BONUS: Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)

Hey guys, welcome to Horror Movie Podcast, where we're dead serious about horror movies. It's Brian Scott, Horror Movie Fanboy here. We're coming at you with a Christmas episode this year. talking about one of my favorite movies and one of your guys' favorite movies, Silent Night, Dead of the Night, 1984. And it's a little bit of a different thing tonight. Pastor Matt and the amazing movie director Jackson, his son, could not join us.

But we're still going to have some fun because my good buddy, the amazing co-host Ryan Bratton, has joined me to talk about this amazing movie. How you doing, man? Doing good, Brian. I hope you're doing well. I hope your family's getting ready for Christmas. I know it's a chaotic time of year, but that makes it even better to sit down and talk about a fun movie like Silent Night, Deadly Night. Oh.

Pretty excited about Christmas. Yeah, absolutely. I only want to take the lead on this one because, you know, we're all horror fans here and Halloween's most people's favorite holiday, but. And unabashedly, Christmas is my favorite holiday. Christmas is my favorite. What about you, Ryan? Are you a Halloween fan more than Christmas? Ooh, that's tough. I think it's pretty well tied. Tied. Oh, good.

Yeah, Christmas might edge it out just because there seems to be more involved with Christmas than Halloween. Yeah, plus you can share it with a lot more people. Not everyone is into Halloween like how we are.

I know, man. It's neck and neck. And that's why, as horror fans as we are, that's why Christmas slashers are my favorite subgenre. Black Christmas is my number four movie. Silent Deadly Night is my number two. And that's what we're talking about tonight. Silent Night, Deadly Night, 1984.

Now, I've covered this about four years ago on with Roland Asha on Headlong on the Monsters. Ryan, you may have covered it on another podcast as well. I'm not sure. But let's talk about this amazing movie in 1984. What's your first thoughts on this movie? The first thing that jumps out to me when I think of Silent Night, Deadly Night is just fun. Because it's not, again, me and you both are cut from the same cloth. We like 80s slashers.

which typically means they're not well acted. They're not great films from, you know, from a movie making standpoint, but they're always fun. And that's what this is. This is a fun movie. It's not the acting isn't superb. I don't care about that. That's perfectly fine. But it is a fun Christmas horror film. I wouldn't rank it as my number one Christmas horror film. What's your number one Black Christmas?

No, probably Krampus. Krampus, really? Yeah. Oh, that's a good one, too. Yeah, that one. The cast in Krampus is good. It's so good. But this is definitely in that top two or three spot. I agree. And...

You know, let's start out with the director, Charles Sellier. Now, in 1984, when this movie came out, and I'm going to try not to repeat myself because I think maybe a lot of people heard that Headlong Monsters episode. So I'm going to try to go a different route here and just talk about some unique things about it. And Charles Sellier, when he released this movie in 1984, Tristar put it out. After two weeks, they pulled it from theaters.

There was such a backlash about this movie. There was moms on the news. There was literally news articles begging theaters to pull this from the theaters. This movie was outgrossing gremlins or no, no, sorry. Nightmare on Elm Street. Yeah. Nightmare on Elm Street came out the same day. It was outgrossing Nightmare on Elm Street part one. And this movie was insane. It was crazy.

And it was pulled from theaters after just two weeks. And man, Charles Sellier was mad. And I would be, too. I mean, he put a lot of this wasn't just an 80 slasher, in my opinion, that. He just threw out there. I think he put a lot of heart and soul into this movie. I think this movie is a lot deeper than other 80s slasher movies. And what I like about this movie is it's an unorthodox slasher movie.

You know, you have the typical 80s slasher where an opening scene happens. You don't know who the killer is. You know, it's going to come back in the end. And I love that, you know, format of an 80s slasher. From this movie, right off the bat, you know who the killer is. It's Billy. He's the killer. And the first half of the movie sets up why he has this Santa-phobic attitude and is a crazy person because it goes through.

the entire events of his parents' murders on the ride home from the insane talk with his grandpa and the orphanage and Mother Superior and her insanity. and mental torment of him. Don't wonder why the guy snaps. Of course. But that's what I like about the slasher movie. It kind of takes a different approach of other 80 slashers at the time. And, um,

There is an uncut version of this. If you buy the Blu-ray, which I do have, and it really expands on the gore and stuff that was. So even that gore was in the theatrical cut yet. They still pulled it from the theaters, which kind of blows my mind a little bit. Ryan, have you seen the uncut version of this? Yeah, I actually have that same uncut version. And it, you know.

I'm not surprised what was cut out in the original compared to the, to the uncut, but it just, it's another example of that eighties. doing everything they can to kind of suppress this kind of change. I know. Like, Friday 13th 4. Oh, it makes you so mad. And now, I don't think it really hurt this film that much. Obviously, it didn't.

the bigger damage was done with the people that were protesting this film and getting it pulled from the theater. But at the same time, I almost wonder if that also is what led to it being kind of a cult. classic film is because it wasn't in theory. It had all of this protesting and people upset surrounding it that it kind of made it taboo.

and uh made people seek it out especially when it hit at vhs exactly dude exactly because as kids you know i was like nine when this came out and my my parents let me rent it then they rent anything and You know, once you hear something shouldn't be watched, what are you going to do? You want to watch it. So, I mean, I think it did add to that. I do agree. But yeah, the uncut version, it shows some extra scenes of like.

A more extended scene of Lene Quigley being put on the inhalers, the glass sticking out of her boyfriend throughout the window. There's a little bit longer. There's a few extra extended gore scenes, which I really appreciate that.

I don't know. Let's reel it back to the beginning. What are your first memories of when you first saw this? Oh, it was probably the late 80s, written it from our local movie rental place, Hear Me. and a cousin of mine and um probably the first time i watched it i was kind of confused of what the big issue was you know with this film why people

wanted it pulled from theaters and all that. To me, it just felt like another fun 80s slasher. Now, I agree with you that it is different because you kind of see the origin story of the the killer, which didn't always take place. And so I really enjoyed that aspect of it, that it felt different than a lot of other slashers out, especially in the early part of the 80s.

So I was never, even as a kid, it didn't scare me, of course, or anything like that. But it was, I thought the gore was done well. And I thought it was just one of those. films that you're like, I'm watching this every Christmas from here on out. I really like that aspect as well. I mean, we start the movie out. We'll go through the movie really fast here. So you start the movie out. They're driving to the retirement home.

Where Grandpa, played by old man Peabody from Back to the Future, he was the farmer when Marty first drove the DeLorean to the barn when he was back in time. And he's sitting in the rocking chair. And he gives the most creepy speech to Billy. If you see Santa, you better run. Christmas Eve is the scariest damn night of the year. I mean, that's enough right there to torment a kid. And then when they drive. That dude's scary.

He is. He is creepy. And then they drive home from the orphanage and there's a Santa on the side of the road with a car broke down who just robbed a store and shot some guy in the head, which is a disturbing scene in itself. And he slits the mom's neck, shoots the dad. You know, Billy runs in the bushes. Ricky is in the backseat in the little, you know, he's a baby at the time.

Man, how disturbing. Of course. Why wouldn't he not be Santa phobic at this point? Then he gets thrust into an orphanage with Mother Superior that just repeats punishment is absolute.

If you're naughty, you must be punished. No wonder why Billy goes insane later. And then you fast forward a little bit more and there's when the movie really picks up. He goes to Ira's toy store. and they place him in a job when he's about, like, what? What do you think he is, 18 to 20 years old maybe at the time there? I'm guessing he's 17 or 18 because I would think any older he'd probably be processed out and wouldn't be.

Yeah, you're right. After 18, maybe. So I'd say he's probably 18. So he gets a job at the toy store. And of course, what happens? They tell him to play Santa. They put him in a Santa outfit. And the way he torments the kids, that little girl that sits on his lap, he's like, punish, you're going to be punished. It's like, it's so disturbing. Like this may be so disturbing on a psychological level.

And then and then he just snaps when Pamela, we kind of skipped over. I don't know. To this point, what do you think, Ryan? I covered a lot at this point leading up to everything that led to his. is craziness. What do you think about that? I think it does a great job of explaining why the rest of the movie takes place. You know, so many of these 80s slashers is just a random dude killing people.

At least with this one, you're kind of like, man, I can see why this dude is messed up. Now, the school or the workplace, obviously they had no idea about his. ordeal with Santa Claus. So asking him to play Santa, you know, they probably just thought, we'll have this young guy play Santa Claus because he's basically the only capable person here to do it. Obviously, in hindsight, that's a horrible idea, but you do have some sympathy for this guy up to this point.

Of course, at this point, he hasn't killed anybody yet either, but you do feel bad for him. And yes, so the setting up the the. Children's Home and the Catholic Church with the Mother Superior is brilliant. I think there was for a lot of those that don't remember in the 80s, there was a lot of weirdness around. the Catholic Church and nuns and being in a Catholic school or anything like that. There was a lot of 80s films that dealt with nuns and not in a good light.

Yeah, Ryan, Dr. Shock and me, we both went to Catholic grade schools and they were taught by nuns. Me and him have had conversations on podcasts about this. But not to this extent. I mean, my superior. She was with an iron fist. Yeah, she is definitely over the top. But I love how she says the naughty punish. It really instills in his mind.

that anybody does something bad. And that's what sets up his killing spree. Right. Which is understandable. This kid's already a broken child. Then then he's stuck in this foster home. with these nuns that treat him horribly. So, you know, it does a fine job of setting him up as this, you know, character.

So we move on to the toy store scene and we get the great Morgan Ames song, The Warm Side of the Door. And it's so cheesy, but I love it so much. Me and Greg and Mortis always sing this to each other. And speaking of that, I mean, the score in this movie is extremely creepy. The opening the opening credits, when it pops on the screen, you hear the.

and the piano work and everything I think the score in this movie is extremely I think a lot of effort was put in this movie and I understand why they were furious when this got pulled from the theaters because This wasn't just a movie, a low budget movie. It was probably low budget, but it was a movie that a lot of heart and soul got put into this movie. So to be pulled when so much effort was put in.

Even the little things like they didn't wing it on this movie is my point. I think they really made an effort to make a solid psychological good slasher 80s movie. And that's that score is amazing. Because if you look at the budget, the budget was $750,000. It was amazing, yeah. And it made $2.5 million before it got pulled. Yeah, in just like a week and a half. That's crazy. Yes, it is.

I know. That's nuts, man. So then they're in Ira's toy store and they do the warm side of the door song, which is amazing. They put them in the same outfit and then they have a Christmas party. You know, every office place has it. Do you have a Christmas party at your office, Ryan? Actually, we just had a Christmas lunch at work here today where we order a bunch of food and everybody comes in at work shift and, you know, all that. Okay.

No drinking, of course. Yeah, me and my wife were going to her Christmas party at the office in a couple of days. So it's always fun. But it's not like this Christmas party because Ira says he locks the door. Let's get. what'd you say? Let's get ish faced on this. And then, and him and the little, the secretary girl or the system manager drinking.

You got the stock guy that pulls, I think Pamela is her name to the back room. And that's what really sets Billy off. He sees them. Yeah. That's the breaking point. Yeah, it is because, and this is where the movie. really delves into the psychological trauma because I think a lot of this in the uncut version, it may not be in the theatrical cut. When he sees them go back there and sees what they're doing, it kind of flashes back and even expands upon the murder of his parents.

And it shows that Santa on the side of the road slitting his mom's throat. He keeps cutting away to Billy's face as he goes more crazy. Then Santa, that Santa killer holds up the knife, a bloody knife dripping. And he's just going insane. And then goes into the storeroom and murders them. And that really is, like you said, Ryan, the start of the trauma for him, which is amazing. Like, I love this part of the movie.

Like you could see his mind racing and just kind of flipping a switch there. And then we get amazing kill scenes here. You get a bow and arrow to the back of the girl. You get a hammer and Ira. Poor Ira. He had some amazing toys, man. You're a Star Wars fan. Look at all those Jabba the Hugs on the shelves in the background. I mean, he had an amazing toy store in the 80s. I mean, he just goes on rampage. And he was just a store owner.

trying to celebrate Christmas with his employees and he gets a hammer to the head. Yeah. And that's one thing I like about this movie is too, a lot of 80 slashers, you get like a one weapon kill. You know, this movie has a wide variety of kills. As it should, because what is going to be the one weapon Santa Claus is going to have? There isn't one, you know? You're right.

I mean, he carries on an axe, but he really only kills one person with an axe. Yes. Yeah, that's it. There's a hanging on antlers. There's a throw through like a window. There's a bow and arrow to the back. There's a hammer to the head. They're strangling with Christmas lights. I mean, every kill is different in this movie. Like what more can you ask for a kills in a, in a slasher? So he murders everybody in the toy store and then he goes on his rampage. Here's where the movie picks up.

You know, I don't know how he picked Lene Quigley's house that he thought they should be punished for having sex on the pool table. I don't know how that would happen. I don't know, but I'm glad he did. I agree. Yeah, that was a good one. That was some good scenes. And I said to Raul, and they gave me a little crap on Headlong Monsters. He was like, I'm like, if I was that guy, I'd be out of there. And they're like, a girl could say no. That's not the point I was making. My point was.

Lene Quigley was like, oh, let me check on the kid. Oh, there's a cat at the door. Oh, there's a, you know, it's like went on. It was basically this whole scene was. to make Lene Quigley walk around topless as long as possible. That's the whole point of that scene was how long she could be like topless in the scene. And what I love about the scene when he invades that house was.

When she goes and lets a cat in the door and closes it, he puts an axe through the door and kicks the entire door in. It was like Jason in, what was that, Friday 13th 4, I think? Yeah. When he bursts through the door. It was amazing. That's why this is probably my favorite scene of the movie. I think it's the most brutal. You like that? Okay, yeah. Yeah, I think he's the most violent when he goes into that house.

Yeah, describe it, man. Describe that scene. Well, I mean, nobody at that point, at least that I know of, had ever seen somebody getting put up and stabbed through the antlers. You know, of a, you know, of a buck on somebody's wall. So it's very, very shocking. You didn't know what was going to happen. I just thought he was going to go there and ax her. But for.

The entire scene, like you said, is set up perfectly when he kicks the door in. It's like, whoa, this guy is really unhinged. Not that he wasn't unhinged. He's killing everybody at the toy store. But this. to me felt like he was coming into full force. This is what this guy's going to be for the rest of this film. And yeah, when he comes in and throws the ax and it hits the wall right next to her head.

Oh, that was intense. And I know one of the uncut scenes was an extended of him putting her on the antlers. And I see why maybe they cut that on the VHS or the theatrical because that was brutal, man. It was brutal. It went on for like 15 seconds of the antlers coming through her stomach. But this will make Lene Quigley at her best, you know? Yeah. And like you said, I understand why they cut that scene.

But honestly, initially, I thought they may have cut it because it didn't look good. No, if you got the uncut version, it looks good. Like it was well done. Oh, yeah, it does. Great practical effects there. And the boyfriend, he actually puts up quite a fight. I mean, he hits Billy, knocks him down the stairs with the fireplace poker. But then he gets thrown out a window.

which I don't know how that would kill somebody, but it shows them. And that was another uncut scene on the aftermath. When he walks out of the house, you know, there shows like giant shards of glass coming out of his like head and stomach. Yeah. But. A disturbing part of it, and this may have been one of the reasons why this was pulled from the theaters. The little girl comes down from upstairs that Lene Quigley's babysitting, and Billy's like, have you been good all year?

And she's like, yes. So he gives her a present. It's a bloody box cutter that he killed the guy with. So good. That's so disturbing. I love it so much.

I mean, only the eighties. I love it. I'll be on a role side here and say that he probably should just killed the kid. Because that would have made it even worse. Yeah, Raul's always about killing some kids. But she was good all year. And that's what I like about Billy and even Ricky in part two. Remember that scene when the girl's riding the tricycle across the street?

And he steps aside and gives her a smile because he has sympathy for kids. He was a kid himself that was punished. And so he has a soft spot for kids that are pure hearted. That's a good point. It would have went against his character. Yeah, exactly. So then we go on to the next kill, which is ridiculous because two bullies steal kid sleds. Now, these guys.

To me, they look like Beavis and Butthead. Like the Beavis guy, the blonde guy, I swear to God, he's a spitting image of Beavis. But they bully two kids. These guys look like they're 30 years old. Like you're really stealing sleds from a kid. Like this is so ridiculous. But man, when he sleds down that hill and I love when Billy jumps out and says punish and chops his head off.

Man, his decapitated corpse comes down on the sled and the head comes rolling after. When I was a kid, this was like the scene when I was a kid that I always remembered. That's the one that stuck with me for some reason.

Mine was the Alinea Quigley, obviously. Yours was? Yeah, that too, of course. But the sledding one also did because of how much fun that was. The first time I saw it, I wasn't shocked or scared. I was like, that is... hilarious because his body just keeps on going down the hill yo it's brutal a decapitated corpse like comes down the hill and his buddy's just standing there yeah exactly

Okay, so we move to the final act, the final scene, which, well, okay, let's put this in between there. These cops that are probably out of control, they already almost killed a dad. that was in a Santa outfit coming in his daughter's bedroom on a ladder. But let's throw that aside and say, they come up across the radio, shoot Santa on sight. He's coming to the orphanage, shoot him on sight.

Well, poor Pastor O'Brien, I think's his name. Yeah. He's in a Santa outfit and he's this poor like pastor walking up to the orphanage. to give the kids presents. And this cop rolls up and shoots him in the back thinking he's Billy. This is crazy. If it was like 2025, this cop would be put on leave. They would take his gun away. They'd do a complete investigation. But no, over the radio is like, okay, we understand it.

but stay there on duty. Protect them. I'm like, are you kidding me right now? This guy just shot a priest. He just shot a priest in the back. Hey, man, the 80s were a different time than the cops in the 80s. Especially movie cops. Let's face it. We're always bumbling fools. Oh God. And he sure was. I mean, when he walks around the building, well, first of all, he goes in to the orphanage and my superior is like, you've done nothing.

But bad stuff here or whatever. She gives him a lecture. He's like, I'm sorry, Mother Superior. So he walks around the building doing this whole ridiculous jump around every corner with his gun. It's so stupid, but I love it so much. he finds the shed in the back. He thinks Billy's in the shed and Billy is Billy jumps out. And again, I love this so much. This is what I love about this movie, Ryan, that he yells punish.

When he kills, but not just once, several times, he jumps out, punish, axe to the head, I think it was. Yeah. And what do you think about that whole sequence? Was it ridiculous how the cop was acting? Of course it's ridiculous, but that's also the beauty of this thing. I love it. That's one, again, another thing that makes this fun is because of how outlandish this ending is. And the cop, you know, shooting the priest, not even bothering that. It's just say, hey, put your hands up.

Or, you know, phrase or anything. It's just, hey, I'm going to shoot this guy because I think he might be the same guy that we're looking for. Yeah. He might have said something because, remember, the priest was a duff. Oh, that's right. He was deaf. That's right. The priest was deaf.

Yeah, when he got out of the car, he did yell at him. And that's the reason why he shot, because he kept walking. Yeah, the priest was duff, so he didn't hear him. But it's like, oh, my God. But here's the funniest. Yeah, exactly. This is why I always say about that. Why wouldn't you shoot somebody in the leg? Do they have tasers back then? I don't know. This is an 80s movie. Nobody's tasing anybody. It's straight shooting.

But then the final scene. So Mother Superior says, nobody will get in here who's not welcome. Well, a little girl lets Billy in the front door. And Billy comes in. And I love how he stands over Mother Superior and gives that speech. And the cops come in and shoot him. And my whole takeaway from this is. They're these poor kids in the orphanage. They just watch two Santas get shot. They watch two Santas get shot within like a 20 minute period. Yeah. If they're not already traumatized.

They are extremely traumatized at this point. They watched two Santas get murdered by gun in a 20 minute period. Yeah. That's crazy to me. And one of the kids. And one of the Santas, they know extremely well. You know, it's not like it was a stranger that was playing Santa Claus. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Pastor O'Brien. Well, David, some of them may even know Billy because Ricky. Sure.

She says, Richard, go get my harmonica. So like Ricky has little brothers in there. So Billy was in this orphanage. So, I mean, they were young. They might have known him. I don't know. And that just always blows me away that like two Santas got murdered in front of these kids.

But starting the cycle all over again. Yeah, I know with Ricky. Yep. And next year we got to do part two because we'll skip over the whole, you know, retread of the whole material, but there's some new good material in there as well. Oh yeah, the second half of that film is pretty good because it's not the first film. So I think we did a good job going over it all. I know I probably talked over you a lot because I have such a passion for this movie.

You know, my earliest memories were, you know, I rented this movie. It came out in 84. I probably saw an 85 ish. I know I saw it before 87 when part two came out because I remember. When I went to the video store, I'm like, oh, my God, there's a part two. And it was the cover with like the Christmas ornament with like Ricky with a gun, I think it was. And I was so excited to bring it home. And like everybody in part two, I was disappointed. I'm like.

Am I watching part one again? But as an adult, I really appreciate the added features in part two and the added footage. I don't know. What other thoughts do you have, Ryan, on this masterpiece of 1984 sign I did the night?

Well, for starters, you can thank this film for kicking off. I know Black Christmas came out first, but to me, this feels like this kicked off the Christmas horror genre. As far as a Santa killer, for sure. Yeah, because of the sequels it had and everything that followed suit. But I think back about how this came out the same time.

as Nightmare on Elm Street and how well it did. I think it was in theater, what, two weeks? Yes, two weeks. Again, like I said before, I think it almost helped it. I know at the time that they were pissed and I could understand why, but I think it honestly helped. this film getting pulled. Because, let's face it, I know it was beating Nightmare on Elm Street in the theater the first few weeks. This movie's not as good as Nightmare on Elm Street, especially from a, like a theatrical...

Where a lot of people that aren't even into horror that much will still go to the theater to watch a horror film. So with it being pulled, I think it was just a... Which is a benefit. It probably was because, like you said, it was risque. It was something kids have learned to go see. It was things you saw in the news, these parents protesting it. So, of course, kids are like, I want to see it. Luckily, my parents were so cool.

let me rent anything. So of course I rented this movie right away. Like we were so, we're so lucky as kids that didn't have parents that, and I do that with my son too, because I tell him all the time, I'm like, this is a movie. You know, it's a movie, it's fake, you know, and he understands that. And, and I took him to see the sign of the night remake last week on opening night and he'll be, he'll be 12 in a month. Yeah. I knew he could handle it.

You know, I've showed them the original. And as long as kids know it's fake, it's a movie, it's pretend.

Like, don't take this seriously at all. It's entertainment value. I think it's fine. Right. So maybe don't let an eight year old see it like I did when I was a kid. But, you know, but like you said, it's 80. So with this being. What are your top five horror films of all time? And obviously your favorite at Christmas horror film. What is it about it that you like?

that makes it that highly rated. It's the psychological aspect of it. It's the unorthodox slasher that it is. In fact, I like the first half better than the second half because I can see kills in any movie. I love... Everything at the orphanage was much superior. I love the naughty punishment. It's absolute. They drill that into Billy's brain. His trauma from seeing his parents murdered and then moving on to a more traumatic.

uh, growing up with this evil mother superior. And then the grandpa in the beginning, all the first half to me is a better half of the movie. I mean, the last half, the last half is amazing, but the setup in this movie. is unlike any other 80s slasher, in my opinion. Because again, like I said, most 80s slashers get a five-minute opening scene where somebody gets killed, and then the killer is going to have retribution, revenge, and you'll find out why they're getting revenge in the end.

This comes straightforward in your face about it. You know, Billy's the one that's going crazy. It shows you right off the bat. This is why Billy's crazy. And this is what Billy's going to do. And that's why that's what I love about the movie and then throwing the fact it's a Christmas slasher. So it all those aspects make it a 10 out of 10 for me. It makes it my second favorite movie right behind The Shining as.

one of my favorite movies of all time. And nostalgia plays a big part in that too as well. Yeah, which is fine because, you know, like last episode I went on about Bassett Case and the vast majority of my... love for that movie is the nostalgia of it and stuff. So, you know, that's fair to be able to say that that plays a big role in it. But, you know, I also wonder how this film would have worked.

not set at christmas you know what i mean like let's say if this would have had been set at um yeah if it was just a random guy that had killed his parents that wasn't dressed up like santa claus or whatever and then he would go to the same, I guess, foster care. I don't think it would have been as good. I think Christmas is what brings the charm to it. Cause that's what shocked people. He's dressed like Santa. Yeah. Santa Claus killing people.

So I think I would have took away. Yeah, you already have the church involved with the Catholic foster care system. Yeah, I agree. I don't think it would work in another setting, at least not as well.

Because, again, like you said, the shock factor of seeing somebody dressed as Santa going around killing people was just brilliant. I agree, man. I agree. So I already told you my rating, 10 out of 10. What are you thinking? Oh, this is a 9. great easily easily a nine maybe even 9.5 um this is a much watch you know every year

And honestly, you only had to wait till Christmas to watch it. You know, and right now when this releases, it is on Shudder and the Shudder version is the uncut version. Yeah. Yeah, uncut on Shudder right now. Which Shudder's good about that from time to time, about putting. Yeah. And you can, kind of like other movies from the 80s, you can tell the cut.

you know the re-added scenes because like it'd be a little more grainy and things like that but yeah that's that's fine give me those cut scenes added in i love that you know what this isn't a bad franchise um Two, like we talked about, two is mostly half of the first film just being wrapped up. But the second half of two is fun. Obviously, it's not.

well-made or anything of that nature. It's a fun film. And, you know, I had just yesterday re-watched Silent Night, Deadly Night 2012, which they just call it Silent Night, but it's obviously...

a loose re-imagination of the 84 film. And so I consider that part of this franchise and it's good. I like that movie. I do too. Yeah. It's really... so loosely based and he has a flamethrower and stuff so yeah they combine a couple different stories you know into this I mean it's been a minute since I've seen it is really the only thing like in

the same as he's dressed as Santa. I don't think there's really much else involved with not really, but you, but it is loosely based off of the 84. Okay. Film. Um, Or at least so they say. And honestly, there's some really good kill scenes. Well, there's a girl that gets ran through the horns of a buck in that one. So there are some throwbacks. Yeah, there are some throwbacks to the original. But I think that's also why they just called it Silent Night, because it's a loose.

kind of interpretation of the 84. Yeah. I, I usually don't consider, I've seen it twice, but again, it's been probably eight years, so I've seen it less and I don't ever really consider it much of a remake. to be honest, but yeah, yeah, I can see that. But yeah, as far as the franchise, I'm a fan. I mean, part two to me is amazing. I don't sleep on part five, the toy maker.

I really do like part five. Yeah, the toy maker is not bad. Part four, skip. Nothing even to do with anything. I don't even know. It's a money grab of title right there. It has less to do with the original than Silent Night does. Yeah, exactly. There's really nothing to do with the original, in my opinion, on initiation. But part three has Bill Moseley. It portrays the Ricky character with a floating brain thing.

It's not a bad movie, but I mean, it's just, it's all right, I guess. But one and two is where it's at. And five, five's good. Mickey, Mickey Rooney, the guy that hated the original.

Playing a good Santa killer in that one. Yeah, exactly. All right. Are we going to wrap this up? Or we kind of mildly talked about Silent Night, Deadly Night. 2025 that just hit the theaters last week. And we were going to cover this, but apparently to our surprise, I, I, me and my son went and saw an opening night.

But Ryan and Pastor Matt, it left the theater so quick. Yeah, it was here for a week. I cannot believe it. With Christmas, I understand like, you know, I don't know, Wicked and like all. Avatar and all these movies are out, but it's Christmas time. Why wouldn't you dedicate one screen to this movie? I just don't understand it. Yeah, we have like five theaters within 40 minutes of here.

And none of them had it. It was in the theater for last week and that was it. That's crazy. I can't believe that. Yeah, it's nuts. So did you want to give a quick thought on the new one since you've already seen it or do you just want to wait? Let's do a spoiler review next year, but I'll just say real fast. I'll say real fast. I don't care when a movie is remaked of something I love because it's never going to take away from the old one.

Right. And this movie to me was good. It was actually really good. Good. Mike, Mike P. Nelson, who directed the domestics, which I don't know if you saw domestics. It's kind of like a apocalyptic movie. It's really good. Yeah. Check that out. It's good. And he did the wrong turn remake that may have been like, I don't know, 2018, 19, 20, 21, somewhere in there, like five years ago, man.

Yeah. And so if you saw, yeah. Okay. So if you saw wrong turn remake, you'll know he doesn't mind changing a lot from the original because remember the wrong turn remake was a very loose remake of the original. Well, his remake of Silent Night, Deadly Night was a lot more closer to the original, but he did change quite a bit. There's going to be a lot of people that do not like some things that he changed, but he did.

He did keep some key elements for this, in my opinion. Okay. Which I did like. Now, I'm not going to give any spoilers at all. I just want to say there's no Mother Superior. Womp womp. That's a little sad, but... Again, he wanted to make his own movie, but again, he kept the key elements. He kept the Billy character saying punish on the kills, which you got to have that.

I mean, if he wouldn't have done that, I would have been out right there. But he did that. There is a store sequence like Ira's toy store that kind of plays out like a Hallmark Christmas romance movie, which I didn't expect. And I know some people may not like that part of it, but I enjoyed it a little bit. And I'm not going to give any spoilers, but there are some things at the beginning of the movie you're going to say.

what is going on here? But by the end, I think there's a good explanation. I can't wait to talk spoilers on this movie. Yeah. Because there's a good explanation on the end about motivations and. why Billy goes crazy. And, and there is like the scene and the, uh, with the grandpa in the beginning, which is great. One last thing I'll say, the parents attacked by Santa and the orphanage, everything.

It's mostly done through flashbacks throughout the movie as he's going crazy. So it's kind of cool. So you don't have to sit through like the first one, which I love, but you're not going to sit through like 30 minutes of a setup. They sprinkle it in through like flashbacks. which is kind of cool. Yeah. Yeah. And, uh, cause I, I don't want to give one spoiler away at all, but I'm going to say this, me and my son, you know, fan service in a movie like an alien Romulus, which says,

you know, get away from her, you bitch or whatever. You know, fan service comes sometimes get cringy. Okay. Yep. But there was, there was some fan services maybe that was hilarious. There's a flashback. And this has nothing to do with the plot. There's a flashback scene where Billy, he flashed back to like working like a diner, trying to hold down a job. And his boss yells to the window, Billy.

It's garbage day. Tell them to take out the trash. Nothing to do with the plot, but it was just like, it was like a fun, and there's no really comedy in this movie, but it was a, it was a fun fan service part. Sure. It was just like him. It was a boss tell him to take out the trash. So like you could tell, you could tell the director really. One line is good. The fan service that I think you're talking about that gets cringy is when they're beating you over the head.

Exactly. Yes. And that's what that did so well. It was just a very subtle thing. Good. And my son laughed so hard at that when I took him to it. That's good. When this movie, I won't get my rating, but I'm going to tell you guys, I really did like this movie. I'm not somebody gets butthurt over a remake when things are changed. I don't, I don't want to see a shot for shot remake. Like I'll just watch you. I'll watch the original.

This was a totally different movie that held the really core of what Billy and his motivations are. And for that, I really liked it. So I'm going to buy this movie. I'm going to watch it again. And I can't wait. I say next year we all do a spoiler review of Silent Night, Deadly Night 2025.

We would definitely have to do that. With this, wrapping this up, just real quick, throw out some other of your favorite Christmas slashers. Christmas slashers? Oh, man. It doesn't even have to be a slasher, just Christmas horror for people to check out. Well, obviously, Black Christmas, 1974. I'll tell you one not to sleep on. A movie in the last five years, Night Setter.

The amount of Christmas decorations in this movie is insane. I've not seen that. Yeah, we did a podcast on this on Phantom Galaxy maybe four or five years ago. And Night Sitter is really, really good movie. Very underwatched movie. Okay, I'll tell you a low-budget movie that is insanity that we covered on Headlong in the Monsters is all through the house. Oh, yeah, that's a good one. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's good. And we described it as a bag of...

Beep movie. Yeah. I don't know. I don't want to give a spoiler of what's in that bag, but yeah, that's a weird movie. This woman has, yeah, she has so many like giant, like standup Santa, like the amount of Christmas. I always like Christmas decoration movie, which brings me to Joe Bagos, Christmas, bloody Christmas. The, the aesthetic in this movie, the amount of snow, red, green lights is great.

Of course, Terrifier 3. I give this movie a 10 out of 10. It's right up there with one of my favorite movies with Heretic from last year, Terrifier 3. Then the last one I'll mention that we covered recently was Christmas Evil. This movie is disturbing from 1980. Have you seen that one, Ryan? Oh, yeah. It is disturbing. Oh, wait, Ryan. You were on that podcast, weren't you? Yeah. It feels like an underground film.

Like, you know what I mean? Like it doesn't if it feels almost like Henry, a portrait of a serial killer. It has that same grime to it. It is grimy. That wasn't a good one for our grimy episode. Yeah, right. Yeah. I'm sure I'm forgetting a lot of Christmas movies. I made a list of like my top 30 Christmas movies. I should have pulled it up. But what about you? Throw out some of yours before we hop off here.

Krampus is definitely one of my favorites because I think it does. Humor in horror is very difficult. Very difficult. There's very slight films that I find absolutely funny. and scary. And now I don't think Krampus is necessarily scary, but it is funny. I love every character in this film and Krampus looks amazing. It's one of my favorite creature designs of all time is the look of Krampus. I totally agree with you, man. And David Kuckner is one of my favorite actors, man. He is so good in it.

that guy can steal the screen and of course you got tony collette you have adam scott like that guy the cast is amazing yeah yes the cast is incredible on Krampus. I really agree. Some people have problems with the final scene of that movie, but I like the movie. I think the movie's fun. Yeah, and the Christmas horror film, I want it to be fun. You know?

It's definitely a fun movie. It's a fun movie. I love Christmas Horror Story with William Shatner as the radio DJ. When he's a DJ in Bailey Downs, describing, drinking that whiskey. He makes it, it makes it feel so homely and fun. And one of the, one of the great things I love about the movie is the wraparound story is such a twist. I did not see it coming. So that's one of my favorite parts of that entire film.

yeah with the guy they're like kind of like outside the studio guy that's at the mall and everything yeah great great wraparound and the stories kind of intermingle a little bit yes And, hey, there's a Krampus in that movie, too. Yes, there is. And, you know, a newer film that I'll throw out that I had fun with, which didn't get a lot of pub, was A Violent Night.

That's a good one. It's more of an action more than horror, though, but that's a good movie. Yeah, there's some pretty good kills in that film. Who's the guy? Was that the guy from Stranger Things that plays with Santa? Yeah, that's what I thought. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, that's a good movie. Yeah, me and my mom watched that a few years when it first came out. Yeah, that was definitely a good one. Yeah, throw out some other ones, man. I could talk Christmas horror. Another one, of course, Christmas Evil. like you said, is fantastic. That's just a grimy one, man. And again, that's why I really, really like, you know, Raider Exports is good. I don't think it's as good.

on my list anyways is what some people put it on there but it's very odd and I like that I like Chris I like rare exports I've only seen it once like like when it first came out. And I know it's a subtitle movie partially. And I do like that movie quite a bit. And I'm going to throw out one that is my, I love this movie. I absolutely love this film. And it is, quote unquote, a Christmas horror film. But Christmas is not the main plot. So it's hard for me to really put this as a top.

On my top list of Christmas horror, but I still will. And that's the French movie inside. It's my favorite French horror film. And it does take place at Christmas. I will add it in my Christmas list. You just reminded me, when you said a French movie, I thought you were going to say something else, but I love Inside. I love the disturbing ending compared to the stupid US version.

Oh, yeah. Oh, on the stairwell. I mean, wow. But when you said French, I thought you're going to say 1989 Deadly Games. Dial code Noel. Do you know that one? Yes. Yep. I do like that one, but Inside is my favorite. Inside is terrific. That is creepy, man. Inside. I mean, a crazy woman trying to come in your house to cut the baby out of your stomach. I mean, what more terrifying.

could it be right wow I mean that's like terrifying as like a pregnant woman that is they don't hide from it either it is brutal it is a brutal brutal film it yeah it is That is definitely a brutal film. Karen. That's one of Karen Wagner's favorite movies. Me and her talk Christmas movies all the time. And that's a great one indeed. But yeah, deadly games.

That's what I thought you were going to say from 1989. It was a ripoff of Home Alone. They actually sued John Hughes on Home Alone because John Hughes had seen Deadly Games a year prior at a film festival. They didn't win the lawsuit, but the Santa in Deadly Games, this French movie, go out and watch it, guys. He is probably the scariest Santa ever. He comes down the chimney and right off the bat, he kills the dog with a pie cutter.

And like right off the bat, and this kid dresses up like Rambo, kind of like Home Alone, and just goes crazy. What a fun movie that is. It is. It is fun. All these films are fun outside of Inside. Inside is not a fun film. That's a hard one. No, hell no. That is definitely a rough one. Well, is there a French extreme film that is an easy watch, though? No, that's a good point.

I'll throw out one more real fast. Santa sleigh. One of the best openings of a Christmas movie ever. Yeah. Around the Christmas table. And then Pontypole. Kind of like a fringe Christmas movie, I guess. But Pontypool, you know, Steve McHattie's good. I'm looking through my list right now. I did find it. To All a Good Night, 1980. David Hess.

who, you know, from last on the left and even better movie house and edge of the park, he directed, he directed to all good night, which I don't know why he didn't put himself in it. Cause he probably would have been the best part of this movie. This is a slasher movie at Christmas time that literally has a little hook on a string come down and kill somebody. It's like the dumbest kill I've ever seen in a slasher movie. But yeah, to all a good night.

Oh, Better Watch Out 2017. I was just going to say that one. Yep. What a twist. I love movies that have a twist halfway through. Yeah. That kind of does a reveal and turns really dark. Don't open till Christmas. Now talk about a reverse Santa killer movie. There's a guy that just kills Santas. Yeah. Santa that killed. It's a guy that killed Santas in 1984. And yeah, that's about it.

I mean, Red Christmas with Dee Wallace. Oh, I had not seen that in a while. I need to watch that again. Red Christmas with Dee Wallace. This is a... This is some disturbing content right here. It's like a failed abortion like killer. It's really it's dark, man. This is like dark subject matter right here. You got P2, which is good. That's a good one. Yeah.

You got dead end, you know, where they're on going to a Christmas Eve party and the street never ends. Oh, that's right. Yep. Yeah. I trapped a devil. There's a good one. The lodge is a Christmas movie. that just came out two years ago the lodge yeah that has uh that has a girl from clueless as the mom who plays a small part in the movie and her kids go and stay with like the new stepmother and the dad leaves and

They're kind of tormenting kids. It is kind of a dark movie in itself there. And ATM, Raul likes ATM. ATM's a good one. That's a good one. I like that one. Yeah, that's basically a one location film.

Yeah. Yeah. On Christmas Eve, they stop at an ATM vestibule and kind of get caught in there. Well, I can go on and on. So, but I'll stop because I'll never shut up. We talk about Christmas horror movies. So. This is a fun episode, man. Just me and you talking Christmas horror. Let's do this again sometime, Ryan. Absolutely, dude. We'll get together and whether Matt and Jackson are busy, we'll put something together.

throw something out for everybody we're under an hour so i think we've done a good thing here so we'll wrap it up here any final thoughts ryan or plugs or anything my final thought is i i know this is going to come out after Christmas, but I just want to wish everybody a Merry Christmas. Hope you had a great holiday, a safe holiday. Anybody out there that, to all those that celebrate, I hope you had a great one.

Yeah, look forward to starting New Year's off right. We got some big shows coming up next year. We got some big stuff planned. Did we announce the top 10 of what we're doing? I believe we did. Well, we're doing the top 10 of 2025, obviously, but then our top 10 franchises. And that's going to be a big show. Like I said, we're probably going to have to do two shows. to cover that because there's going to be a lot of conversation. A lot of conversation. I know. There's going to be some surprises.

I guarantee you. I, I know everybody thinks all the top 10 horror franchises, it's all going to be Halloween child's play. You scream. No, there's no, I got it. There's going to be some crazy.

stuff thrown in here. I almost guarantee it. I got a franchise that's going to be in my top three that'll probably blow people's minds that I love so much that people wouldn't think. So I'm going to throw out some... good stuff as well yeah that will probably make my top five and it may even be the same one that's going to be in your top three i i think i know what you're talking about

Yeah, I think we might be talking about the same thing. So it's going to be, and it's going to be fun because it's going to be interesting to see, you know, most people think, oh, horror franchises, Friday the 13th, Halloween. That's going to be the top two. Elm Street. Elm Street. Yeah, that's only the top three. Nope. I don't see it working out that way. Oh, I can't wait. You never know. All right. For next time, guys.

Let's keep this horror going. I love it so much. And Ryan's amazing. Pastor Matt, Jackson can join us. We miss him, but they'll be on the next episode. Until next time. Thanks so much, guys. Thanks for checking out.