Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)

USA, 1984
79m, 85m [uncut version]
35mm film, colour, 1.85:1
mono, English

An American horror film directed by Charles E. Sellier Jr.

Plot Summary

A young boy sees his parents murdered by a thief dressed in a Santa suit and grows up in an orphanage. As a young adult, he gets a job in a local store where he's expected to play Santa in the run-up to Christmas. But it's all too much for him and he starts a killing spree dressed as St Nick that terrorises the neighbourhood.

Credits

Crew
Director: Charles E. Sellier Jr
Slayride Inc, TriStar Pictures
Executive Producers: Scott J. Schneid, Dennis Whitehead
Producer: Ira Richard Barmak
Script: Michael Hickey
Story: Paul Caimi
Director of Photography: Henning Schellerup
Editor: Michael Spence
Music: Perry Botkin
Supervising Sound Editor: Bill Wistrom
Make-up: Perri Sorel
Hair: Perri Sorel
Special Effects: Rick Josephsen
Art Director: Linda Kiffe

Cast
Lilyan Chauvin (Mother Superior)
Gilmer McCormick (Sister Margaret)
Toni Nero (Pamela)
Robert Brian Wilson (Billy Chapman age 18)
Britt Leach (Mr Sims)
Nancy Borgenicht (Mrs Randall)
H.E.D. Redford (Captain Richards)
Linnea Quigley (Denise)
Leo Geter (Tommy)
Randy Stumpf (Andy)
Will Hare (Grandpa)
Tara Buckman (Ellie Chapman)
Charles Dierkop (killer Santa)
Eric Hart (Mr Levitt)
Jonathan Best (Billy Chapman age 5)
A. Madeline Smith (Sister Ellen)
Danny Wagner (Billy Chapman age 8)
Amy Stuyvesant (Cindy)
Max Robinson (Officer Barnes)
Oscar Rowland (Dr Conway)

Alternative Titles

Jouluy̦ murhay̦ РFinnish title
Slayride – shooting title
Stille Nacht – Horror Nacht – West German title

Links

Sequels
Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 (1987)
Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out! (1989)
Initiation: Silent Night, Deadly Night 4 (1990)
Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toy Maker (1992)

Extracts included in
Hollywood Uncensored (1987)

References

Periodicals

• L'Écran Fantastique no.52 (January 1985) p.10 – note (Cineflash: Echos de tournage by Glles Polinien)
• Fangoria no.159 (January 1997) pp.64-70 – illustrated article (Christmas Evil: Santa Done Right by Keith Bearden)
• The Hollywood Reporter vol.284 no.24 (9 November 1984) pp.3, 25; 35 – review
• Variety 7 November 1984 p.18 – credits, review (by Jagr)

Books

• The Aurum Film Encyclopedia: Horror by Phil Hardy (ed.) p.395
• The Films of the Eighties by Robert A. Nowlan and Gwendolyn Wright Nowlan p.518
• Horror and Science Fiction Films IV by Donald C. Willis p.455
• Horror Films of the 1980s by John Kenneth Muir pp.410-412 – credits, synopsis, review

Other sources

• BFI Southbank Guide December 2016 p.41 – illustrated listing