My Review of Silent Night (2012)

 

Written by Jayson Rothwell

Directed by Steven C. Miller

Sheriff Cooper (to Aubrey): "Don't put avacado on the burger!"

With the latest remake of the Silent Night, Deadly Night franchise currently in theatres, it was time to check out the first attempt of a remake from 2012. The fact that this was called Silent Night (2012) was telling in itself.

This doesn't feel like a remake whatsoever. Aside from the killer dressed as Santa, this felt like a standalone Christmas horror movie and a rather bad one at that. This Santa's nastier than the Grinch and Krampus combined.

Things started with Deputy Kevin Jordan (Brendan Fehr) and his mistress Alana Roach (Ali Tataryn) being horribly killed by the killer Santa. Their deaths sparked off an investigation in the small town, led by Sheriff James Cooper (Malcolm McDowell) but he's not quite up to the task of actually taking out a serial killing Santa Claus.

Someone who was would be Aubrey Bradimore (Jaime King). Easily the best character in a generally bad movie, Aubrey's a consistently likable, sympathetic and flawed character throughout. She's the closest to a protagonist in this movie and genuinely wanted to do right.

Of course like most protagonists, she did get the identity of the killer wrong twice. She thought both the belligerent Jim Epstein (Donald Logue) and social pariah Stein Karsson (Mike O'Brien). Aubrey was wrong on both counts but at least an urban legend that Karsson told her eventually pointed her to the actual killer.

Yup, Ronald Jones Jr. (Rick Skene) turned out to be the killer and flashbacks did show how an affair made Jones Sr absolutely homicidal. There's several gory kills, including personal ones before Aubrey and Jones Jr. faced and even then, it's rather anticlimactic.

- There's some inventive kills involving characters going through a wood chopper, death by fairylights and a flamethrower.

- Aubrey's father was involved in the death of Jones Sr. A lump of coal was given to the Bradimores before Hank was killed.

- Standout music: O Come All Ye Faithful, Jingle Bells and Silent Night.

- Chronology: Set in the Midwestern town of Cryer during Christmas.

Silent Night (2012) isn't good, either as a remake or even a standalone horror. The idea was sound and the lead protagonist was likable but it's still a rather horrible movie that felt like the equivalent of a lump of bloody coal.

Rating: 4 out of 10