Skip to main content

Silent Night (2012) - Steven C. Miller

For some reason Malcolm McDowell is in this seasonal slasher kind of based on the 1984 Silent Night, Deadly Night. Apparently right down to the dullness that plagued the original one. The brutal gore scenes are definitely the high point. The most intense moments are all utterly predictable but are doused in buckets of blood. Although this movie is streets ahead of it's predecessor, it is really not worth the pick up. 

The plot is primarily the same as the original. Our psychotic Santa killer is on a killing spree on Christmas Eve. The town is full of Santa Actors for the annual Christmas parade. It makes it virtually impossible to find the killer. So he gets a lot of good kills and wields a flame thrower. Pretty standard so far for Christmas horror flicks.

The whole movie felt forced. The gore and killings were inventive and fresh. They kept you going. However, that's all the movie had. It didn't bring anything else to the table. I have trouble seeing Donal Logue outside of the dad from Grounded for Life. That's right I watched Grounded for Life! Malcolm McDowell is horrible. He was actually annoying to listen to. He was really trying to force an accent and it was horrid. The acting from the rest of the cast felt lazy and... blah. It just sort of felt like the movie happened and then was over. It was very forgettable. 


  • The film is partially inspired by the real-life Covina Holiday Massacre which took place on Christmas Eve in 2008.
  • Most of the characters are named after members of the famous Leeds United football team from the seventies: Cooper, Giles, Madeley, Revie, Jones, Jordan, McKenzie. In addition, Bremner St and Reaney's Diner are mentioned in the script.
  • The Hollywood Reporter called the film a "cinematic lump of coal"

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ju-On (2000) - Takashi Shimizu

Watching Japanese horror is similar to watching British comedy. If you enjoy dry whit then you probably enjoy the boys of Monty Python in drag. That's the joke, they're dressed like women. Get it? Well, that's British humor. But if you're like most Americans you probably prefer Adam Sandler farting his way across a football field and hooking up with chicks that are way out of his league. Americans usually prefer this more in your face, crass brand of humor. My point is funny in England is different from funny in the US. The same goes for J-Horror. What the Japanese consider scary is very different from what Americans consider scary and it shows in this horror film. Japanese horror is generally slow (a little too slow sometimes), suspenseful and creepy. Ju-On is a creepy effing film. The movie has almost no soundtrack. It is incredibly suspenseful and the pay-offs are pretty awesome, but I think that it was done better in the American version (cultural t...
Post a Comment
Not scared yet? »

Sleepy Hollow (1999) - Tim Burton

Tim Burton's take on the old Sleepy Hollow tale is really interesting. He adds his own flair of course. He delves very deeply into the original story by Washington Irving. The casting is usual for Burton. Johnny Depp of course in your lead. Helena Bonham Carter, thrown in for some flavor. The score is done by Danny Elfman. It's literally just the Ichabod Crane story run through the Tim Burton machine. But in a good way. Sleepy Hollow has a problem with a guy, running around, taking people's heads. Like, a lot of people. The town sends word for assistance and the nervous  Constable Ichabod Crane reports. He starts to unravel clues that take him down an incredibly strange path. With the Horseman still murdering patrons, Crane tries finding who's next before they lose their head.  I've always been a big fan of the Disney cartoon,  The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad . This movie is a far cry from Bing Crosby and quaint animations....
Post a Comment
Not scared yet? »

Le Manoir du Diable (1896) - George Melies

According to Wikipedia in August of 2011, Le Manoir du diable by Georges Melies is the first horror movie. Well, actually its a short film (about three minuets or so) but film was really hard to come by in that time so this counts as a film to me. The plot of the film is basic, you have your hero being tormented by demonic things in a crazy castle room... However, that plot isn't what brought the crowds. The thing that drove the popularity of these films was the fact that you were seeing motion on screen. I suggest going and seeing Hugo. That film is spectacular. It answered so many questions that I had. It really sets the scene and the tone. The film has strong christian overtones and actually ends with Christianity prevailing over the "tides of darkness". I provided a link at the bottom of this review for anyone that would like to see this pioneer in Horror Film. The movie uses very, very early "movie magic" that is an abundance of smoke and m...
Post a Comment
Not scared yet? »