Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984), dir. Charles E. Sellier, Jr., Slayride Productions Inc.
We joke a lot about slasher films, but when this got released? People were ANGRY. Micky Rooney too, although he mellowed out enough to do part 5, but how did the whole saga start?
1971
The Chapman family is visiting Grandpa (Will Hare) in a mental hospital on Christmas Eve. Things aren't looking good for the old fellow. He's been virtually catatonic and the docs don't think that is going to change.
Of course as soon as Mom (Tata Buckman) and Dad (Jeff Hansen) leave little Billy (Jonathan Best) alone with the old man, Grandpa snaps awake. Long to glare at a freaked out Billy and impart with him a warning, stressing "Christmas Eve is the scariest damn night of the year!"
Heading home, Mom and Dad spot guess who? Santa! (Charles Dierkop) Well, he's obviously just a guy in a Santa suit, Mom and Dad argue, but who better to calm down a hysterical Billy than the right jolly old elf in the flesh?
A fine idea, except that the Santa standing on the side of the road isn't a jolly fellow. No, he's just robbed a gas station and killed the clerk, so he's not in a good mood. When Dad refuses to hand over his car, he takes a bullet to the face. Mom tries to drive but the car is wrecked. She manages to get Billy and his baby brother Ricky (Melissa Best) out of the car before she gets her throat slit.
Billy and Ricky manage to hide in the woods as the killer Santa swears to kill him. We cut ahead to 1974. Billy, and presumably Ricky, have been placed in an orphan's home. Sister Margret (Gilmer McCormick) tries to get Billy to come out of his shell and deal with his trauma.
Mother Superior (Lilyan Chauvin) is also trying to help, although her help is more akin to torturing Billy. She insists he couldn't possibly remember his parents or their murder, so sitting on a visiting Santa's lap is fine. Billy disagrees and decks the man before getting strapped to his bed.
1984 and Billy (Robert Brian Wilson) must have been hitting the weight pile regularly. Sister Margret works to get Billy a job. Where? At a toy store!
Everything goes fine, at least until Christmas Eve. Seems the store had a Santa cancel on them, so why not stick the strapping young man in the suit? Billy stoically wears the suit but his mood grows darker throughout the day. By closing time, when the store is drunk and one employee assaults another, Billy snaps and decides to dole out some punishments.
Can Sister Margret stop Billy? Will Mother Superior ever get off her high horse?
For an 80's slasher, it is largely by the numbers. Horny teens (including Linnea Quigley) are killed, oft while nude. Billy is actually a better killer than some of his contemporaries. He has an origin, motive, and the film plays fair with his abilities.
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