A serial killer dressed as Santa Claus hacks his way through a small Minnesota town. Along the way, he also falls in love with a local business owner. He’s evil; he should be the villain, but in Silent Night, Deadly Night, we’re forced to consider, maybe he’s not?
Written and directed by Mike P. Nelson, Silent Night, Deadly Night is a remake of the 1984 cult classic of the same name by Charles E. Sellier Jr. That film also followed a man dressed as Santa who thinks he’s killing for good, but, in this remake, things get even deeper, as the film paints its central character as a hero with a fatal flaw, instead of a psychopath. And in that balance is where the film loses its way.
Each Christmas, Billy (Rohan Campbell of Halloween Ends) puts on a Santa suit and kills one person every day leading up to the holiday. He’s done this for years, inspired in large part by the man who killed his parents in front of him as a child, who subsequently possessed him. Now, Billy lives with a killer inside him, who talks to him about life, love, murder, and more. On the run from his latest killing spree, Billy lands in a small town and becomes instantly infatuated with Pamela (Ruby Modine), who works in the local Christmas shop. The two strike up a friendship, then a romance, as Billy simultaneously begins killing the people around her.
While Billy’s motivations seem sinister at first, we quickly learn that he and his serial killer subconscious are choosing victims based on their past transgressions. They are sometimes just as naughty as he is. So, as the film goes forward, his axe murders are presented less as evil and more as stopping evil. The issue with that is the film is infinitely more interesting when Billy has to struggle with hiding his evil side. Watching a killer masquerade as a nice, normal guy gives the film some stakes and drama. Once it pulls the curtain back on his true motivations, all that goes away, and any kind of mystery or tension just becomes about killing.
And, with this being a horror movie, that should be okay. But Silent Night, Deadly Night never really wows us with its violence or gore. It’s just there. Billy sneaks around, kills someone, and goes back to his day. One scene does stand out as you actively root for Billy against a particular set of characters, but for the most part, the kills are kind of quick, easy, and frankly boring.
Which, unfortunately, becomes the tone of the whole film. The movie slogs on as Billy kills, tries to hide it from Pamela, and then slowly that changes, too. It coasts on the idea that seeing a person killing people as Santa Claus with an axe is enough, especially if there’s a very loose story around it with a hint of character motivation. But it’s not. It gets stale very quickly, especially since Campbell plays every facet of his character exactly the same. Modine brings life and likability to Pamela, which is welcome, but she is rarely given much to do. Things do get a little more interesting by the end as a large mystery gets wrapped in, but by that point, it’s hard to forgive everything that’s come before.
I’ve never seen the original Silent Night, Deadly Night (I know, I know), so it’s impossible for me to compare the two. What I can do is say this remake had a few good ideas in it, one or two decent scenes, but was much too familiar and monotonous to impress. If anything, it did make me want to finally watch the original, just to see how far away from center this had to go to be this disappointing.
Silent Night, Deadly Night had its world premiere at Fantastic Fest 2025. It’s coming to theaters on December 12.
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