What I'm Watching: Silent Night

Just when I think I am done with this series...

They make a remake!

...Reboot?

Kinda?

Anyways, someone took the idea of a killer Santa Claus and updated it for the slickness of 2012.  It's got enough shared DNA with the original movie that yeah, I guess this is a reboot of the franchise.  But how does it fare?

I surprisingly reeeally liked this one.

It has its flaws.  It has it's cheese, it has its bad acting, but overall, it's quite good.  I don't think it is as controversial as the original, nor do I feel that movie should have been as controversial in the first place, but it does have its over the top moments some people will be displeased with.  But then, what horror movie worth its blood doesn't?

Nor is the movie as insane as the original's first sequel, but then, what is?  Well, #5, but the less said about that, the better.

The plot of Silent Night (Booo to losing the Deadly Night half, that just made for an interesting sounding movie), centers around, that's right, a guy dressed up as Santa Claus and wreaking havoc in a small town.

Yep, it's very much the similar plot to that first movie, but with some major differences.  The first movie focuses squarely on the killer, and really delves into his psychology, building up a character profile of this messed up guy.  This new take focuses on the police tracking him down, and keeps the killer at arm's length, and you never really learn ANYthing about him until the final moments.  This makes the killer more generic, but it's also a fair way to deal with him.  Many horror movies do that, and the masked killer is a classic trope.  Fair enough.

There are some great kills in this movie, and even a few that reference the original.  In fact, this movie is littered with references, and each one made me smile.  They let you know that this is an homage to the first, and they were having fun with the idea.  There's even a GREAT nod to #2's "Garbage day!" which had me cracking up.

Jamie King is the lead deputy sheriff in this, but the true star is Malcolm MacDowell.  He is...very Malcolm in this.  The guy can be really great, but we've all seen him being insanely cheesy as well.  And he is in full on gouda here.  He gets some terrible lines, and he channels his best David Caruso to deliver them.  And it is BRILLIANT.  So, so terrible.

The biggest loss is that we lose delving into the killer, and that really made the original movie special.  So rarely do we follow the killers, and feel they're justified in what they do, or at worst, understand them.  We don't get that here, and the movie is lacking for it.  This is more a sign of the times and what people want, than an actual problem with the movie.  Each film is a product of their times.

This all adds up to a fun little slasher movie that does its own thing, while not worrying too much about the past, and still giving nods where appropriate.  It has its failings, but overall, is a decent enough slasher movie, and is leaps and bounds better than most of the other SNDN franchise.

I definitely recommend it, as I was pleasantly surprised by getting something very entertaining in all the right ways.

J

Silent But Deadly

Yay, we survived December's month long look at five bad movies!  Barely...

That said, I really REALLY enjoyed doing Silent Month! Deadly Month!  It was a blast having a single theme, and the movies were SO bad and SO enjoyable.  If it had been a different batch of five movies, or if the quality had been different, I might not have enjoyed it as much.

THAT said, don't expect the site to go to weekly reviews!  It took a lot out of me in both time and energy, and I bow to the reviewers who DO do them weekly.  And even more so to those who do videos weekly.  That is above and beyond anything I do here.  I would love to do the occasional month here and there where I do something special with more movies, but for the most part, Trisk will be sticking to the reviews on the 13th and the 26th.

Since watching all five, I've thought that I should give a rundown of them as how I'd rank each one.  You get a sense of that with my numerical ratings, although those are hardly the whole story.  So, without further adieu...

It is hard to say that the best is anything other than the original.  For the sheer fact that it is the original.  It sets the standard.  And while there's a healthy dollop of cheese, it has a pretty solid plot, and they actually work out the characterisation and psychology of Billy.  It is the closest to a serious movie, all things considered.  It's not as jawdroppingly WTF as the rest, but is a perfectly solid film.  Something the others have trouble saying.

After that, I'd go all the way to the other end and say #5, The Toy Maker is my #2.  Again, it has a decent enough, although wholly fucked up, story.  The characters were well written, mostly.  They were legitamite characters, well acted, and generally fun.  Adding on top of that the sheer bizareness of those last 20 minutes just...wow.  That was amazing.  So you get a decent story, and you are picking your jaw up off the floor as things go horribly wrong at the end of the movie.  You can't ask for much more of Trisk.

Next in my hall of shame is the infamous #2.  Once they get past the flashbacks, it's a decent enough...something.  This one is mostly so high because it is so damned entertaining in just how messed up it is.  And how much of a mess.  The overuse of old footage, the characters that have zero personality, motivation, or anything to make them actual characters...this is just a movie you sit back and watch the horror of What?! unfold.  And for those reasons, it is a thing of beauty to watch.

The fourth movie in my personal rankings would be #4, Initiation.  It would be higher on this list, because it is genuinely the second best story in this entire series, but it has NOTHING TO DO WITH CHRISTMAS.  Or the series.  Or ANYthing else.  At all.  But it's a good story!  And sadly, because it is played so straight, it also gets beaten out by the previous two rankings.  This SHOULD be the #2 pick, just based on the coherency of the story.  But that takes away from the fun, doesn't it?  I mean, how little do you have to have with Christmas, that in some markets they release you as "Bugs" and no one notices?  This is a well done movie (By Trisk standards) with the slight stink of direct to video, that would be fine as a standalone, that got bizarrely shoe horned into this series for no reason.

Which leaves the absolute rock bottom of the Silent Night Deadly Night series as the dead center of the franchise, #3, Better Watch Out!  The story is okay.  It at least has one, unlike #2.  It at least ties in with the previous movies, even if that connection makes no sense. And involves a see-through skull.  But it is just so bland and lifeless.  The second movie may have been a joke, but you at least sat up and noticed it.  This movie is really just...there.  Which is a criminal offense at Triskaidekafiles.  It is beaten out in every respect by movies with better scripts, better characters, or just sheer memorable insanity.  They reached for the insanity ring with Ricky's brain bowl, but they never quite grasped the ring and ran with it.  It also takes the series out of the realm of reality (Although heightened insane reality from #2), and adds in psychics and silliness with that head.  But without owning it, it just ends up making you scratch your head.

So, that's my thoughts on how the five movies stack up against each other.  I hope everyone enjoyed this month long look at this infamous series.  As much as I enjoyed sharing the craziness with y'all.  Let me know if you enjoyed them, by leaving a comment here, or on any of our social media sites.  Want to see me do more things like this?  Let me know!

Now, I need to fix the front page...

J