Ed. note: this film review portion appeared in a modified format on the now defunct The Moon is a Dead World site.
Silent Night, Deadly Night has had a huge following since its release in 1984; it’s one of the more iconic Christmas horror movies, and part of that comes from the outcry of offended people during its release and the film’s subsequent disappearance from theaters. Parents weren’t happy that kids were seeing a murderous Santa Claus rip through dozens of teens on Christmas night, and their protestations really only helped to propel the film into cult status. It helped that it was a particularly brutal film with quite a few exposed breasts. Here we are at the film’s 40th anniversary, and its legacy is still untarnished as one of the very best Christmas slashers.
Charles E. Sellier Jr.’s film takes Christmas spirit and totally destroys it with a story about a kid terrorized one Christmas after a crazy Santa rapes his mom and murders his family. Any good cheer about old St. Nick is obliterated for Billy (Robert Brian Wilson), who goes to live with his little brother at Saint Mary’s Orphanage; suffering from something like PTSD, anytime he sees a Santa Claus or a mention of Christmas, he flips out and goes berserk.
It’s the perfect setup for a Christmas tale, because Silent Night, Deadly Night immediately creates a villain in our hero – it’s not his fault that he’s sort of crazy, but the audience knows from the start that there’s something not quite right about Billy (it’s the second evil Billy in a Christmas movie). And unlike other slasher films, Sellier spends quite a bit of time with younger Billy to cement the fact that he’s trying not to go crazy and failing.
It leads to an explosion of anger that is as much a comment about Catholic school upbringing as it is Christmas hyperstimulation. Mother Superior (Lilyan Chauvin) does a particularly terrible job at empathizing with Billy, leaving only Sister Margaret (Gilmer McCormick) to sort through his baggage. And the Christmas commercialization is everywhere when Billy grows up, a thing that he can’t leave behind. It’s no wonder that when Billy looks at Santa’s grin, he sees a mouthful of teeth he wants smash in.
There’s a reason why Silent Night, Deadly Night was so poorly received by parents, though. It’s often maliciously violent, even murdering younger teens; there are loads of gratuitous boob shots; the last half of the film is a massacre with little storyline attached to it. Of course parents were going to be mad about something like that, but again, this isn’t a children’s tale so much as it is a cautionary tale of unmitigated psychological trauma and the differing impact holiday memories can have on the individual.
As for adults, those that enjoy slashers, and in general Christmas-themed films, will still get a kick out of Silent Night, Deadly Night. Watching Billy tear through his victims is almost as good as watching him doing various work tasks while his boss nods in approval in the film’s lengthy montage scene – almost.
4K UHD
For the film’s 40th anniversary, Scream Factory has again gone back to restore Silent Night, Deadly Night with a new 4K transfer of the film’s original camera negative; this transfer is used for both the theatrical and unrated cuts, but only the theatrical is included as part of the UHD. In a way, the decision to present only the theatrical in 4K with Dolby Vision HDR makes some sense, since historically the film’s unrated scenes have only been included as VHS inserts that can break the immersion of the film. On the other hand, most fans of the film understand the limitations of the SD inserts, and keeping with the tradition of this film’s release, it is odd that Scream Factory did not leave it up to viewers to select a branched version of the film on the UHD. Regardless, the unrated cut with inserts is included on this release’s third disc with the new transfer, and fares quite well all things considered.
But on to the actual UHD’s transfer. Overall, Scream Factory’s new restoration looks exceptional, with a medium-heavy grain scale that resolves surprisingly well in 4K with only the most marginal chunkiness apparent in sky textures or brighter whites; this is even more noticeable when compared to the Blu-ray version of the theatrical cut, which does have a bit more obstructive grain. Details and skin textures are readily visible. This also features a slightly different framing from past releases that reveals a bit more detail on the left side of the screen (see for example our screenshot of the store interior, which now shows the whole “No Loitering” sign).
What will likely be a bit of contention, however, is the color grading. Scream Factory has employed a notably warmer tone here, which suffuses the film with some pinker hues that can occasionally make skin tones appear too flushed and reddened, and, in many instances, overly browned or tanned. The HDR does make the reds of the Christmas colors, including the many Santa suit shots, boldened; it also gives Billy’s mother’s purple blouse in the opening scene an almost neon luminescence. White textures tend to push more pink than white, with snow and the white cotton of the Santa suit appearing too blush at times. Another strange occurrence is during the opening shot of Billy’s parents’ car pulling into the Utah Mental Facility building, there is exceptional desaturation that occurs that looks almost black-and-white. This seems to be some kind of mistake considering no past releases have this degree of desaturation. These color grading decisions impact the Blu-ray versions of the movie too, though not to the same extent as the UHD. You can also view our screenshot comparisons from this release, the 101 Films Blu-ray, and Scream Factory’s previous Blu-ray.
For audio, we get a DTS-HD 2.0 mono track that sounds pretty good, though still suffers from some of the muffled elements from the previous release. The soundtrack, however, remains a treat and dialogue volume is sufficiently consistent. English subtitles are also included.
Extra features collect all of the older material from Scream Factory’s previous 2017 release, as well as a few new featurettes specially shot for this 40th anniversary edition. A new audio commentary from Amanda Reyes and The Hysteria Continues Podcast adds an entertaining new way to watch the film, especially given the fact that most fans will know the film inside and out from repeat viewings. The audio commentary is featured on both the UHD and theatrical cut Blu-ray discs.
Also included on the theatrical Blu-ray are new interviews with product Scott Schneid, editor Michal Spence reminiscing about director Charles Sellier Jr., and a nice 40-year retrospective on the movie with Schneid and producer Dennis Whitehead. It’s great to see Scream Factory adding additional new supplements to an already stacked set of archival features, giving this release even more value compared to the recent trend of simply tacking on a new transfer.
Extra Features
DISC ONE (4K UHD – THEATRICAL VERSION):
- NEW 4K Transfer From The Original Camera Negative
- NEW Presented In Dolby Vision
- NEW Audio Commentary With Author Amanda Reyes And The Hysteria Continues Podcast
DISC TWO (BLU-RAY – THEATRICAL VERSION):
- NEW 4K Transfer From The Original Camera Negative
- NEW Audio Commentary With Author Amanda Reyes And The Hysteria Continues Podcast
- NEW “The Night He Came Home… For Christmas: Creating Silent Night, Deadly Night” – An Interview With Producer Scott Schneid (1080p; 16:47)
- NEW “In Search of Charles Sellier Jr: Remembering the Director” – An Interview With Editor Michael Spence (1080p; 10:32)
- NEW “Naughty or Nice: 40 Years Of Silent Night, Deadly Night” – An Interview The Producers Scott Schneid And Dennis Whitehead About The Longevity Of The Film (1080p; 11:52)
DISC THREE (BLU-RAY – UNRATED VERSION)
- NEW 4K Transfer From The Original Camera Negative With Standard Definition Inserts
- Audio Commentary With Actor Robert Brian Wilson And Co-Executive Producer Scott J. Schneid
- Audio Commentary With Writer Michael Hickey, Composer Perry Boykin, Producer Scott J. Schneid, and Unit Director Michael Spence
- “Slay Bells Ring: The Story Of Silent Night, Deadly Night” – Featuring Interviews With Writer Michael Hickey, Co-Executive Producers Scott J. Schneid And Dennis Whitehead, Editor/Second Unit Director Michael Spence, Composer Perry Botkin, And Actor Robert Brian Wilson (1080p; 45:51)
- “Oh Deer!” – An Interview With Actor Linnea Quigley (1080p; 21:50)
- Christmas In July – Silent Night, Deadly Night Locations – Then And Now (1080p; 10:00)
- Audio Interview With Director Charles E. Sellier, Jr. From Deadpit Radio (Extended Version) (58:03)
- “Santa’s Stocking Of Outrage” (1080p; 4:31)
- Poster And Still Gallery (no chapter breaks; 0:58)
- R-Rated Theatrical Trailer and Japanese VHS Trailer (1080p; 2:20)
- TV Spots (1080p; 1:10)
- Radio Spot (0:36)
Verdict
Scream Factory has assembled an excellent slate of extras for this new 40th anniversary release, and when it comes to actual quality and definition, the new 4K transfer of the theatrical cut looks amazing. Where this release loses marks, though, is with its questionable color grading, a noticeable error, and an overlooked unrated cut that is not branched for the UHD.
