The dark spin on the innocuous Christmas classic “White Christmas” is no joke. The Mike P. Nelson-directed Silent Night, Deadly Night, starring Rohan Campbell and Ruby Modine, aims to give yet another spin to the 1984 holiday horror film of the same name.
When Billy (Campbell) was young, he had to witness his parents’ murder on Christmas Eve. The trauma that keeps on giving pushed him towards dressing up as Santa and carrying out a series of thoroughly planned, yet always violent, serial killings every Christmas season.
Things change for Billy this year as he meets Pamela (Modine), a woman who lives in the town he currently resides in. She begins to intertwine with his deadly gift-giving, turning his journey to keep the streets safe into a journey for love as well.
The movie diverges from its original source material a fair bit, as the 1984 film imagines Billy as a twisted psychopath on a murdering spree, and this new remake imagines him as a violent vigilante, drawing comparisons online to Dexter or Sony’s depiction of Venom.
Silent Night, Deadly Night aims to give viewers a more neutral view of the main character being a killer, while also humanizing him by giving him the love interest of Pamela, who was killed in the 1984 film by Billy.
“Silent Night, Deadly Night is a delightful update to the classic 80s film, delivering gore, laughs, and plenty of heartfelt holiday camp. Nelson has captured lightning in a bottle with this film,” says Molly Henery for the Blogging Banshee. “It feels nostalgic, yet appropriately modern in how it addresses the current political climate. Amidst all the gleeful violence, this film also has a ton of heart that might leave some a bit choked up by the end.“
The film premiered as a secret screening for Fantastic Fest this past September. It will be released worldwide in theaters on December 12th.
Watch the trailer for Silent Night, Deadly Night above.
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