Kattiera Nana I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

ThiefHott Too much of everything

Lawbolisted Powerful

MusicChat It's complicated... I really like the directing, acting and writing but, there are issues with the way it's shot that I just can't deny. As much as I love the storytelling and the fantastic performance but, there are also certain scenes that didn't need to exist.

Mr_Ectoplasma "Silent Night, Bloody Night" focuses on a small town New England mansion with a grim past; Wilfred Butler, the home's owner, burned to death there on Christmas Eve 1950. Some years later, a lawyer of Butler's son arrives in town on Christmas Eve to assess the property for sale, setting in motion a night-long series of axe murders.I first saw "Silent Night, Bloody Night" years ago via an absurdly grainy, muddy print with near-inaudible sound, and remember being completely perturbed by everything about it. At the time I wasn't sure if this was because of the turbid quality of the film stock, or just because the movie gave off that sort of vibe. I've since been able to watch the film in a higher quality print with optimal sound (this print carries the title card, "Death House," and is the best in circulation), and can now say that I think it may have been a mixture of both."Silent Night, Bloody Night" may be the first real Christmas horror film, though it is not a picture that plays much into the holiday theme; instead, it merely employs the Christmas Eve setting as a backdrop for the profoundly Gothic and twisted horror story it has to tell. It also may be one of the first real slasher films, even predating "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and its holiday horror peer "Black Christmas," which really makes it stand out from a historical perspective. In some ways, "Silent Night, Bloody Night" has been neglected outside of genre purists, and the film honestly deserves a wider audience.Let's make things clear here: this is most definitely a B-movie. The performances are uneven, at times hammy, and there is a gritty edge to the entire thing that pervades almost every scene; and yet, there is also something surprisingly elegant about the film. Though you can't tell from most of the prints in circulation, it is actually a really nicely shot film; the looming mansion and snowy New York countryside (posed as a Massachusetts stand-in) are chillingly captured, and the scenes that unfold within the mansion are dark and atmospheric. The entire film is drenched in a dreary tone that really works to offset the Christmas theme, which makes for an intriguing combination. I hate to be speculative—but I'm going to be anyway—in saying that the film also appears to have been inspirational to some of the key elements of the cult classic "Black Christmas," which would follow it two years later. They are remarkably different films, but share in common menacing phone calls and unnerving POV shots from the killers' perspectives that are too similar to be mere coincidence. Where "Black Christmas" aims for ambiguity, "Silent Night, Bloody Night" takes a more classical approach, unraveling a small-town history and subtly exposing itself with a twisted resolution that is in some ways almost Shakespearean.The film features an array of respected old Hollywood actors, including John Carradine, Patrick O'Neal, and Walter Able, as well as Mary Woronov as the mayor's daughter, and a variety of fellow Warhol superstars making small appearances as asylum inmates in a key flashback scene.Overall, "Silent Night, Deadly Night" is a moody and genuinely unnerving slasher film that deserves a wider audience than it has. The nearly incomprehensible print of the film—which also happens to be the most widely circulated—has probably lost it a great deal of viewers, which is understandable on some levels, but beneath the grit and the grime, there is a truly eerie and demented horror film that is far more layered than you'd expect it to be. Oh, and did I mention it has one of the greatest axe murder scenes in movie history? 9/10.

Woodyanders Jeffrey Butler (a solid performance by James Patterson) inherits an old house from his grandfather that used to be an asylum. A crazed axe-wielding killer embarks on a grisly rampage right after Butler puts the rundown house up for sale.Director Theodore Gershuny, who also co-wrote the convoluted, but compelling script with Jeffrey Konvitz and Ira Teller, does a masterful job of crafting and sustaining a powerfully brooding atmosphere of sheer dread, gloom, and despair, makes inspired use of both the bleak wintry landscape and the classic yuletide tune "Silent Night, Holy Night" (it takes place around Christmas), tosses in a few decent bits of gore, and pulls out all the show-stopping stylistic stops for an extraordinary sepia-tinted black and white flashback set piece that features Andy Warhol factory members Ondine, Candy Darling, and Tally Brown as well as pioneer underground filmmaker Jack Smith. Moreover, the plot makes a potent and provocative statement on how long-suppressed tragic events from the past can have severe long term repercussions on the present. The excellent acting from the sturdy cast keeps the movie on track: An incredibly foxy Mary Woronov as the helpful Diane Adams, Patrick O'Neal as slick lawyer John Carter, Astrid Heeren as Carter's sweet fiancé Ingrid, Walter Abel as the friendly Mayor Adams, Fran Stevens as concerned phone operator Tess Howard, Phillip Bruns as the bitter Wilfred Butler, and, in an impressively expressive pantomime turn, the ubiquitous John Carradine as mute newspaper writer Charlie Towman. Adam Gifford's cinematography gives this picture a suitably rough-around-the-edges look and boasts several neat prowling POV shots that prefigure both "Black Christmas" and "Halloween." Gershon Kingsley's spare'n'spooky score hits the spine-tingling spot. Worthwhile fright fare.

Leofwine_draca I love discovering new-to-me American horror flicks of the 1970s. These independent, backwoods-shot productions usually showcase some then-startling gore effects, as well as creepy atmosphere and a sense of gritty realism usually absent from the slicker Hollywood productions. SILENT NIGHT, BLOODY NIGHT fits the bill as an all-but-forgotten movie from this era, but sadly it turns out to be anything but a gem. Saying that, this early slasher flick even manages to pre-date Black Christmas by a year, and HALLOWEEN fans will find much of interest in the p.o.v. killer shots and the eerie atmosphere that highlight this unusual little movie. The film was obviously made on the cheap, and in many places things are far too dark to see what's going on. Despite the best intentions of the filmmakers, this film's a chore to sit through. The story is slow beyond belief and the narrative stilted and mishandled; the editing of various scenes is done in such a way to make even the simplest shots confusing to the viewer. In essence, it's about a creepy old abandoned house that may be home to a murderous lunatic, plus some back story about an old asylum. The plot itself is fairly simple and uneventful, at least until the final denouement which has a classic twist of an ending. As is usual for most '70s horror flicks, there's a little gruesomeness, including a double axe murder and a broken bottle in the face, but nothing too off-putting for seasoned buffs who like their horror of the older, more classic variety. One of the most positive aspects of the film lies in director Theodore Gershuny's work – there are some genuinely inventive moments, enhanced by weird camera angles, and an excellent flashback sequence involving inmates taking over the asylum in which things get really spooky and eerie.The story is cheaply acted by a bunch of no-name or cult stars such as Warhol favourite Mary Woronov. Guest star Patrick O'Neal doesn't hang around for long, while John Carradine doesn't say a word! Leading actor James Patterson was dying of cancer while the film was being made, adding a further level of grubbiness to the thing. SILENT NIGHT, BLOODY NIGHT is a very obscure movie, and it's easy to see why; low budget, quite similar to dozens of others, and with no big names to market it. Despite these factors it works in places and provides a fair few chills during the short running time.

kai ringler I really liked this one because it's a little different than most horror pictures that I've seen,, first off you don't get many horror pictures set during the Yuletide season, in this one a young man inherits his father's old house , which use to be an insane asylum,, and at a local town hall meeting he decides he's gonna sell for 50,000 dirt cheap, but he gives the people notice that they have something like 48 hours to decide.. 20 years earlier his father was set on fire in that house,, and hasn't been seen since.. Word get's around to another insane asylum across town where a crazed lunatic, decides that he is gonna take refuge in the old butler house,, and from here on it becomes clear that the body count will definitely rise,, very decent picture on a low budget.