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Film: Silent Night, Deadly Night
Year: 2025
Director: Mike P. Nelson
Writer: Mike P. Nelson
Starring: Rohan Campbell, Ruby Modine and Mack Acheson
Review:
This was a film that I didn’t even know was being made until close to it coming out. I know that I had a few people who checked it out before I did and it was recommended. I’m a fan of the original. The sequels are hit or miss, with varying levels of what I enjoyed. Seeing that this was a remake of the original did make me curious as to what we’d get. Other than that, I did come in blind.
Synopsis: a child witnesses his parents’ murder by a man in a Santa suit on Christmas Eve. Years later, as an adult, he dons the costume himself and embarks on a violent quest for retribution.
We start in the past where Billy Chapman (Logan Sawyer) with his family are going to visit his grandfather. His parents are Geoffrey (Erik Athavale) and Tara (Krystle Snow). The grandfather is played by Darren Felbel. This turns out to be traumatizing as his grandpa dies. Billy was in the room when it happened. Their drive home is even worse when Charlie (Mark Acheson), the janitor at the retirement home, kills his parents.
It then shifts to the present. Billy is now Rohan Campbell. He wakes from a nightmare of what happened to his family in a motel room. There is a voice that talks to him, belonging to Acheson. What we learn is that this isn’t his room. There is a dead body in the bathtub. Billy is a serial killer, who has a ritual of eliminating 24 people in accordance with the advent calendar. He has an old one with an interesting cover on it. He then leaves the complex, sees a police officer looking at a truck. He flees in a different direction.
Billy gets on a bus and wakes up in a small town. He goes into the diner. He tries to keep a low profile. A woman catches his eye. We learn that her name is Pamela Sims (Ruby Modine). He follows her to where she works where they have an awkward conversation. When he goes to leave, he sees that they need a stockboy. He applies for that position, meeting Pam's father. His name is Dean (David Lawrence Brown). He likes him well enough and he’s hired. This causes Billy and Pam to have another go at meeting. They then hit it off.
What I’ll include here is that Pam is a hothead. Her nephew and father point out that it's almost like she has another person inside of her, who is angry. This intrigues Billy as he’s in a similar position, with this voice talking to him, directing him to his next victim. It does more than that as Billy’s spree continues in this small town. There are secrets here, involving a child snatcher. Also, the townspeople have their own skeletons in the closet that will come to light during this rampage.
That is where I’ll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. I must first credit writer/director Mike P. Nelson. This is the third of his six features I've seen (after the Wrong Turn remake and his V/H/S/85 short). Interestingly, this is his second remake where he successfully honors the original while making it his own. I always advocate for personalizing existing properties, and I commend his effort here. While imperfect, I overall enjoyed it.
The film starts well, establishing the traumatic past of Billy with the death of his grandfather and the murder of his family. The adult Billy, now a serial killer, is introduced as he arrives in a small town. It's clear from the start he's an established killer, which requires suspending disbelief about him not being caught. His drifter lifestyle and potential for changing his MO would only go so far. A reveal about his targets might explain this. Overall, the plot hole is minor enough to overlook.
Billy's arguments with the voice, which he has heard for a long time, highlight their built-up trust, as it hasn't truly misled him. It also adds dark comedy, which oddly worked well. This interesting supernatural element, revealed later, partially explains his evasion and target choices. It almost positions him as an anti-hero, and I found myself rooting for things he does. Campbell is commendable, delivering a solid portrayal of this broken psyche, aided by his look. Another element is the different direction from most of the Silent Night, Deadly Night series.
Pam, the other lead, is attractive, which first draws Billy to her. She has an anger issue, evident when her nephew is bullied and she steps in as well as her resisting her abusive ex, Max Benedict, who struck her. This shared experience of anger and violence creates a kinship with Billy. Pam is also a true crime enthusiast and wants to leave town, creating a thematic crossroads since Billy seeks a place to stay.
Now I do need to shift to a negative. The supernatural element that is included for Billy to find his targets isn’t one of them. The fact of the people that he chooses in this town being as bad as they are is unbelievable. I’m going to tread lightly here to avoid spoilers since at the time of originally writing this, it has only been out for a weekend. Having this many bad people in one town is far-fetched. It could be considered to be a commentary on small towns and how easy it is to get away with things. To an extent, I agree. We are working with movie magic as well.
The last thing for the story is something else that is brought over from the original. I love that Billy dresses as Santa for his rampage. It has a couple of lines that made me smile, including Billy needing to punish. Another is when a manager tells him that it is ‘garbage day’. It is things like this as well as story elements to pay homage while doing its own thing.
That will be enough for the story. The acting performances were strong. Campbell is excellent as the lead with a broken psyche. Modine is effective, bringing a necessary trashiness to a role like this. Acheson is good as the haunting and helping voice for Billy. Brown, Athavale, Snow, Felbel, and Sawyer all perform well. Tomlinson, Rick Skene, James Durham, Sharon Bajer, and the remaining cast round out the ensemble, playing it straight with just enough dark comedy to maintain engagement.
All that is left then would be the filmmaking aspects. The film is well-shot, with excellent cinematography capturing the cold, small-town Midwestern atmosphere, despite the lack of snow. The framing is effective. The main issue is with the kill scenes, which leaves just a bit too much to the imagination, though the practical effects used were commendable. The music and sound design fit the tone. A consistently used, albeit odd, feature is a video game-like effect where the target's name pops up as Billy singles them out, like a mission objective.
In conclusion, this successfully updates the original's premise, blending effective trauma-driven horror with a surprisingly engaging anti-hero narrative. Writer/director Nelson honors the source material while infusing it with his own vision, most notably through the supernatural element and the performance of Campbell. While the sheer concentration of depravity in the small town stretches credibility, the film remains a dark and entertaining Christmas-themed slasher, bolstered by strong acting and solid technical execution, even if the violence occasionally pulls its punches. It stands as a worthy modern entry in the franchise.
My Rating: 7.5 out of 10