I have watched this film when I was a little kid. Since then, I re-watched it many times. When holidays comes, my wife want to watch Christmas films, I recommend this one. Even she watched this film twice. I am not religious person, but I like this concept. This film is well acted and well directed. Soundtrack is awsome. It is psychological thriller, it has violence and gore, it has sexy scenes too with good looking boys and girls. All that combined with killer Santa Claus. It is beautiful film, you will be entertained and you will be disturbed. What more do you need?34 years later, still the best Christmas film. Santa knows if you've been bad !!!

A kid who sees his parents get butchered by a maniac in a Santa suit grows up to be a killer Claus himself in another '80s gorefest with a sense of humor and Linnea Quigley.After HALLOWEEN, Friday THE 13th, MOTHER'S DAY, and MY BLOODY VALENTINE, it was only a matter of time til Christmas rolled around and when it finally did in November 1984, the film even out-grossed A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, which opened the same week. I actually remember the tidal wave of backlash which soon followed, making SNDN one of the more controversial films of the decade, along with William Friedkin's CRUISING. Outraged by TV & print ads showing Santa with a bloody ax, "the PTA fought to have this film removed from theaters" and "large crowds (mostly angry families) formed at theaters and malls around the nation to protest the film". Siskel & Ebert read off the filmmakers' names on their TV show, saying "shame, shame" and the film was soon withdrawn from theaters for awhile. (The free-wheeling '70s were a lot more chill - when I saw BLACK Christmas at the drive-in back in December 1974, there wasn't an uproar in the press or anywhere else.)SILENT NIGHT DEADLY NIGHT was eventually re-released with cuts and without the offensive ads that scared so many kids and the DVD I have is "the most complete version" spliced together from two different film elements -one crisp and the other dark- so it was interesting to see just what had been cut (mostly lingering or explicit shots of the more gory murders). No better or worse than most '80s slasher films, the low budget didn't hamper the decent kills and Linnea Quigley as a randy babysitter helped make this something of a cult film over the years.

"Silent Night, Deadly Night", would never be up there with "Halloween", or "Nightmare on Elm Street", as far as absolute suspense or sheer terror goes however as a tale of the mind being totally taken over by the trauma of an early horrific experience it does hold some interest. Within the limitations of the role Robert Brian Wilson does reasonably well as the young man who is suddenly set off on a killing spree by having to be a store Santa Claus. His innocent good looks actually serve the part very well and he is definitely a scary individual once his mind is affected by the traumatic flash backs to the murder of his parents. None of the supporting characters have much to build on in their characters as is generally the case in these types of films however Gilmer McCormick as the kindly Sister Margaret does a good job in her efforts to protect Billy from himself. Having a lot of the action set in a Catholic Orphanage is quite interesting and the two nuns are quite distinct characters that show interesting good and bad elements. Even though these things don't hold much importance in these types of films, "Silent Night, Deadly Night", does have the benefit of some beautiful on location photography in snowbound Utah which does give the film a better look than most of its kind.I'm going to be honest about this film. It didn't really scare me a whole lot, but it was kind of creepy. You have to admit, some of the violent scenes were hilarious, and the scene with the bullies was very original. That's what makes this a good film. There are lots of twists and surprises too. It's hard to know which Santa Claus is the killer when you see many of them walking around on the streets. Although it gets kind of cheesy and aside from the gratuitous nudity, some of the death scenes are classic like the sledding decapitation scene. Oh, and another thing, don't miss out Linnea Quigley in one of her first roles. She gets naked and is then killed and impaled by dear antlers in one of the films best and most memorable scenes. Check it out if your a fan of 80's slasher films.Overall rating: 7 out of 10.

Silent Night Deadly Night has it all for slasher fans, and for people who may come to it just based on the premise and may not be well-versed. It has a simple enough set up (but fairly original) with a young kid who sees his parents killed in front of him by a disgruntled Santa Claus, becomes an orphan, and then snaps when he's an adult and under the control of some nuns.The movie is not any kind of 'high art'. Some of the filmmaking may not even be very good. But the movie pulls off some sequences that stick with you, and at times, often, it's very funny. It's somewhat disturbing, it's got some terrible acting, and lots of anti-Nun action. Highlight: the 'sledding' scene is the most random killing scene, but it does give a moment of pause from the rest of the psychological anguish of the piece. And yes, there is some of that too.