Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2

Dir: Lee Harry

1987

***

So there is a huge feeling of Déjà vu when watching Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2, not just because it shares the same themes as the first film but because it is the same film as the first one. The story follows Ricky, the younger brother of Billy the psychotic Santa killer of the first film. Ricky is interviewed by a psychologist in a maximum security facility (or is it) and the first hour of the film is flashbacks of the first film, whereby Ricky tells of Billy's crimes in detail, even though he wasn't actually there to witness any of them. Why Ricky has followed in Billy's criminal footsteps is unclear, but after watching all the highlights of the first film I was thankful that he had. The first film has some spectacular inventive death scenes and Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 does quite well at trying to match it, with only a few minutes to spare. Death by umbrella was a particular favourite death but once again, part two of the Silent Night, Deadly Night series isn't really about Santa or even about Christmas, it's about nasty Nuns, who once again find themselves at the wrong end of a killer in a Santa suit's axe. It gets silly and gory pretty fast, which is a huge relief after being forced to re-watch the first film. It's been written off by many a critic and it does go a long way in making the first film look a lot better then it actually is but for what it's worth I think the climax is well worth the wait. Compared to the next three Silent Night, Deadly Night sequels it is an utter masterpiece but I still have a soft spot for it. The acting is truly awful, the script is amazingly bad and it's only half a film but after watching, it now wouldn't be Christmas without a sneaky re-watch. At the very least, it's still firmly in the top ten best Christmas horror films of all time (but only just).