Cheap Silent Night, Bloody Night (DVD) (Theodore Gershuny) Price

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Customer Reviews of Silent Night, Bloody Night

Silent Night , Sort of Bloody night
This was an interesting film that was par for the time it was made. The filming was sort of interesting especially when showing the view of the serial killer(The First person view sort of speak). The story was pretty good yet a tad over the top but as you know most horror films are a bit over the top. There is one really bloody scene at the beggining of the film that was graphic but after that don't espect too much blood. I thought this scene was done well and pretty graphic even for today's times. The music in this film is a bit hokey on certain parts but not too bad. The acting was not horrible but it was'nt great either. The part of the film that really stands out to me is the flashback scene. This really made the film spooky. The strange filming it used and the crazy story it explaned helped me like the movie alot more than I otherwise would have. The dvd version I saw came in a four horror film pack called horror classic's. I thought the sound could have been improved and certain scenes could have been transfered more clearly to the dvd but I guess I should just be glad it was even made into dvd format. Overall I think the film is worth a watch or two late at night.

Watchable...kinda.
SILENT NIGHT, BLOODY NIGHT is one of the earliest of the "slasher" flicks. It inspired such movies as BLACK CHRISTMAS and to a lesser extent, SCREAM. There are a lot of things in this movie that have become staples of slasher films, such as the maniac calling the victims on the phone, and keeping the viewers guessing as to the identity of the killer.

The plot for this movie is a good, albeit simple one. The killer calls the eventual victims and lures them to a house where they meet their eventual demise. However, there are a lot of sub plots (rivaling the nighttime soaps Dallas and Dynasty!) that I found a little difficult to keep up with. Like EVIL DEAD, almost the entire movie takes place in a single night (with the exception of flashbacks, obviously). But unlike EVIL DEAD, there isn't really enough action to sustain it.

The cast is pretty well stocked, with early scream queen Mary Woronov, Patrick O'Neal and John Carradine (who was pretty much wasted in his role). The acting is sufficient to above average, but don't look for anything outstanding here. And although the writing suffers a little in my opinion, there is a lot of well-written dialogue in this film.

The base plot is as follows: Wilfred Butler dies, and leaves his house, grounds and all the belongings (which was used as an insane asylum for a few years) to his only surviving relative (isn't it always that way?), Jeff Butler. The only condition is that he has to keep the house in the same state that it was when he owned it. Jeff adheres to his grandfather's wishes for twenty years, but finally decides to sell it. PLOT POINT: The news travels to a local insane asylum, where we see an escape, but we don't know who it is that escapes. I don't think the writers did, either.

Shortly afterwards, Jeff's lawyer and his mistress arrive to sell the house, and decide to stay in the house overnight. Big mistake. They're the first victims in this new round of killings. Their murders are both violent and bloody. The rest of the film shows the killer luring the victims to the house over the phone. The killer goes by the name Mary Ann, who happens to be Jeff's mother, who as far as he knows died in childbirth. And his father turns out to be none other than his grandfather! The ending itself could have been written a lot better, but the person who turns out to be the killer is a bit of a surprise. But alas, that too turned into a letdown.

The biggest problem with this film is the lighting, or lack thereof. Almost the entire movie is filmed at night, and there seems to be little, if any lighting. There's a scene in the local newspaper office (run by Carradine) where the entire shot seems to be lighted by the single lightbulb hanging from the ceiling! Even the flashlights aren't powerful on this movie (the scene from BLAIR WITCH PROJECT with Heather holding the flashlight to her face is reminiscent of this).

Overall, it's watchable. But the poor lighting, confusing sub-plots and the bad ending pulls it down from a three to a two.