)
Charles Dierkop	...	Killer Santa

Also Known As:

Slayride (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

79 min | USA:85 min (uncut version) | Belgium:96 min (video version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:(Banned) (1989) | Iceland:16 | Netherlands:16 | Canada:R (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | New Zealand:R18 | Finland:K-18 (2007) | Canada:16+ (Quebec) | Italy:T (DVD rating) | Italy:VM18 (video rating, cut) | Australia:R | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Heber City, Utah, USA

Company:

TriStar Pictures

Trivia:

To protest the film, critics Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel read the credits out loud on their television show saying, "shame, shame, shame" after each name.

Quotes:

Mother Superior: They thought they could do it without being caught. But when we do something naughty, we are always caught. Then, we are punished. Punishment is absolute, punishment is good.
Billy Chapman: Yes, Mother Superior.
Mother Superior: You left your room, William.
Billy Chapman: Yes, Mother Superior.
Mother Superior: Very, very naughty!

Movie Connections:

References "Smurfs" (1981)

Soundtrack:

The Warm Side of the Door

Hype Hype Hype

If censorship groups would just SHUT UP, no one would care about films like this.

The whining from the parent groups just made more people (like me) want to see this. It's not bad mind you, but not that good either.

Santa as a slasher. There's your plot.

Some of the creepiness came from the whole idea of a children's icon being a killer. I can see why there was controversy. The back-story was a bit predictable too.

I'm no religious type, but did you ever notice how many repressed. punishment happy, nuns there are in horror films? As a film, it's not bad. The Santa angle added fear. But the best part about it were the puns and tag lines.