And we close out our look at slashers with the final film in the Silent Night, Deadly Night series.
We open in Cryer, Wisconsin. It's Christmas time, and that means Santa, presents, and holly-jolly feelings all around. Yup, everyone's getting something for Christmas, especially Deputy Jordan (Brendan Fehr), who's celebrating a bit early with Mrs. Roach while her husband is away.
That's very naughty, and there's nothing that angers Santa (Rick Skene) more than naughty people. He ties up Jordan and deep fries him with some Christmas lights. Since he never shows up to work, Sherriff Cooper (Malcolm McDowell) has to call in Deputy Bradimore (Jaime King) on her day off to handle the Christmas Eve rush.
Bradimore isn't having a good holiday, dealing with both the death of her husband and trying to live up to the legacy of her father (John B. Lowe). Yeah, her father was a real hero, with the biggest case of his life came when he shot the deranged Ronald Jones, Sr., when the fellow thought it was a good idea to dress up as Santa and set his ex-wife on fire.
Doing a wellness check on Jordan clues her in that someone might be rebooting that particular case when she finds Jordan and what's left of Mrs. Roach. Santa, meanwhile, has a list and doesn't need to check it twice. He pays a visit to a bratty teenager who mocks her mother's heart condition and gives her the perfect gift-a taser shot to the heart.
Bradimore tries to figure who's doing the killing. She has it narrowed down to three:
Jim Epstein (Donal Logue)-a mean drunk who's been roped into playing Santa again. Could the holiday cheer have been too much for him?
Stein Karsson (Mike O'Brien)-local drug dealer
Reverend Madely Curtis (Curtis Moore)-local man of the cloth who feels his congregation a bit too much
Epstein gets arrested and the other two dead; Karsson when he draws down on Bradimore, Curtis when Santa finds him stealing from the church's donation plate. Bradimore finds a box of coal at the police station, and she starts to figure that maybe something from the past is coming back. Can she figure out why Santa went crazy?
The bar is set so low, but this does manage to climb over it. The performances help, but even that can't help the story. The killer isn't revealed until the last few minutes. If you blinked, you might miss everything, including the motive.
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