[Yuletide Terrors] Day 2: SILENT NIGHT, BLOODY NIGHT

Throughout the month of December, we will be highlighting a film a day that has some tie into the holiday somehow. Some titles will be obvious, others won’t be. Some films will be good and, again, others won’t be. However, we think all titles are worth your time whether to give you chills inside your home or to make you drink more eggnog until you puke laughing.

‘ Twas the night before Christmas not a creature was stirring. Except for the dude on fire. Twenty years go by and Butler Mansion sits empty waiting to be sold. A lawyer representing the heir comes to town to close on the property. The Mayor, Sheriff, and a mute John Carradine are all eager to be rid of the place. Seems to have a lot of bad mojo. But unfortunately a serial killer breaks out of an asylum making a bee line for stately Butler manor and piling up a body count.

Produced in 1970 but released in 1972, Silent Night, Bloody Night has the distinction of being the first Christmas horror film. And honestly I was pretty bored during it. Narration and exposition bogs down the beginning. Character motivations are about as clear as mud. Being set on Christmas Eve adds nothing to the story or even set design. The movie does show signs of life during the loony bin escape. With the scene unfolding from the killer’s POV bashing people on the head and escaping in a car. But that doesn’t last very long. Mary Woronov, was was married to director Theodore Gershuny at the time, is wasted in the lead role. The audience gets no real sense of how the mansion is laid out. It lacks the suspense needed when the killer is sneaking up on the mid-coital couple.

Some would label the movie a proto slasher. Produced before the tropes of slashers were established, it ends up having a few things in common with Black Christmas. Do I think Bob Clark and company saw Silent Night, Bloody Night at the drive-in? Perhaps. This movie was somewhat forgotten and fell under public domain and played on Elviria’s Movie Macabre. And being public domain means every two bit company has put out Silent Night, Bloody Night in dubious quality. Recently the good folks at Vinegar Syndrome gave the movie a little TLC and released a hi def version. Vinegar Syndrome is a newer label putting out solid releases of classics like Raw Force, Graduation Day, and even Christmas Evil, and those dudes are offering Silent Night, Bloody Night for free on their website as a download.