Contrary to popular belief, "Silent Night, Deadly Night" wasn't the first movie to feature a killer Santa Claus, and not even the first movie to depict Santa killing "naughty" people and leaving "good" people alone. Most people don't know about the abysmal little "Christmas Evil" or "Don't Open Till Christmas" or other such dreck, and I can't say they're missing much, because the power of "Silent Night, Deadly Night" is in how it portrays this concept. Santa Claus is a figure of good for all children who believe in him, and a symbol of kindness and generosity even for most who don't. When you think about it, the Santa Claus myth is kind of creepy...a guy who comes into every house on Christmas Eve, and you'd better watch out for him (and you'd better not cry...on Christmas, no one can hear you scream). He comes into people's houses and even if you don't have a chimney, he finds a way to get in, and even though he appears benign, leaving presents and taking only those cookies and milk you leave for him, isn't it a little disconcerting to have a stranger able to get into your house like that? With the image of a Santa holding a bloody axe and stalking down the chimney, it's no wonder this movie caused such a stir when it was first released. But this movie doesn't stop at merely corrupting the myth of Santa Claus, oh no, this movie goes much, much farther.

Then he's put into an orphanage run by a cruel and sadistic nun who emotionally and physically abuses him until he's expelled onto the streets at the age of eighteen. Sending this damaged kid out into the world is about the worst thing anybody could do, and the town pays for that mistake. Dearly. The evil Mother Superior instilled within the boy a fear of sex (it's evil, you know) and when the boy gets a job at a department store and they force him to dress as Santa for Christmas (because he's tall enough to play the role) that misstep coupled with a traumatizing sexual encounter pushes him over the edge and before you can say "Deck the halls with mangled bodies," the maniac dressed as Santa is running around town punishing the naughty (there aren't many nice people in this town apparently. I'm kind of glad most of them are dead at the end of this movie, and you will be, too). The gore is sadistic and nasty enough, especially in the uncut edition now available on DVD, which is even bloodier than the decaying VHS edition I first watched. It's made even more disturbing by the fact that the guy causing all this bloodshed is dressed as jolly old St. Nick. Trust me, you won't ever look at a streetcorner Santa the same way again after seeing this movie. It's angry, violent, bloody, and nasty in a very sadistic way that still holds up today after all these years, and for that reason alone I recommend every horror fan check this out.

This movie is very dated. You can tell it was made in the 80s to cash in on the slasher craze that was big at the time. The acting is at times pretty atrocious, but everyone who counts (the evil nun, the grown up Billy) does a good job, especially with what they're given. Everyone else is dispatched pretty quickly, so you won't have to watch their bad acting for long. The kids in the beginning of the movie give pretty horrible performances, though. Try to hold on through the prologue of the film. It gets better. In fact my biggest quibble with the movie is that you spend the entire time waiting for one particular despicable character to die (much like I did with Rhodes during the original "Day of the Dead") and at the end of the movie, it doesn't happen. It's a big let down. So much that I was actually shaking with anger when the movie ended. I suppose this would be a good thing, since the ending affected me so badly, but I have to warn you, it's a big let down and it's hard to watch.

  I don't understand why so many horror fans hate on this movie so much. For my money, it's one of the best of the 80s slashers and it's got plenty of nasty, subversive treats in store. If you stayed away because of the bad press, I encourage you to give this nasty little flick a chance.