‘Tis the season for a B-movie…
Fa, la, la, la, la…
Escape your family, that’s unruly…
Fa, la, la, la, la…
Tossed the script into the dumpster…
Fa, la, la, la, la…
‘Specially when Santa is a monster…
Fa, la, la, la, la…
This Screenwriter deserves a felony…
Fa, la, la, la, la…
How ya like my creepy lil melody?
Hooray! Yet Another Anchor Bay Release… and this one includes a Killer Christmas! This remake is VERY loosely based on the original film, Silent Night, Deadly Night. In a small Midwestern town, it’s Christmas Eve and the Sheriff’s Office must deal with missing persons, mysterious presents in mailboxes and malodorous scents. With the traditional Christmas parade about to take place, a killer hides under the Sheriff’s nose in plain sight.
So, this is where Malcolm McDowell, Donal Logue, Ellen Wong, Brendan Fehr, Lisa Marie have been hiding! I haven’t seen any of the aforementioned actors in a while. It’s good to see them back to acting… even if it is a direct-to-DVD movie. Malcolm McDowell is the loopy Sheriff Cooper. It’s nice to see him playing a good guy, once again. Jaime King is the annoying deputy who must overcome stagefright in order to perform her duties. Ellen Wong (Knives Chau of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World) is Brenda, the super-cute Sheriff’s Dispatcher, who does NOT get enough screentime in this flick. That should be a crime. And Donal Logue is Santa Jim, a Traveling Santa who makes kids cry. He’s very angry and very funny.
Santa’s got a brand new bag (of weapons). The antagonist of Silent Night is Santa Claus. This Santa is a deranged killer who kills those on the naughty list and is hard to find, when there are 500 other Santas preparing for the holiday parade.
At times, Director Steven C. Miller uses a lack of logic. The victims don’t scream for help… they just run. But who needs logic in a holiday-themed horror movie? Recently, Malcolm McDowell was injured and suffered a detached retina. His character had quite a few stunts in this movie. I hope this wasn’t the cause for his injury!
There’s ample amounts of violence, grisly murders, and nudity. Just the cure for the holiday doldrums! This one was fun, although a little confusing.
Strength: Plenty of gross-out holiday gore.
Weakness: Difficult to discern the Good from Bad Santa.
WTF Moment: Santa’s strong. He can smash a head like a melon!
Notable Quotes:
– “You better watch out, boy. Christmas Eve is the scariest damn night of the year.”
– “You see Santa Claus tonight, you better run for your life.”
– “Once you see it, you can’t unsee it.”
– “Christmas is the No. 1 holiday for people to go nuts. That’s motive enough for me.”
– “What do you think this is, Glee?”
– “Big mistake, bringing a flamethrower to a gunfight.”
Review: 3.5/5