Horror Movie Review: Silent Night, Deadly Night (2025)

On first glance, Silent Night, Deadly Night seems like nothing more than an ill-advised remake of an 80’s Christmas slasher horror that, at best, has a cult following. Especially as the trailer made it seem like a straight-forward remake was all that we were going to get. I say il-advised because this would actually be the second remake of the 1984 film. With 2012’s Silent Night being a loose remake, and let’s not forget that the franchise is actually five films deep with dodgy sequel after dodgy sequel. Read our definitive ranking here.

All this, on first glance, but you know what they say… don’t judge an advent calendar until you’ve seen what waits behind each door.

Written and directed by Mike P. Nelson, Silent Night, Deadly Night stars Rohan Campbell. Not only becoming a bit of a horror icon for hanging out with Michael Myers in Halloween Ends but taking the character of Billy Chapman here in a brand-new direction. One that proves to be inspired, and alongside Ruby Modine, David Lawrence Brown, David Tomlinson, and Mark Acheson, he helps turn this film into an utter delight. A violent, bloody, and dark delight with some black comedy sprinkled in, here and there.

It begins in familiar fashion.

It’s Christmas Eve, and an eight-year-old Billy Chapman has been taken to see his elderly grandfather at a nursing home. However, instead of scaring the hell out of the kid with a twisted warning about a vengeful Santa coming to get him, this grandfather coughs up a load of blood and dies.

A very traumatic experience, though his parents don’t seem to care that much. Which is the first clue that this film might be doing things differently. The second notable difference is that the killer Santa is himself, killed in the next scene, after shooting Billy’s parents. Billy survives (there’s no Ricky, I’m afraid), and we then cut to Billy as an adult.

Hold on to their festive hats, this is where events deviate completely as we join Billy mid-rampage. He is a drifter, going from town to town, punishing the naughty under guidance from a voice in his head. A voice that identifies itself as Charlie and is far more than just the mad inner monologue of a psychotic killer.

Moving on from his latest murder, Billy arrives at the small town of Hackett, and decides to stay for a while, getting a job at a trinket shop where he meets Pamela Sims (Ruby Modine), who herself, has a tendency to let the red mist descend. From the moment he sees her, Billy is enamoured with her, and inevitably, the pair fall in love and start a relationship. Billy has found happiness, and wants to settle down, but the voice inside his head insists that he must keep on killing, or else.

Or else what? I don’t want to spoil this for you. There’s much fun to be had as the film slowly, but cleverly, flips the script. It’s masterful storytelling with exceptional acting, and while there are a few threads that don’t quite knit together well, it’s more than forgivable because so much does. Personally, I was overjoyed to see this film steer so far away from the original film’s story, making this more of a reimagining/reboot than a remake. Another basic slasher with a Christmas theme was not what anyone needed. I wanted something creative and that is what we get here.

What I didn’t expect was Silent Night, Deadly Night to be funny, in a really twisted way, nor did I expect it to have genuine heart. The latter coming from a set of characters who really likable (an amazing transformation for the character of Billy) and a blossoming relationship that is believable. The writing for the characters is great, but the actors nail the roles too. Rohan Campbell was given a lot of stick for Halloween Ends, but here, he shows off just how talented he is and how he is becoming a horror superstar.

Do you know what I did expect through? A ton of blood and guts, and Silent Night, Deadly Night does not disappoint when it comes to splashing the red stuff around. Billy gets to swing his axe around, crushing skulls, chopping off heads, splitting stomachs, removing limbs, and even burying it in some gonads. There’s no shying away from violence and gore here!

I also expected references, and the film doesn’t disappoint there either. With several kills being reminiscent of the original, several set-pieces switched around (no sexual assaults going on here – and one important scene is made consensual), and an awkward, but lovable, nod to the iconic second film is even thrown in. After all, it’s garbage day.

This film had no right being as good as it was in the end. It has its flaws, and some are more glaring than others, but as piece of festive horror entertainment that goes so much further than most remakes/reimaginings/reboots, it deserves its praise. I had a blast watching it, and if you want a creative take on Silent Night, Deadly Night, I think you will too.