Silent Night, Deadly Night: Be Good for Goodness Sake!
Contains spoilers!
In my lead up to my watching this movie (first time, just last night), I assumed this movie would be about Santa Claus going around and killing knuckleheads. I was half right. What I didn’t expect from the film is how childhood trauma, when untreated and/or ignored, can drive us to terrible things. Released in 1984 and directed by Charles E. Sellier Jr., the film follows Billy (Jonathan Best as five-year-old Billy, Danny Wagner as eight-year-old Billy, and Robert Brian Wilson as Billy at age 18), who, at the tender age of five, sees his parents brutally murdered by a criminal (Charles Dierkop) in a Santa Claus outfit. As he grows older, Billy's hatred of the Christmas season culminates in a spree killing while he's dressed as- you guessed it- Santa.
After Billy's parents are murdered, he and his younger brother Ricky (Melissa Best as infant Ricky, Max Broadhead as four-year-old Ricky, and Alex Burton as fourteen-year-old Ricky) are sent to a Catholic orphanage, run by the abusive Mother Superior (Lilyan Chauvin). It could be argued that Mother Superior is the bigger villain than Billy, as her teachings of "wrongness must be punished" pushed Billy further over the edge. In contrast, Sister Margaret (Gilmer McCormick) genuinely wants to help Billy overcome his trauma, but her efforts are discouraged by Mother Superior. Billy's murders can be traced back to Mother Superior's severe teachings of what's right and wrong, naughty or nice.
In most slasher movies, we see the killer is already active and doing their thing. In this movie, though, we see something that isn’t normally explored in the genre: their beginning. It's explained to us, yes, why they're doing what they're doing. By then, though, the killer has already been active for an extended period. Billy's arc from a young, adolescent child to a crazed, murderous adult is, arguably, the most important aspect the film had to get right. They nail it, too. Robert Brian Wilson does a great job of portraying Billy as a ticking time bomb. In fact, it recalls a quote from Silence of the Lambs (1991): "Our Billy wasn’t born a criminal, Clarice. He was made one through years of systematic abuse."
Upon release, the film received a considerable amount of controversy, and it's not hard to see why. Santa Claus going around murdering is going to turn some heads. Add on top, the level of violence on display, and it's no wonder the film was pulled after two weeks. The film is solid, and I can see myself going back for another watch.
Cast
Robert Brian Wilson as Billy at age 18
Danny Wagner as eight-year-old Billy
Jonathan Best as five-year-old Billy
Alex Burton as fourteen-year-old Ricky
Max Broadhead as four-year-old Ricky
Melissa Best as infant Ricky
Lilyan Chauvin as Mother Superior
Gilmer McCormic as Sister Margaret
