Category: Holidays

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Christmas Horror Revisited 🪓 Part 2

SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT (1984) Young Billy’s crazy grandfather plays mind games with the kid by instilling in him the idea that Santa Claus punishes those who’ve been naughty. This is followed by Billy witnessing the murder of his parents by a scumbag in a Santa outfit, culminating with the boy’s mental collapse years later at a Catholic orphanage—where he festers in a hotbed of sexual frustration and psychopathic tendencies. Come the holiday season, a teenage Billy (Robert Brian Wilson) completely snaps and—with axe in hand—goes on a Christmas Eve killing spree. After bumping off the usual foul-mouthed bullies and horny teens, he heads back to the orphanage to dispatch the strict Mother Superior (Lilyan Chauvin) who reinforced “punishment” methods that helped fuel Billy’s rage. Silent Night, Deadly Night was blasted by critics, and especially parents’ groups, for its negative depiction of Santa as a homicidal maniac. They missed the point, as the movie is really more anti-religion than anything else. I’m perhaps giving the film more credit than it deserves; nonetheless, Silent Night, Deadly Night is a thoroughly entertaining and unabashedly campy Yuletide splatterfest. (Currently not streaming.)

SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT PART 2 (1987) Teenage Ricky (Eric Freeman), the younger brother of the Santa Claus killer from Part 1, is locked up in an institution after committing his own string of murders. (This doesn’t come to the surprise of anyone who remembers the climactic stinger of the first movie, where Ricky shouts “Naughty!” after witnessing Big Bro’s demise.) After ruminating about Billy’s massacre (which incorporates 30 minutes of flashback footage) and his own subsequent killing spree, Ricky kills his psychiatrist, dons a Santa outfit, and returns to the family business of slaughtering innocent people. The viewer will most likely not mind since the majority of Ricky’s victims are rapists, loan sharks, and general douchebags. The black humored violence offsets the film’s mean-spiritedness, especially the scene where Ricky kills a loud-mouthed jerk at a theater showing a movie about a killer Santa. Other humorous moments include Ricky returning to his childhood orphanage, the street number of which is 666. On the whole, Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 is a lesser sequel that’s not quite as bad as its reputation suggests. Just don’t expect a Christmas miracle. (Currently streaming on Prime, Roku, Tubi, and Shudder.)

SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT 3: BETTER WATCH OUT! (1989) Ricky, the Santa Claus killer from Part 2, has been lying in a coma since being blasted out a window with a shotgun. Laura (Samantha Scully), a young blind woman with extrasensory perception, unknowingly forms a psychic connection with Ricky (Bill Moseley)—the result of a devious neurologist’s obsession with waking the serial killer by abusing Laura’s powers under false pretenses. The doc’s plans work as Ricky awakens and, with knife in hand, follows Laura and her brother to their grandmother’s country house for Christmas. Ricky ditches the Santa gear for a plastic medical bubble he wears on his head, exposing his brain. (In the previous film, Ricky was shot in the gut, not the head, leaving the viewer questioning this bit of flamboyant headgear.) But Silent Night, Deadly Night 3 isn’t written within the realms of logic—by this point in the series, story and continuity are incidental, and the film designed to appeal to the splatter crowd by offering up gory delights. This would explain how Ricky has morphed into a seemingly unstoppable killing machine, punching through doors and able to withstand multiple gunshot wounds. There’s some suspense towards the end, but the killing of too many likable characters makes Better Watch Out! a bummer. The disemboweling of the Evil Doctor is a highlight. (Currently streaming on Tubi.)

SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT 4: INITIATION (1990) Intrepid reporter Kim (Neith Hunter) stumbles upon the bizarre death of a woman in downtown Los Angeles, but her male coworkers dismiss the crime as unimportant. So Kim decides to investigate herself, which leads her to bookstore owner Fima (Maud Adams), who slowly initiates Kim into a cult of man-hating, lesbian pagans. At first Kim enjoys her new female cohorts—until she realizes Fima is using her as part of some sacrificial offering to Lilith, the Biblical Adam’s first wife and witch. The writers abandon the Ricky/killer Santa storyline from the previous Silent Night, Deadly Nights and instead focus on a supernatural tale infused with themes not usually found in slasher movies, such as lesbianism and New Age feminism. There’s a character named Ricky (Clint Howard), but it’s unclear whether it’s the same Ricky from Parts 2 and 3. It doesn’t matter much, as this Ricky ends up getting eviscerated and thrown to the curb where a bunch of oversized bugs feast on his innards. None of the film makes a lick of sense, but in its own way Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation works. It’s weird, it’s gross, and it’s never dull. (Currently streaming on Tubi.)

SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT 5: THE TOY MAKER (1991) Young Derek (William Thorne) receives a mysterious toy as a Christmas gift, which comes to life and kills the boy’s father. The murderous device seems to be the product of Joe Petto (Mickey Rooney), a local toymaker whose once thriving business is dying, turning the man into an abusive alcoholic. Petto takes most of his anger out on his teenage son, Pino (Brian Bremer). As the story progresses and more people are slaughtered, Petto slips on the proverbial Santa suit, breaks into homes, and unleashes his army of killer toys—leading to the predictable kidnapping of Derek and “revelation” that Pino is a robot, several screws short of sane. Silent Night, Deadly Night 5 doesn’t have any qualms about ripping off Pinocchio. In fact, the majority of the film is done tongue-in-cheek, which would explain the casting of Rooney, who publicly berated the original Silent Night, Deadly Night for its use of Santa as a serial killer. As with the other films in the SNDN series, if you enjoyed one, you’ll most likely enjoy The Toy Maker. All others will give it a wide berth. Director Martin Kitrosser would later become Quentin Tarantino’s script supervisor. (Currently streaming on Tubi and Roku.)

Happy Holidays!!!

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Christmas Horror Revisited 🎄 Part 1

Black Christmas – 1974, Canada, 98m. Director: Bob Clark.

Black Christmas – 2006, US, 95m. Director: Glen Morgan.

Bloodbeat – 1983, US, 87m. Director: Fabrice-Ange Zaphiratos.

Silent Night, Bloody Night – 1972, US, 84m. Director: Theodore Gershuny.

To All a Goodnight – 1980, US, 87m. Director: David Hess.

BLACK CHRISTMAS (1974) (AKA: Silent Night, Evil Night) The template for what would become the modern slasher movie, Black Christmas took the “killer’s-in-the-house” urban legend—later popularized in When a Stranger Calls and Scream—and transformed it into an influential, white-knuckle chiller. A sorority house becomes the perfect hiding spot for a killer who’s taken up residence inside the attic over the quiet Christmas break. The maniac eventually moves from voyeurism to murder, sparking a police investigation into a series of disturbing phone calls, which could be coming from the mentally unhinged boyfriend (Kier Dullea) of one of the house’s students (Olivia Hussey). Much like Halloween (which borrows quite liberally from this film), Black Christmas focuses more on character and suspense than on-screen bloodshed, building to an effective climax—the creepy twist ending gives the film another layer of psychological horror that stays with you. Tightly-paced and tautly directed by Bob Clark, this first-rate thriller was initially ignored but rapidly achieved cult status through late-night showings on television. Clark went on to helm another holiday classic, 1983’s A Christmas Story. (Streaming on Prime, Peacock, Tubi, and Shudder.)

BLACK CHRISTMAS (2006) The hot-to-trot sorority sisters of Delta Alpha Kappa get shish-kebabbed in more ways than one in this violent updating of the Bob Clark original. Expanding on the backstory only hinted at in the 1974 film, this version pits the sorority not only against the demented activities of escaped murderer Billy Lenz (Robert Mann) but his equally psychotic sister, Agnes, both of whom enjoy plucking out the eyeballs of their victims and masticating on the gooey remains—in extreme close-up. Former X-Files producer Glen Morgan directs the movie with an ’90s-inspired fervor that, for most of its 80-plus minutes, is so relentlessly paced the viewer might experience whiplash. The Alpha Kappas are all personality-infused—House Mother Mrs. Mac is played by the original’s Andrea Martin—yet their gory demises don’t muster the sympathy we felt for the ’74 characters. A harmless, colorful remake. (Streaming on Paramount+, Tubi, and Freevee.)

BLOODBEAT (1983) A family—many of whom are embedded with psychic/telekinetic powers—celebrating Christmas in rural Wisconsin are terrorized by the bloodthirsty spirit of a samurai warrior. How and why this malevolent being is targeting this specific family is never explained; the same can be said about their powers, which the clan’s mother (Helen Benton) is best at controlling. What is clear is that the samurai wields a mighty blade, used to slice open the neighbors while Benton and gang try to create a psychic barrier to protect themselves. An offbeat little film made all the more surreal by director Fabrice-Ange Zaphiratos’s handling of the material, which has an overly European flair. Granted, this lends the film an otherworldly feel, but to a degree Bloodbeat is often too surreal, creating a mixed watching experience for the viewer—some will appreciate Zaphiratos’s artsy aesthetic, others will loathe it. Either way, one can’t deny Bloodbeat‘s commitment to the form; whether it works or not is up to you. (Streaming on Tubi.)

SILENT NIGHT, BLOODY NIGHT (1972) (AKA: Night of the Dark Full Moon and Death House) On Christmas Eve, 1950, a man named Wilfred Butler is immolated in his country estate, the crime later pronounced a suicide. Twenty years later, Butler’s grandson sells the house to a group of town officials, all of whom want to forget about the tragedy and tear the building down. The demolition plans—as well as the estate lawyer’s use of the house’s bedroom for sex with his much younger girlfriend—are interrupted by the activities of a hatchet-wielding madman. The killer’s arrival coincides with that of Butler’s grandson (James Patterson) and the escape of a patient from the local sanitarium. All of the bloodshed is over an incident that happened decades earlier when Butler turned his mansion into a home for the mentally ill, subsequently committing his own daughter as a patient. The plot gets a little confusing towards the climax, but Silent Night, Bloody Night is too good to dismiss. The mystery is intriguing enough to keep viewers engaged, and the axe-murders have enough splatter to please gorehounds. The use of the killer’s POV and Joseph Mohr’s “Silent Night” predates Black Christmas. Look for Andy Warhol superstars Candy Darling and Ondine in a flashback. Highly recommended. (Streaming on Prime and Tubi.)

TO ALL A GOODNIGHT (1980) The snotty young women of Calvin’s Finishing School are bumped off over Christmas vacation by a demented killer in this trashy but enjoyable rip-off of Black Christmas. A student plunges to her death, the boyfriend of one of the girls is subdued from behind while sneaking around the garden, yet another student is stabbed in the heart with a buck knife. The arrival of more boyfriends creates a holiday buffet for the killer, who’s decked out in a Santa Claus outfit and mask. Virginal good girl Jennifer Runyon begins to suspect foul play when her partying cohorts begin disappearing and reappearing without their heads. The Bible-thumping groundskeeper warns of impending doom in a darkly humorous scene that’s juxtaposed with the killer burying a victim’s decapitated body. The screenplay does the story a disservice by injecting a police investigation into the plot and slowing down momentum. Luckily, the cops are quickly dispatched before the school’s No. 1 nymphet discovers her friend’s head in the shower. The film’s use of good makeup FX and a clever twist should help viewers to ignore the stiff acting and ridiculous plot conveniences, making this a decent addition to the yuletide slasher collection. (Streaming on MGM+.)

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💔 My Bloody Valentine 💔

My Bloody Valentine – 1981, Canada, 90m, 93m (unrated version). Director: George Milhalka. Streaming: MGM+ via Roku, Pluto TV

My Bloody Valentine – 2009, Canada/US, 101m. Director: Patrick Lussier. Streaming: Tubi

MY BLOODY VALENTINE (1981) The small mining town of Valentine Bluffs is putting together a grand February 14 celebration, the first in twenty years. The annual Valentine’s Day dance was permanently axed after 1960, when an explosion trapped five miners underground—one of whom, Harry Warden, went completely berserk and killed and ate his fellow survivors. Warden was sent to an asylum but escaped and—with pick ax in hand—butchered the town’s fat cats, who were too busy enjoying themselves at the Valentine’s party to assemble a rescue team for the buried miners. The present day resurrection of the town’s Valentine’s activities sparks a new series of murders, forcing the sheriff to cancel the big romantic event. That doesn’t stop a group of miners and their girlfriends from doing a bit of partying in the mine tunnels, the perfect location for a Valentine’s Day massacre when Harry Warden apparently returns to the scene of the crime. My Bloody Valentine is a compendium of the slasher sub-genre’s tried-and-true formulas, right down to the final battle pitting the remaining teens against the masked killer. And it all works, with a lot of the credit going to director George Mihalka’s eye for likable characters and suspenseful set pieces, including the climactic underground cat-and-mouse chase. Juicy kills and some actual scares help to make My Bloody Valentine a winner. B+

MY BLOODY VALENTINE (2009) After surviving a tunnel collapse, miner Harry Warden goes bananas and whacks his fellow survivors on the noggin with a pick ax. Warden escapes custody and goes on a mass killing spree—with a body count slightly less than the Iraq War—before being shot by police and running off into the night. The victims who eluded Harry’s wrath have been trying to live normal lives in the years following the massacre, but the upcoming sale of the town’s mine by the owner’s son (Jensen Ackles) ignites a new bloodbath in the form of the apparently still alive Harry Warden. The violence quota is definitely higher in this remake, with plenty of people ending up with their chest cavities opened and their hearts missing. The characters aren’t as memorable as in the 1981 film, but the gimmick here is the use of 3D cameras and the (literally) eye-popping make-up FX that shoot off the screen—and presumably into the audience’s laps. In that regard, My Blood Valentine ’09 delivers the goods in bucketloads of splatter. It overstays its welcome and gets a little too busy with a needless subplot, but hardcore slasher (and remake) fans shouldn’t find that a deterrent. B

Please listen to The Video Verdict’s episode on My Bloody Valentine! You can find it on Spotify!

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Christmas Horror Movie Roundup

Happy Holidays! With the Christmas season upon us, I decided to write about a myriad of holiday horror flicks that I usually watch (or avoid) every year. In order, from my favorite to least favorite, here is a list of yuletide horror movies ranging from classics to holiday turkeys. (I did not include any of the Silent Night, Deadly Night movies as they are all thoroughly reviewed in a separate post. You can find the link below!)

Krampus (2015) A dysfunctional family celebrating the holiday together is menaced by a Christmas demon and its curse, which is accidentally summoned by the family’s youngest boy after he loses faith in the season. After an uneven first 20 minutes that essentially play like a mini-remake of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, the film kicks into high gear and delivers a crackerjack tale of monsters and survival as the family is bombarded by all manner of creatures, including a 15-foot-long jack-in-the-box with a mouth full of sharp teeth. Director and co-writer Michael Dougherty understands the mechanics of such a movie and keeps the pace moving briskly, while the cast is spirited and likable, including Toni Collette as the harried mom. B+

Black Christmas (2006) An energetic and gory remake of the classic original, with the pretty coeds of a large sorority house menaced by an escaped mental patient (Robert Mann) and his equally demented sister, both of whom enjoy plucking out the eyeballs of their victims. Fans of the 1974 film might not like director Glen (Final Destination) Morgan’s comic book handling of the material, and while the story structure is a mess, it’s still an immensely enjoyable splatter-fest. B+

Blood Beat (1983) An obscure supernatural slasher about a small family spending Christmas in rural Wisconsin, who find themselves in danger when the bloodthirsty spirit of a samurai warrior is accidentally summoned by a psychic friend. This takes too long to get moving and is plagued with unnecessary subplots (two characters are psychic!), but once the paranormal stuff kicks in, this is an enjoyable, nonsensical myriad of oddball aesthetics and dream-like structure. Writer/director Fabrice-Ange Zaphiratos admitted to being on drugs at the time he wrote the screenplay, which explains a lot. B  

Silent Night, Bloody Night (1972) A surprisingly enjoyable low budget psycho-thriller about a maniac killing people in and around a country estate (which holds a dark past), and later calling would-be victims in hushed tones, pontificating about the crimes – a plot point later used in Dressed to Kill. Stiffly acted and at times a bit slow, this is nonetheless a good little flick with well-written characters and a dense atmosphere. The use of the killer’s POV predates Black Christmas, and a plot twist 30 minutes in is genuinely shocking. Look for Andy Warhol superstars Ondine and Candy Darling in a flashback. Definitely worthy of rediscovery! B

To All a Goodnight (1980) Taking its cues from both Halloween and Black Christmas, this low-grade slasher has a sorority house terrorized on Christmas break by a killer wearing a Santa outfit. Jennifer Runyon is the virginal, Laurie Strode-like character while everyone else is essentially just killer fodder. Suspense and surprises are replaced in favor of gore, with a couple of juicy splatter pieces supplied by ’80s FX wizard Mark Shostrom (A Nightmare on Elm Street 3). Not the greatest slasher around, but it’s charming and the spirited cast keeps things moving. This also gets points for predating Silent Night, Deadly Night by four years. B–

Silent Night (2012) A small town is terrorized by someone in a Santa costume killing those who’ve been naughty in this cheerfully bloody remake of Silent Night, Deadly Night. Although the script is filled with uninspired characters and mundane situations, the violence and action are packed in, with the particularly brutal death of a woman in a wood chipper (perhaps in a nod to Fargo?) a highlight. The dime-store atmospherics are obvious, but that shouldn’t prevent you from enjoying this harmless bit of entertainment, no matter how lapsed in logic it may be. Keep an eye out for Donal Logue as a perverted department store Santa. B–

Home for the Holidays (1972) Joseph (Psycho) Stefano-penned television chiller about four sisters who are summoned to their sick father’s estate at Christmastime, where claims that his new wife (Julie Harris) is slowly poisoning him. Not long after arriving, the women are stalked by someone in a rain slicker, carrying a pitchfork. Could it be the “evil” stepmother, or does someone else have an insidious agenda? A good cast, including Sally Field and Jessica Walter, help elevate this above its mediocre melodramatics, as does slick direction from John Llewellyn Moxey (The Night Stalker). C+

Deadly Games: Dial Code Santa Claus (1989) A young boy (Alain Musy) obsessed with Rambo-like action movies must protect his home and elderly grandfather (Louis Ducreux) when a maniac (Patrick Floersheim) dressed as Santa breaks into their house on Christmas Eve. This spirited French film predates Home Alone with its booby trap scenarios, and although it has several fun moments the overall effect is unfortunately bogged down in the film’s flashy visuals and kooky concept, muting a lot of its impact. C+

Don’t Open till Christmas (1984) Someone in a mask is slaughtering Santas on the streets of London in this dopey yuletide slasher. Not nearly as entertaining as the same producer’s Pieces, this is riddled with stupid characters – with perhaps the first protagonist couple who are both panhandlers! – and unbelievable situations, but its overtly sleazy atmosphere mixed with a cheery Christmas vibe creates an undeniably unique slasher flick experience, even if it’s a dumb one. As with most Euro-slashers, this lacks the charm and zest of its American counterparts. C

Christmas Evil (1980) Those expecting a fun splatter flick in the vein of Silent Night, Deadly Night will be disappointed in this existential melodrama about a mentally scarred factory worker (Brandon Maggart) who snaps at Christmastime and goes on a killing spree. Not nearly as entertaining as it sounds, this is too dull and dry to be of any interest, with flat, unexciting direction from Lewis Jackson and a hammy performance by Maggart. C–

Better Watch Out (2017) A babysitter (Olivia DeJonge) is tied up and terrorized by her infatuated charge (Levi Miller) and his friend on Christmas Eve in this juvenile, run-of-the-mill potboiler. Riddled with cliches and extremely predictable twists, it’s all photographed in over-saturated colors and high-gloss lighting, making it feel more like a very long commercial for Abercrombie and Fitch than an actual movie. The cast is annoying (especially Miller, who’s awful) and the screenplay a joke. Zero scares, zero suspense, zero interest. Better watch at your own risk. D

Black Christmas (2019) A new remake that feels tired, this ultra-modern take is so far removed from the classic Bob Clark film it’s a wonder why the filmmakers even bothered with the Black Christmas name. The plot (a sorority is targeted by a cloaked killer during the Christmas break) is rendered pointless by the halfway point because of the overbearingly pretentious excesses the screenplay piles on; it’s more concerned with aggressively annoying characters than story. It’s the kind of hollow script (by Sophia Takal and April Wolfe) that thinks feminism is female characters using the word “bitch,” when it’s nothing more than fake sentiment created merely to seem hip. A bloodless, lifeless Christmas turkey, this gives new meaning to the term lowest common denominator. It’s also an example of the classic saying: if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it. F

ALSO – If you haven’t yet please check out my in-depth review of the Silent Night, Deadly Night and also Versus: Black Christmas!

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VERSUS – Black Christmas ’74

Welcome to a new feature on Matt’s Horror Addiction: VERSUS. Versus takes one film and presents two opposing opinions in head-to-head reviews with my friend and horror movie aficionado, Frank Pittarese. We’ll explain why we loved and hated the same movie, and you can decide who’s right!

Plot

As Christmas break gets underway, a mysterious someone stalks the women of a sorority house, secretly killing them one by one. At the center of the storm is the troubled Jess, who might be closer to the killer than she even suspects. While her friends vanish (and the body count rises), Jess begins to feel more and more targeted. Can she survive the night, even as the police try to protect her?  

Matt’s Opinion

From the opening shot of the colorful light-strewn sorority house accompanied by a quiet rendition of “Silent Night”, to the surprisingly bleak ending, Bob Clark’s Black Christmas is one of those movies that always casts a spell whenever I watch it. It’s a special kind of horror film. It can appeal to the traditionally non-horror viewer with its murder mystery angle, but it also appeals to the horror fan because it’s clever and scary and knows how to get under your skin. It successfully takes the bright and cheery feel of the holiday season and turns it on its head.

Right after the opening scene, establishing the looming sorority house as the center of the impending doom, we get a startling POV shot of the killer. Although Silent Night, Bloody Night used a similar POV gimmick two years earlier, here it feels more embedded into the plot: the identity of the killer is of no importance to the story and the less we see of the character (and through his eyes) and creepier the set-up. What is important, and what Clark wisely sets up quickly, is the cast of characters, all of whom are smart, likable, and have vastly different personalities, something later slasher flicks would ignore. The characters include Barb (Margot Kidder), the sexually empowered loudmouth, Phyl (Andrea Martin), the mousy best friend, Mrs. Mac (Marian Waldman), the house mother and functioning alcoholic, Peter (Keir Dullea), the high-strung boyfriend, and Jess (Olivia Hussey), the headstrong (and non-virginal) final girl. As with the best of horror, we sympathize and relate to these characters and want to see them survive.

What screenwriter Roy Moore understood (and what many later horror movies never grasped) is that it’s well-written, sympathetic characters that fuels the suspense. Sure, it’s fun to watch dumb teens and hunky frat guys getting their throats ripped to shreds. What makes it scary is when we don’t want to see them get hurt. While thrilling, and often funny, the script also deals with heavy issues not usually found in horror movies during its time of release. And, although not the first movie to feature the “killer is in the house” urban legend, it is the first to utilize the scenario to its fullest effect. Grade: A–

Frank’s Opinion

Okay, I know I’m supposed to love this movie. EVERYONE loves this movie. It ticks all the right boxes: It’s a slasher film! It inspired Halloween! It’s Christmas horror! It’s directed by Bob Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things Clark! But I just don’t love it. To be fair, I don’t hate it — it’s just that too many things keep me from connecting with it.

The spine of of the film is solid. There IS a good story there. It’s shocking, at times, and the last ten minutes are exciting. The cast is (mostly) terrific. Marian Waldman as housemother Mrs. Mac steals every scene she’s in, Margot Kidder stands out as the brash Barb, and Andrea Martin’s Phyl is just plain endearing. But…BUT…then there’s Olivia Hussey.

The whole movie rests on Hussey’s shoulders. Her character, Jess, is the one around which all the action flows, but she’s distractingly bad in this (full disclosure: I think she’s distractingly bad in everything). Her performance creates a blockade between me and the enjoyment of this film. It’s compounded by the character having legit, dramatic scenes where Hussey’s flaws are even more pronounced. I can’t worry about Jess if what I really want is for her to be killed off so other characters can shine.

Cutaways to the police investigation stall every hint of suspense and drag out the film’s already slow-moving pace. The prolonged tracing of obscene/threatening phone calls is a torturous interruption, as we shift focus away from the house — and the danger — time and time again. Too much footage is devoted to the development of a red herring, one which might make sense for the characters, but which is implausible for the audience, all for the sake of a final act shocker. These things drain the film’s energy. I get impatient.

This was my third viewing in six years’ time. I keep hoping it’ll click, but it doesn’t. Again, there IS a good story in there, somewhere — but the execution leaves me wanting more. Grade: C

Versus will return in 2022!

Frank Pittarese is a Brooklyn comic book editor and horror movie buff. You can follow him on Instagram and Twitter.

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Horror Movie Alternatives for Halloween Night

If you’re not in the mood for Michael Myers or paranormal activities this Halloween you might want to check out these equally creepy flicks that’ll make your holiday night just as heart-pumping. With the help of my friends and fellow horror nerds, Frank Pittarese and Aaron Reid, I’ve compiled a list of horror movie alternatives for your All Hallow’s Eve viewing pleasure!

Bad Ronald (1974) Ronald Wilby, teen misfit and social pariah, accidentally kills a young girl — so his overprotective mother (Kim Hunter) hides him in a secret room in their home. But when his mother dies, a new family moves into the house, unaware that an unhinged Ronald lurks within their walls. This made-for-TV thriller is one of my all-time favorites. They pack a lot into the 74 minute running time, giving Ronald a whole arc — from loser to lunatic — and we almost get two movies in one: the Ronald/Mom story, then the Ronald/Wood Family story. There’s a constant, underlying eerie discomfort in watching Ronald grow into a dangerous stalker, and Scott Jacoby runs the gamut from pitiful to creepy. You almost feel for the little weirdo. The climax is a bit abrupt, like they were holding back from doing something intense, but that (aside from an unintentionally comedic death) is my only minor gripe. -Frank Pittarese

Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell (1978) After their dog dies in an “accident,” the Barry family adopts a German Shepard puppy. What they don’t know is that the pup was bred by Satan himself, as a demonic creature, which soon takes possession of the family, starting with the children. This made-for-TV horror flick is most memorable for the kids. Co-stars Kim Richards (yep, the one from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills) and Ike Eisenmann shared the big screen together twice before in Disney’s Escape/Return to Witch Mountain. Here, the wholesome pair head into new territory, becoming a couple of evil brats. Richard Crenna stars as their dad, forced to believe the unbelievable after the Satanic dog starts killing people (and after his wife starts slutting it up with Cliff Barnes from Dallas). While slow-paced, and suffering from some terrible special effects, this one is still enjoyable, if not thrilling. As a kid, the dog’s demonic form actually scared me, but I was a pushover like that. -FP

Drag Me to Hell (2009) “A dark spirit has come upon you.” Christine aspires to get the Assistant Manager promotion at the bank and is willing to make difficult choices to get her coveted job, including foreclosing on an elderly woman rather than granting one more extension. She soon regrets her heartless handling of the matter when she finds herself cursed. Inexplicable omens and visions of demons torment her until there is no denying she’s hexed. I decided to rewatch the unrated director’s cut of this cursed affair – the additional gore and extended scenes enhanced an already worthy horror. The impressive cast, creepy score, and beautiful cinematography amount to a classic story with personality. The pacing is flawless right up until the shocking ending. As Christine learns, be careful who you wrong in life because you just might be dragged to… Well, you know. “You will burn in Hell.” -Aaron Reid

Ghost Ship (2002) “We’re not the first people to board this ship.” A salvage crew discovers the lost MS Antonia Graza at sea, a mysterious luxury vessel that’s been missing for forty years. They board the ship to claim the riches inside, but the ghosts haunting this deadly cruise liner have other plans for their guests. I rewatched this haunted movie and returned to the ill-fated cruise ship for its final voyage. The opening sequence detailing what happened to the doomed passengers is still one of the most memorable and horrific scenes, to say the least. This haunted movie has an impressive ensemble cast coupled with creepy moments and a complicated storyline, making this horror a worthy rewatch contender, especially in October. The cliffhanger ending is a nice touch, wrapping up this haunting with a wink. If you‘ve never watched or it’s been a while, add this one to your list.  “We’re all trapped here.” -AR

Hell Night (1981) One of the better ’80s slashers, this creepy nightmare features Linda Blair as a new sorority pledge who along with a fellow pledge sister (Suki Goodwin), a horny frat hunk (Vincent Van Patton), and a frat gentleman (Peter Barton), are forced to spend the night in old Garth Manor, a gothic, abandoned mansion that is rumored to be haunted. The ghosts are tricks played on them by their school chums, but the murders are very real and the product of a deformed ancestor who still calls the manor home. Likable characters, a moody, Halloween-costume atmosphere, and some actual suspense make this terrific nighttime viewing. -Matt Dalton

House of Dark Shadows (1970) The first movie adaptation of the classic TV series, Dark Shadows, this is essentially a retelling one of the show’s most popular plots, that of 200-year-old vampire, Barnabas Collins (Jonathan Frid), as he awakens within his coffin in modern day Collinsport, Maine, and feasts on the blood of his living relatives. This is a crisp, handsome production with excellent acting from Frid and the rest of the Dark Shadows ensemble, including cast regulars Nancy Barrett and Joan Bennett. It also happens to be one of the most effective vampire flicks of the ’70s. -MD

The Norliss Tapes (1973) Roy Thinnes stars as David Norliss, an occult investigator, called into action by Ellen Cort (Angie Dickenson), who was attacked in the night by her walking dead husband. As the body count rises, it becomes apparent that there’s a sinister secret behind James Cort’s resurrection — something demonic. Made for TV, this Dan Curtis production feels a whole lot like The Night Stalker, Curtis’s very successful pilot film that aired the previous year. That movie got a sequel and a TV series. The Norliss Tapes did not. But the structure is the same. We have a supernatural creature, an investigation, occasional cutaways to some poor soul getting murdered, and an overarching narration from the lead character. In this case, the narration comes from tapes, recorded by Norliss. Had this gone to series, that would have been the monster-of-the-week format. Unlike The Night Stalker, this is mostly humorless, and the opening ten minutes that set up the “tapes” premise is incredibly dull. But from then on, turn off the lights and soak it in, because this is Dan Curtis doing what he does best: death, crypts, and shock-value storytelling. -FP

Session 9 (2001) Although it doesn’t contain the typical horror movie tropes or slasher cliches, Session 9 is so unnerving and suspenseful that it’ll keep you on the edge of your seat while you down your popcorn and candy corn. Taking place almost entirely within the walls of a former sanitarium, the film follows a small asbestos removal team as they try to clean the place before the week is over. Tensions builds among the coworkers as personalities butt and ulterior motives are brought to light. Although its paranoia subplot seems to have been borrowed from The Thing, this is a smart movie with interesting characters and an overwhelmingly bleak environment that adds to the plot’s intensity. It all leads to a genuinely disturbing ending. -MD

Sleepy Hollow (1999) Tim Burton’s atmosphere-drenched adaptation of the famous Washington Irving story was a return to form for the director after the lunacy of Mars Attacks! with a perfectly cast Johnny Depp as the nervous Ichabod Crane who’s sent to the small village of the title to investigate a series of bizarre murders. The chilly, woodsy setting along with the visually rich set decorations of jack-o-lanterns, scarecrows, and the Headless Horseman ring true for a dazzling Halloween viewing. -MD

Frank Pittarese has been an editor of comic books for 30 years. You can follow him on Instagram and Twitter. A Massachusetts native, Aaron Reid is also on Instagram and writes movie reviews for Letterboxd.

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The SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT Saga

This post contains spoilers!

Slayride

The early 1980s were a great time for the movies, especially horror, specifically the slasher. The successes of Halloween and Friday the 13th opened the floodgates for independent filmmakers to make movies on the cheap with a guaranteed profit, especially if they supplied the audience with their growing appetite for on-screen splatter. 

One of the more infamous slashers of that era was Charles E. Sellier Jr.’s cheerfully sleazy Silent Night, Deadly Night. Originally called Slayride, the flick opens on Christmas Eve, 1971, as a young mother (Tara Buckman) and father (Geoff Hanson) drive their small children to see crazy old Grandpa (Will Hare), who’s living at a remote mental health facility. It’s here that young Billy (Danny Wagner) is told by the old coot that Santa Claus punishes kids who are naughty, forming a distorted view of Santa in Billy’s mind. Hours later and Billy watches as Mom and Dad are murdered by a degenerate in a Santa costume. 

Billy and his younger brother, Ricky, are sent to live at an orphanage ruled over by the strict Mother Superior (Lilyan Chauvin), who (naturally) reinforces the “punishment” method, sending Billy into an unhinged mental state throughout his childhood. By the age of 18, Billy (Robert Brian Wilson), now a hotbed of sexual anxiety and explosive violence, gets a job at a toy store and, come Christmas, is asked to step into a Santa outfit.

Billy’s mental state eventually collapses and, with axe in hand, he runs around on Christmas Eve night punishing the local residents. Those on Billy’s naughty list include a rapist, some street bullies, and two fornicating teenagers, one of whom (Linnea Quigley) gets impaled on the antlers of a mounted deer head in one of the movie’s most notorious gore scenes.

Released in November of 1984, SNDN was the target of angry parent protests. Thanks to its super effective marketing campaign – I still remember as a kid seeing the old VHS cover of the axe-wielding Santa sliding down a snow-covered chimney – SNDN was put in the spotlight for essentially doing a good job at (literally) scaring people. But, instead of parents telling their children it’s only a movie, they decided to protest the film over its depiction of a killer Santa. I guess they had never seen Tales from the Crypt (1972), or Christmas Evil (1980).

The protests were so successful that SNDN‘s distributors removed the movie from theaters before the Thanksgiving holiday, but not before it pulled in brisk box-office. Although re-released in the spring of 1985 after the panic had subsided, the movie didn’t find its audience until it hit video stores, and by 1987 its cult status garnered it a sequel. Grade: A–

Garbage Day!

Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 opens at an undisclosed location, in a plain, white room where an adult Ricky (Eric Freeman) is being interviewed by a psychiatrist (James L. Newman). A title card informs us that it’s Dec. 24, foreshadowing later events of Ricky killing the shrink, escaping the room, and seeking revenge on Mother Superior. But, I’m getting ahead of myself…

Ricky is being interview not only about his serial killer brother, Billy, but about Ricky’s own psychopathic personality. The whole plot of Part 2 is essentially told in flashbacks (with nearly 30 minutes of footage from the first movie!) as Ricky recounts not only Billy’s murder spree from Part 1, but his own hand in bloody murder in the years after Ricky left the orphanage.

SNDN Part 2 is not loved within the horror community. Many consider it the ultimate bad sequel. It suffers from a sluggish pacing (after Part 1’s flashbacks, nothing new actually happens until 40 minutes into the movie), inconsistent casting (Ricky at 17, played by Darrel Guilbeau, looks completely different, and actually older, than Ricky at 18), and its psychoanalysis of Ricky’s motives for killing comes off as sloppy and ham-fisted. Ricky kills simply because the script (by director Lee Harry and Joseph E. Earle) calls for him to do so, and in very OTT fashion. And despite Harry’s attempts at making the movie more lighthearted (as mentioned in the behind-the-scenes segment from Shout! Factory‘s Blu-ray release), Part 2 is more mean-spirited than the first movie ever was, although a few instances of black humor help.

Also, what happened to Mother Superior’s (Jean Miller) accent, and why does she have a gigantic, blistering scar on the side of her face?! Grade: C+

Better Watch Out!

Like many low-budget sequels in the late ’80s, Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out went directly to the video market in 1989. And like many horror films of that era, this one seems to have been somewhat influenced by the Nightmare on Elm Street series.

The film features a young woman named Laura (Samantha Scully), who’s blind and psychic, and who’s being used by a sinister doctor (Richard Beymer – who goes around muttering lines like, “There are no innocent people…”) to communicate with Ricky (Bill Moseley), now comatose six years after Part 2. Participating in these experiments gives Laura the ability to enter Ricky’s dreams, and we, the audience, get even more flashbacks to the first movie.

Clad in hospital gown and with a plastic dome covering his exposed brain, Ricky awakens from his coma and, now sharing a psychic link with Laura, follows her and her brother, Chris (Eric DaRe), to her grandmother’s on Christmas Eve. Much like Laura, Grannie (Elizabeth Hoffman) also has psychic abilities, but doesn’t seem to foresee Ricky’s arrival as dangerous, instead offering him food and shelter. He still kills her.

The mostly mute Ricky now seems to have some sort of supernatural, superhuman strength as he goes around punching through doors and overpowering anyone he comes into contact with. And much like Jason in his later years, Ricky can predict people’s whereabouts, a horror movie trope that eventually became massively overused.

Stiff direction by Monte Hellman and a dead-serious tone – most of the likable characters are needlessly killed off – make SNDN 3 a bummer. Grade: C

Initiation

For the fourth entry in the series, the producers decided to drop the Ricky-killer Santa angle and made a stand-alone story. Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation offers a supernatural tale of witchcraft in modern day Los Angeles. The ambitious plot tackles lesbianism, self-empowerment, and women’s rights (or a lack thereof) within the male-dominated world of newspaper journalism.

Looking to make a break at the weekly newspaper she works for, struggling writer, Kim (Neith Hunter), investigates the bizarre suicide of a woman, whom her male coworkers dismiss as unimportant. Kim soon discovers the victim was part of an all-female secret society that worships the Biblical Adam’s first wife, Lilith. This cult is lead by feminist bookstore owner, Fima (two-time Bond girl Maude Adams), who immediately takes a liking to Kim (never a good sign!). It isn’t long until Fima sinks her fangs into Kim and eventually recruits her into their society of wine, slime, and giant bugs.

Directed by Brian Yuzna (Bride of Re-Animator), Initiation gets points for trying something different with the series and for its semi-serious look at new age feminism. But the screenplay (by Yuzna and four other writers) never truly makes sense and is, at times, a bit too cartoonish with its woman-as-hooker-or-mother metaphor. Character dynamics are also a bit muddled: Kim flip-flops too much between being a strong, vocally expressive character and a whimpering victim.

That said, Initiation is one the better of the SNDN sequels and features some terrifically gross Screaming Mad George (Nightmare on Elm Street 4) make-up FX and a scene that may make you think twice the next time you sit down to a plate of spaghetti. Grade: B

The Toy Maker

Written and directed by Martin Kitrosser (Friday the 13th Part III and Part V), Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toy Maker (released direct-to-video in 1991) features a plot so obviously perfect for a Christmas-themed horror flick it’s surprising it hadn’t been done before.

Traumatized after witnessing his father’s death by a malevolent toy that was mysteriously delivered to his house, young Derek (William Thorne) follows in the footsteps of Halloween 5‘s Jamie Lloyd by losing his ability to speak. His mother, Sarah (Jane Higginson), is warned by her ex-lover (Noah Adams) that the local toy maker, named Joe Petto (Mickey Rooney), is making toys that kill their child owners. The switch is that it’s actually Joe’s robot son, Pino (Brian Bremer), who’s behind the evil creations, and if you haven’t figured out the Pinocchio references yet…

Co-written by Yuzna, The Toy Maker isn’t going to win any awards for writing or deep character development, but it’s probably the best of the SNDN sequels. It’s well-paced, features mostly likable characters, and is surprisingly self-aware – the character of Kim (Hunter) from Initiation lives next door to Sarah, and Sarah works for Live Entertainment, one of the distributors of SNDN 5. The movie also has a welcoming sense of humor after the dead serious tones of the previous few flicks in the franchise. Grade: B

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BLOOD RAGE: A Thanksgiving Slasher Classic

It’s not cranberry sauce!

There were some horror films released in the decadent 1980s that were so quintessential of their era they can’t be replicated in any shape, way, or form. John Grissmer’s 1987 splatter classic, Blood Rage, is one of those movies, a slasher flick that’s dripping in early ’80’s fashions, sensibilities, and outrageousness.

The movie opens in 1974, Jacksonville, Florida, at a drive-in showing a movie called The House That Cried Murder. Parked in a station wagon is single mom Maddy (Louise Lasser) on a date with what looks like a much younger man. Packed in the back (or along for the ride) are her twin boys, Todd and Terry (Russell and Keith Hall). While Maddy makes out with her date, Todd and Terry sneak out of the car and before you can say foreshadowing, psychopathic Terry steals a hatchet out of the back of a pick-up, kills a poor schmuck in his car, and frames Todd for the murder.

Flash forward ten years later and poor, innocent Todd (Mark Soper) is living in a mental health facility while Terry (also Soper), a college student, is spending Thanksgiving with Maddy and her fiancé (James Farrell) at the Shadow Woods apartment complex. As the family sits down for turkey dinner, they’re informed that Todd has escaped from the hospital. This news causes Terry to malfunction and go on a killing spree, once again framing Todd for his horrific crimes

Filmed as Slasher (and released in some territories as Nightmare at Shadow Woods) in and around Jacksonville, FL, in late 1983, Blood Rage is a no-holds-barred, unashamed gorefest. It’s a movie that doesn’t pretend to be anything other than what it is: a fun, spirited splatter epic, overloaded with hammy acting, feathered hair, a pumping synthesizer score, and some terrifically gruesome murder set pieces created by Ed French (Sleepaway Camp).

One of the reasons Blood Rage works so splendidly is because it doesn’t go the mystery-killer route like 90% of the slashers of the ’80s. Instead it tells us who the killer is (young Terry) within the first five minutes, because the movie isn’t about figuring out who is doing the slashing. It’s about the slashing. In one way, Blood Rage is an unconscious satire on slashers in general, and in another, it has the look and feel of an H.G. Lewis flick

Blood Rage has within recently years been certified a cult classic. From Arrow Video‘s wonderful Blu-ray release, to multiple Terry-inspired t-shirts and pins, Blood Rage has successfully, and deservedly, branded itself into the 80’s horror zeitgeist.

From its synth-pop-pounding opening, to Terry’s memorable one-liners (“That’s not cranberry sauce, Artie!”), to the surprise, downbeat ending, Blood Rage is in a class of its own, and one of the few horror movies that take place at Thanksgiving. Unabashedly zany and cheerfully sadistic, it’s a classic of its time period, and despite having been filmed in the early part of the decade is an example of OTT late ’80s excess.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnUIVHM4F-M