'Silent Night, Deadly Night' Review
- John Odette
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
Release Date: 12/12/25 [Cinemas]
Genre: Holiday. Horror.
MPAA: Rated TVMA.
Distributor: Cineverse Entertainment.
The Verdict: A Must-See
There exists a special magic that blends horror films and the Christmas season into an enjoyable mixture. For being such a curious choice, this bloody mélange has more hits than misses, as evident with recent additions such as Terrifier 3 and Violent Night, and especially now with the latest entry into the Silent Night, Deadly Night series.
Writer/director Mike P. Nelson has created the second reboot and seventh installment in this long-running IP, delivering carnage, blood, and other slasher shlock that ironically contrasts well with snow and a Santa Claus outfit.
The story remains largely unchanged from the 1984 original, save for a few details. However, this new version carries with it more levity, more heart, and even more holiday spirit. Billy (Rohan Campbell) is a transient who carries out murders every Christmas season, dressed up as Santa Claus.
Billy’s compulsion for punishing “naughty” people comes from the disembodied voice of Charlie. Charlie was the previous murderer who murdered Billy’s parents (who were also naughty) when Billy was young and transferred his fate over to Billy via physical contact.
Yes, this premise is inherently silly. The original film was met with public outcry for the iconography of a rampaging killer in a Santa costume; the cult following has cemented the 1984 film among the holiday horror greats. Nelson’s new film comes a year after the kid-killing Terrifier 3 (which was a hit, for what that’s worth) and is not burdened by morality policing, freely roaming with liberty to render its own version of this story with confidence. More on that very soon.
Billy is on the run but stops into the town of Hackett (get it?), where he takes a job at a gift shop and begins a relationship with the attractive and aloof shopkeeper’s daughter, Pamela (Ruby Modine). The “curse” of killing naughty individuals is linked to an Advent Calendar, on which each day compels Billy to hack and slash his next victim.
Beyond the predication to kill awful, villainous people in a daily ritual, Billy’s journey in Silent Night, Deadly Night, he wields his destiny to do more objective good than harm. There is a particularly humorous and satisfying scene where he infiltrates and then decimates a Nazi rally/Christmas party.
I suspect the scenes where Billy acts more as a vigilante are where audiences will most likely align with the film’s satirical approach. Santa is literally crossing off the naughty list, taking out bad people with horrendously violent methods. Why should we not cheer for him? Credit is due to Nelson’s writing for fleshing out sharper characters than are required in a tight 90-minute slasher film, while the adjacent darkly humored catharsis uncorks itself.
There is a lot to enjoy here, even if it is silly slasher material in a holiday skin. Nelson has refined, and equally importantly, Campbell has emotionally embodied, an entertaining character turn that is easy to cheer on. I have no desire to be Santa Claus, but to quote Jules Winfield from Pulp Fiction, it was an honor watching him work.
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