Silent Night, Deadly Night (MA) – 96 minutes

Imagine a Santa that shoots, knifes, takes an axe to and decapitates his victims and you have the starting point for Silent Night, Deadly Night.

Young Billy Chapman (Logan Sawyer) was only eight when he witnessed the not so jolly fat man butcher his parents.

Then we cut (notice the pun) to an adult Billy (Rohan Campbell) orchestrating a murder spree of his own, just before Christmas. 

He has caught a bus to a small US town and is in a diner when he spots an attractive woman collecting take away.

Billy is driven by a voice in his head, named Charlie – a voice he usually, but not always, listens to.

In this case, Billy follows the attractive woman, Pamela Sims (Ruby Modine), to the store she runs with her father (David Lawrence Brown).

Billy sees a sign on the door looking for help, is interviewed by Mr Sims and is employed on the spot.

Billy is clearly drawn to Pamela and, in quick time, she to him.

What she doesn’t count on are the brutal deaths of two people she knows.

Pamela doesn’t know who has perpetrated the crimes, but we – the audience – do.

It was Billy (spurred on by Charlie) in a Santa outfit.

But there is much more to this story and, in time, we find out why Billy is driven to kill people daily in the lead up to Christmas.

So, there you have it, a nice, gentle (not so much) slaughter fest of a movie, just in time for the festive season.

Yes, it is a slasher horror film, written and directed by Mike P. Nelson (Wrong Turn).

It is a reimagining of a picture of the same name released in 1984.

While I can’t say that this movie genre is top of the tree for me, I acknowledge Silent Night, Deadly Night (2025) has its own, unexpected, allure.

Much of that has to do with unravelling just why Billy is the way he is. What drives him to slay regularly and what is with the voice in his head?

Rohan Campbell does a decent job as Billy, while there is a decidedly quirky quality to Ruby Modine as Pamela.

David Lawrence Brown is personable as Mr Sims, while there is depth to Mark Acheson’s vocal tone as the voice in Billy’s head.

It is self-evident that Christmas movies aren’t always light and fluffy. They often have an edginess.

Think Home Alone (1990) and Bad Santa (2003) for starters.

Silent Night, Deadly Night follows that tradition, but goes a whole lot further.

Clearly, it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea.

Still, for what it is, the film has merit and that has everything to do with the script, in the first instance.

Rated MA, it scores a 7 out of 10.