Director Mike P. Nelson is no stranger to reimagining cult horror properties. After completely re-envisioning the 2003 cannibalistic thriller Wrong Turn into something far more psychological for its 2021 outing, there’s a sense of comfort in him handling Silent Night, Deadly Night – originally a 1985 slasher that proved particularly controversial for its content around a Santa readily slaying those he deemed naughty.
Whilst this 2025 iteration does indeed feature another psychotic killer donning a Santa suit and checking off his list, Nelson’s script aims for something a little deeper and, dare I say, romantic, with this film’s “killer Santa”, Billy (Rohan Campbell, no stranger to the genre having starred in Halloween Ends and The Monkey), grounding the brutality in a more emotionally complicated space. In an opening sequence that is laced with a sense of uncomfortable dread, Billy, as a young tyke, visits his dying grandfather and, on the drive home, witnesses both his parents being violently murdered at the hands of a rogue driver who attacks them. It’s a shocking scene, but it is done so in a manner that evokes tension rather than senseless gore (don’t worry, the film does delight in that), and it sets Billy on an interesting path – one where he is possessed to rid the world of the naughty, guided by the voice in his head: Charlie (Mark Acheson).
Essentially adopting a mentality not unlike that of TV serial killer Dexter, Billy, quite a sweet kid otherwise, needs to keep both his violent tendencies and the guidance of Charlie at bay by taking out those that have seriously wronged another; and it’s the Santa suit that helps him disassociate as he performs whatever brutal act he deems necessary. On that note, Silent Night, Deadly Night very much adheres to the gore hound’s gaze, with each kill sequence delighting in as much of a delicious sense of dark humour as wince-inducing violence. Impalements and decapitations fly at an alarming pace, with each kill avoiding any sense of repetition; one mid-film sequence involving a particularly unsavoury group and Billy’s penchant for mass murder likely to be the stand-out for many viewers.
Admittedly, we aren’t overly invested emotionally in any of the victims or side characters – bar Pam (Ruby Modine, a knockout) – but Nelson seems to have designed the film as such, furthering the 1980s mentality of the original; and for those familiar with that film’s particularly wild sequel and its infamous “catchphrase” (“Garbage day!”), there’s an enjoyable, if subtle, shoutout to such.
On the mention of Pam, she’s the other ace up Silent Night, Deadly Night‘s sleeve. A reinvented character who is treated far better than she was in the original, Nelson has still set up a similar dynamic between herself and Billy in the initial sense (she works at the store he applies for employ at), but she moves beyond being merely sexual fodder for his desires. She sees the good in Billy and, in return, he notices something of a violent strength in her that makes her more of an equal than he is expecting. Their romance is genuinely quite touching, which only makes his fight against his own darkness all the more heartbreaking.
Though it may not necessarily reinvent the Christmas horror genre wheel, Silent Night, Deadly Night updates its concept with a sense of fun and ferocity, proving itself a remake that respects its original spirit without being bound to it.
THREE AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Silent Night, Deadly Night is screening in Australian theatres from December 11th, 2025, before releasing in the United States on December 12th.
