HORROR DVD/BLU-RAY REVIEWS

A mysterious psychopath dressed as Santa violently murders naughty people on Christmas Eve.

You needn’t have seen the original SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT to know what’s up in this remake: the cover and title alone should tell you that there’s a rogue Santa out killing people on Christmas Eve. Clearly naughty people, of course. In this case it’s in a small Midwestern town recently ravaged by the closing of the local mill. Deputy Aubrey Bradimore, daughter of the former sheriff, ultimately becomes responsible for hunting down and ending the murder spree.

I understand that this was meant to be a loose remake, but even discounting that status it’s a pretty weak film. Minor lip service is paid to the town being in dire straits, and to Aubrey being a tortured soul because of the death of her husband. Or boyfriend. And maybe her son, too. I don’t know. The deeper plot aspects of the film are nebulous at best. You’re basically just supposed to be charmed by the idea of a killer Santa, killing people on Christmas. And if that’s your thing, hey, have at it. Me, I need a little more meat in my story than that. Especially one that’s been done before, and better.

Sure, there are some pretty gross kills. Hell, he even kills a kid. But like I said, the plot isn’t very meaty, and we never really feel for any of the characters or care about what happens to them. More attention is paid to a very robotic, Terminator-type killer Santa, and the overplayed “naughty” nature of the victims. I get that there was supposed to a lot of tongue in cheek stuff at play here, but it never much registered with me. Especially Malcolm McDowell as the current Sheriff, ostensibly the film’s comic relief, whom I guess you’re supposed to find funny just because, you know, he’s Malcolm McDowell.

I will say that this movie has more lens flares per scene than any other movie I have ever seen. So that’s something.

Video: 1080p, 2.40:1

Audio: Dolby TrueHD 5.1, with optional English SDH and Spanish subtitles.

Silent Night: Behind the Scenes: This is a pretty short feature; montage-style without narration. It’s exactly what the title says: a collection of behind the scenes footage. You see some how-to of some of the stunts and SFX, and that’s about all.

Deleted Scenes: There are four deleted scenes here, totaling about five minutes. Three of them are just trimmed fat, and for good reason. One is a conversation between Aubrey and the mayor that I think should have been included. It would have added a little blood to an anemic story (ha ha).

I read some reviews of this film, and they were generally positive. So I went back over some key scenes, and tried to see if maybe I was just in a bad mood when I first watched it. Nope. I just don’t care for the film. The plot is too weak, and the idea of a killer Santa has been done before, and done better. There are some boobs, and some gross kills, so I guess at a Christmas get together this might be a good watch. Other than that you’re safe to avoid it.