Silent Night, Bloody Night (1972): Shriek in Heavenly Peace

It’s Christmas Eve in a small New England town where the owner of the long-abandoned Butler Estate, Jeremy Butler (James Patterson), is looking to unload his property and the many horrific secrets it contains, which include deception, sexual abuse and murder.  

Directed by Theodore Gershuny, Silent Night, Bloody Night is a holiday themed slasher film that employs many of the traits that would come to be standard fare for the genre in the years following its release. You have a secluded location, a mysterious killer who stalks potential victims (sometimes by way of menacing phone calls) before going in for the kill, and while not overly violent by any means, there is certainly some effective bloodletting to be had by way of various types of murder weapons. Point-of-view is impressively utilized to show the world from the unknown killer’s perspective, something that would go on to become a slasher standard after the success of John Carpenter’s Halloween.  

Of course, slasher films in general were greatly inspired by the Giallo films from Italy, and regardless of being the earliest example of a proper holiday slasher film – even predating Black Christmas by a few years – Silent Night, Bloody Night certainly owes a huge debt to the Gialli that came before it. This comes specifically with the tactic of featuring an unknown assailant adorned with black leather gloves as well as the attempts to misdirect the viewer with a handful of mostly ineffective red herrings.

When it comes to the actual story, it’s fair to say that Silent Night, Bloody Night has a lot going on. My brief description from the start of this post barely scratches the surface, as the film is so plot heavy that nearly 50% of the movie requires narration, much of which is provided by the movie’s lead character, Diane (played by a lovely Mary Woronov). Using voice over for expositional purposes is, for all intents and purposes, a cheap tactic; however, Silent Night, Bloody Night has such an ambitious plot that narration is quite necessary. Furthermore, the narration is used well and actually adds to the overall atmosphere that the film gives off.

What sets Silent Night, Bloody Night apart from many holiday slasher films is the creepy tone it so perfectly exudes. Despite its incredibly low-budget, there lies a tangible layer of Gothic ambience that is quite similar to films such as Night of the Living Dead and Carnival of Souls. Silent Night, Bloody Night has a cold feeling about it, and not just in the physical sense. There’s a somberness about all aspects of the film, as it emanates a feeling of complete and utter despair, something of which comes through in everything from the locations, the set design, the music, the pace, and of course the exceptional cinematography by Adam Giffard.

Where everything seems to come together both in terms of plot and filmmaking technique is best portrayed in the film’s final act with a flashback sequence that runs nearly 13 minutes long. This sequence reveals the dark and demented history of the Butler Estate that has plagued the residents of the surrounding community for over 20 years. Blanketed beneath a hauntingly effective rendition of “Silent Night,” the surreal sepia tone photography hypnotically entrances the viewer into a world where a foreboding sense of madness is imminent. What is revealed in these moments is both fascinating and frightening, and these elements are greatly elevated in the way the segment is technically put together.

I’ve had the opportunity to see Silent Night, Bloody Night on a handful of occasions over the years – even reviewing it back in 2009 – and it’s come to be one of my favorite holiday set horror films. Film Chest recently released restored the film for DVD, and the difference between their restoration and any copy I have seen on YouTube or from a Mill Creek set is quite incredible. However, that’s not to say the film looks amazing, as this release is still filled with many imperfections, all of which can be forgiven considering Film Chest likely cannot afford to do extensive cleanup.

Silent Night, Bloody Night is a fine example of that rare perfect storm where a low-budget and artistry come together to concoct a film that is vastly more brilliant than its hokey, yet evocative title would ever allude to. If you are a fan of the movie, then the Film Chest upgrade is worth the money in my opinion. On the other hand, if you are curious about the film and aren’t quite ready to drop some cash on a DVD release, the full movie is available all over YouTube. Just be aware that the quality is going to be pretty shoddy.

Silent Night, Bloody Night (1972) All, Is Not Calm...

It's Christmas Eve in a small New England town, where a battle over the rights to an infamous psychiatric hospital with a storied and disturbing history has been going on. The hospital's owner has no interest in this long time abandoned building and is trying to strike a quick deal to get rid of it for good. Besides the mysterious horrifying history behind the asylum that is plaguing the community, there is also the threat of an escaped serial killer running around knocking off the town's bigwigs. For the record, that always makes things worse. That's the best your getting out of me as far as a plot goes, because Theodore Gershuny's Silent Night, Bloody Night has an obnoxious plot filled with a lot of depth - and a lot of holes that go just as deep. Very confusing at times and told through voice over for at least 40% of the film, this 1972-or-3-or-4 holiday Slasher film is incredibly tedious with its overly complicated story. HOWEVER, there is a story to be had and one that has some smarts to it in many ways. Dealing with intense family trauma, cover-ups and themes of incest, there is something interesting to take from this film's story, convoluted or not. Silent Night, Bloody Night was made almost two years before Black Christmas, but wasn't released until '74, the same year as Bob Clark's holiday Slasher classic (which I will be posting a review for very soon!). So it's an easy case to make that Silent Night is the first Slasher film and there is no way in hell that "someone " didn't see, or hear about, or even know someone that worked on this film and used it some capacity as inspiration for Black Christmas. Not to take anything away from Black Christmas, which is an inspirational film that paved the way for Halloween to pave the way for the Slasher genre as we know it, but this film's inspiration should certainly be noted. Silent Night, Bloody Night is filled to the rim with promise and great ideas, only to be hindered by the low budget and cheapness of it all. Doesn't help that most transfers of this film are utter shit too. This first use of a Slasher POV is competent-to-very well done and there are some odd, yet intriguing technical and stylistic choices that work and hurt the movie. Shot in a sort of low light, the film has a very nice looking, almost Gothic quality to it (and the old New England setting helps too), there are some shots that are only lit by a lantern, which had a great old look and feeling...kinda reminded me of Old Sturbridge Village! With that, kinda neat, kinda cool low light effect comes a wickedly dark film that is made even darker by a terrible transfer of an older low budget movie. There are moments where you can almost see nothing on screen. Not entirely the fault of the filmmakers, but there are some very dark scenes in Silent Night, Bloody Night, bad transfer or not. There are even a few decent kills in this holiday horror with one of them really being a surprise in a Psycho sort of way, as in, I was not expecting it to happen when it did. Or I am naive, which could be the case too. As I mentioned before, there is a lot of voice over, and while voice over is often used as a crutch for the untalented, it is much needed in such a complex story. Most of the voice over work in the opening of the film is set to old photos of the past, as the history of the mental institution and the town is gone over. Almost the entire last 20 minutes of Silent Night, Bloody Night is told through voice over, but instead of being done to photos, it is done to old sepia tone footage of the past horrors that occurred. It is surprisingly inventive and while being a bit off putting at first, it really starts to draw you into what is happening with how it's done...which is well I might add. At one long moment, the voice over to this old footage is fittingly replaced by an instrumental version of the Christmas song, Silent Night, Holy Night and it is a very creepy and nicely created scene that had me at full attention as to what was happening on screen. What unfolds in the story during this final act is another captivating aspect too and something that keeps the wild plot above water with its incestuous cover up scheme and other equally awful happenings at the mental institution resulting in the current issue of the escaped lunatic that is taking people out in present times. Silent Night, Bloody Night has cult status written all over it, with its proto-Slasher sensibilities and to top it off, there are a few nice genre surprises to be found with a mute played by John Carradine and the presence of cult starlet, Mary Woronov. While this film is a bit of a mess and extremely cheap looking, there is a lot to be seen in this little known gem and it is worth the time of any fan of Slasher films and anyone looking for a decent Christmas horror movie. Silent Night is a public domain film, so it is easy to find on many multi pack sets and it is available to watch on sites like YouTube, so you have no reason not to give this one a try!