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Silent Night, Deadly Night | 
 enlarge | Director: Charles E. Sellier Jr
Actors: Jonathan Best, Tara Buckman, Lilyan Chauvin, Charles Dierkop, Leo Geter
Studio: ANCHOR BAY
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.98
Buy New: $11.84
You Save: $3.14 (21%)
New (8) Used (4) from $10.59
Rating:  30 reviews
Sales Rank: 17901
Format: Color, Dvd-video, Ntsc, Widescreen
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: Unrated
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 85 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.7
MPN: 15258
UPC: 131315258920
EAN: 0013131525892
ASIN: B000WC38A0
Theatrical Release Date: December 25, 2008 (New: Last 30 Days)
Release Date: December 11, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: Brand New!!! Ships 1st class!!
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Product Description
Traumatized by his parents Christmas Eve rape and
murder, little Billy Chapman is brutalized by sadistic orphanage nuns. When a grown-up Billy is forced to dress as jolly St. Nick, he goes on a yuletide rampage to punish the naughty. Santa Claus is coming to
town...and this time he's got an axe! Robert Brian
Wilson and Linnea Quigley star in this jaw-dropping horror hit that a nation of angry mothers still can t stop!
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| Customer Reviews: Read 25 more reviews...
 Brought a fitting close to the original slasher era December 28, 2008
Tom P. the Underground Navigator (Park Forest, IL USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
On his awesome U.K. slasher movie website www.hysteria-lives.co.uk, Justin Kerswell estimates the golden age of the slasher movie to be between 1978 (when "Halloween" premiered) and 1984 (the year "Nightmare On Elm Street" debuted). One highly controversial entry not to be forgotten (and not to be missed) is the latter year's "Silent Night Deadly Night," which opened in theaters on November 9, 1984. Heralded by a classic movie poster (preserved well and reproduced exactly for this excellent 2007 Anchor Bay release) and the even more famous and little seen TV spots (featuring Santa with an axe warning the audience that punishment would befall the "naughty"), this film was an instant success and earned back its relatively meager budget and then some almost immediately. Unfortunately, its run in theaters proved to be short-lived, due to the widespread protests from concerned parents outraged over the TV spots, which were reportedly accessible by young children, as well as what they saw to be a blatant defamation of a sacred event (Christmas).
One must remember that "Silent Night Deadly Night" was marketed by a major studio (Tri-Star) and was playing in the same theaters as the usual banal mainstream family fare. The studio soon caved into the pressure and the TV ads and the film were pulled before the movie even opened on the west coast.
Thankfully, it would soon find a new audience when it hit video store shelves the following year. I was only 9 in 1984 when "Silent Night Deadly Night" was released and I still remember the original oversized video box promising unimaginable horrors to an unsuspecting viewer. But the box DID also state that the film was for mature audiences only and this is definitely true. It is an exploitation film after all and a sometimes very graphic one at that.
That's why, almost 25 years later, it was great to view this movie as an adult in its pure, uncut form. I remember viewing a relatively muddy VHS rental copy almost 10 years ago and I must say that this Anchor Bay DVD print is a thousand times better, almost looking brand new again.
The film itself is a delight to behold for the seasoned slasher movie fan, with abundant gore, sex, nudity and a trifle bit of the sleaze promised on the purposely exaggerated DVD cover.
At the same time, this movie is far more well done than most of the homemade slashers that appeared only a few years before in great numbers. It is well photographed, with a strong, attractive cast and the gore effects are top notch as well. This one truly does deliver the goods. Being as explicit as it is though it is again NOT a film for children or even the more sensitive adult viewer.
Anchor Bay again did a fabulous job on this reissue. The film had been out of print for a good five years, as it was previously released as a double feature with its far inferior sequel (one of four to be made!) that came out three years later. My favorite part is the audio interview with director Charles E. Sellier, Jr. It offers his recollections about the making of the film and the ensuing controversy that followed. Sellier comes off here as a very genuine, well spoken guy and is clearly not the schlock-meister that irate parents at the time may have deemed him to be. The man after all had previously even done some work in Christian television programming!
Strangely enough, I'm a Christian too but also a lifelong lover of underground music and films, and I find "Silent Night Deadly Night" to be a very entertaining movie, and one of the last great slasher films to be made. Highly recommended.
This Little Psychopathic Stocking Stuffer from 1984 Slaps The Brakes On the Holiday Spirit December 28, 2008
M. B. DaVega (Columbia, SC)
I have to admit I really like Silent Night Deadly Night (1984), regardless of what anyone else says or thinks. It's actually quite a bizzare and well-crafted little horror gem of a movie. Like millions of kids are right now no doubt, I too am suffering from a slight case of post-yuletide letdown this year, so I decided to watch something from my collection that would make me glad it's all over. What better a movie to bury the holiday spirit than this one, right???
This movie has caught a lot of hell over the years from religious groups and hordes of angry parents, has been endlessly (and unfairly) lambasted by the critics and denounced as a "terrible" movie just for its depiction of the likeness of Santa Claus as a deranged, homocidal killer. It's not. In fact, this flick is perilously close to mad genius. While I will certainly agree that this flick is DECIDELY NOT for the kids, it's quite interesting in its pyschology, has a very involving story, excellent characterization and a quirky, macabre sense of humor about it. I especially found myself laughing a bit at one of the early scenes where young Billy, as a student at the orphanage draws a Christmas picture for his class featuring the image of Santa Claus and one of his reindeer being stabbed, mutilated, and decapitated in gory fashion. There's also a few creative death sequences such as the scene where an unfortunate sledder's headless corpse comes tobogoning down a snow covered hillside after being decapitated by psycho-Santa/Billy while sledding down the slope. I found those scenes to be rather impressive and amusing in a morbidly humorous sort of way.
Silent Night Deadly Night also has a low budget that works to its advantage and is at times genuinely atomospheric and moody. It makes effective, creative use of creepy imagery as well, most notably several still-frame, close-up shots of nutcrackers, dolls and animatronic figurines awash in the eerie glow of Christmas lights inside the darkened toy store in one particularly scary sequence.
In a weird way, SNDN is even kind of nostalgic for me because ---- as a kid growing up in the 80's ---- I recognize and recall alot of the toys seen on the shelves of the movie's toy store, such as the Smurfs playset and the Jabba the Hutt action figure set from Return of the Jedi. So yeah, this flick even does have a touch of nostalgic value for me. Besides, if you've had enough of the Christmas cheer being constantly rammed down your throat and are looking for a film to obliterate the annoying, materialistic holiday dreck entirely for another full year, THIS IS IT! Enjoy!
Final Analysis:
Movie: A-
DVD: B
 Santasploitation December 19, 2008
Kasey Driscoll (Raynham, MA United States)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I vaguely remember the controversy that surrounded Silent Night, Deadly Night when it came out in 1984. I was still a kid but lived in a family with older brothers who enjoyed slasher films like this, and so it was inevitable that I eventually see it. The very concept of a murderous Santa Claus was terrifying to me then, and I was still a devout believer in those days. I would find out the truth in the coming years and then I would see Silent Night, Deadly Night; when I was way too young. It was bad then but I don't remember it being this bad. As a grown-up I realize how this film's goal was to benefit from its controversy alone.
Silent Night, Deadly Night follows the story of Billy Chapman, whose parents are brutally murdered on Christmas Eve by a Santa Claus whose car broke down. Billy was just a boy and only hours before this tragic event he met his grandfather, who is apparently faking some kind of catatonic state at a nursing home, because when the rest of Billy's family leaves the room for a few minutes, the old man becomes animated and delivers a hilarious speech about how Santa punishes those who are naughty. These two yule tide events of course turn Billy into a killer Santa Claus. The movie spawned numerous sequels.
The production value, dialogue, and acting are so bad it is probably not even fair to address in further detail. It does have that cult movie charm due to some unintentionally funny moments and some outrageous and memorable murder scenes. Some moments might even be intentionally "unintentionally" funny, which to me is unforgivable. Some movies do this though. They think because many movies that are unintentionally funny are cult classics (take Plan 9 From Outer Space or Manos, the Hands of Fate for example) then they can get the same kind of reputation if they strive for unintentional laughs, which completely defeats the purpose. I have no doubt that Silent Night, Deadly Night is guilty of this but then again it has a devout cult following.
I'm giving this one additional star because it made me laugh out loud a number of times and has some really funny moments, regardless if they are intentional or unintentional. There is something about exploitation movies that just makes me laugh at how bold they are in carelessly using nudity and violence to provoke their potential viewers one way or another. Silent Night, Deadly Night is far more guilty of this then I could remember but then again when I first saw it I was far more provoked by Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
Quigley rocks! December 9, 2008
Robert B. Martin (San Marcos, Ca United States)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Decent acting. Decent story line. Gratuitus boob shots (but that is it). Gore is not as "gory" as advertised though. Ms. Quigley is in top form. The movie is taken seriously...but, not TOO serious. Nice transfer and the sound is decent also. 80s shines through on this one!
Naughty!!!!!!. December 5, 2008
Gidget (Chicago,ILL.)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I remember seeing this movie when I was 12-13,& thought to myself wow!!!
Santa rocks!!,taking the trash out & taking action.
I do remember seeing those big box vhs at the video place,& thought if only
I could buy a copy,back then a copy was $59.99 from wizard label,I think.
But maybe for xmas,no,my parent would think I'm crazy,stick with toys.
Then one day they vanished(due to all the bitching & moaning).
But now it's back again,UNCUT & UNCENSORED!!!!!!!!!!!.
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