Silent Night

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Released in 2012, Silent Night was a very loose remake of the cult classic Silent Night, Deadly Night. This film keeps the killer Santa aspect, but changes literally everything else. The film follows Deputy Aubrey Bradimore (played by Jaime King) when she is called in to work on Christmas Eve. We learn that this is Aubrey's first Christmas without her husband, who had since died. So, this is one of those movies that feels like it was made for me. I love slasher films, and off-kilter Christmas movies. I am happy to report that this movie was both. As much as I respect the sleazier original for trying to explore the film's killer in-depth, I actually think the remake is a genuinely better movie. Yeah, it is more of a generic slasher film, but I can't really complain about that. For one thing, we don't learn the killer's motive until the very end of the movie. For the most part, it's kept a mystery. The kills are incredibly mean-spirited, and I kind of love that. It feels perfect for a slasher movie set around Christmas. Jaime King, Malcolm McDowell, and Donal Logue are the best performers in the movie. In many respects, they feel too good for this movie. As for everybody else, they are about what you expect from a cheesy slasher flick. Malcolm McDowell kind of hams it up. The thing is, his character is this old man who seems to think he's more like Clint Eastwood than he actually is, and it's always entertaining in my eyes. Jaime King does do a strong job from a dramatic standpoint. Donal Logue has a great monologue near the end of the movie where he lets loose about his grievances with Christmas, and it actually kind of works. I also love this movie's send up to the "naughty" and "punish" catchphrases from the original. In this version, the killer never talks. So, he marks his victims by sending them lumps of coal. This is such a clever touch to add in my opinion. I also kind of dig the killer's look in this movie. It feels like just the right update for the original.  I can't say that Silent Night is a great movie. However, it's not bad. It's perfectly good. But, considering this was a direct-to-video remake of an '80s cult classic, I can't really fault it too much for that. 

7 / 10