SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT Parts 1 & 2 (1984/1987)

KEEP WATCHING THE SCREENS
~by Vox Vocephus

A single review is dedicated to the first two installments of the Silent Night, Deadly Night thrillogy due to the fact that over 45 minutes of part two is exposition and scenes from part one. They even included ALL the nudity from part one! So reader heed ye this: If you are ever so possessed as to want to rent any movie from this series, start with part two. They should have called it Silent Night, Deadly Night 1 1/2.

The story is simple enough: Whilst driving home one Christmas Eve, young Billy witnesses in horror as his parents are slaughtered by Santa Claus. Naturally, Billy grows up and goes on to follow in the footsteps of his parents' killer and begins murdering those around him come Christmas time. It's arguable that Billy's tenure at the overly strict Catholic school has more to do with his homicidal tenancies than anything else, but who am I to rip up pictures of the pope?

So as older brother Billy goes on his absurd Santa/Christmas/Murder association binge, little brother Ricky watches his every move. Once Billy meets his bloody, non-ironic end, Ricky is (naturally?) driven to carry on his brother's pointless meandering, and moronic killing. This of course, is where part two actually picks up and "gets going" (I use the term ever so loosely) and Ricky...well, he just kinda goes around killing people while muttering one of two would be catch-phrases: "Punish!" and "Naughty!"

Scale of Pain

The only reason I give Silent Night, Deadly Night a four, is because after 45 minutes into part two, you realize you never had to watch part one! Not so much sheer agony, as it is just insult to injury.

Rippability

While part two gets a little tougher (we were forced to revisit our material from part one) all in all a seasoned vet could get through these no problem.

Nudity

Middle-aged mom's shirt comes off as she's slain, and obligatory teen sex scene, with a less than savory "teen" (who was possibly older than the mom). I don't even know if I consider it "naughty".

Redeeming Qualities - A nun gets her head chopped off.