Silent Night, Deadly Night is celebrating the 35th anniversary of its release this year.
Released in November 1984, this holiday themed slasher was met with protests by parents for its depiction of a killer Santa Claus.
Some trivia provided by the IMDB machine
- To protest the film, critic Gene Siskel read out loud the names of the companies that owned distributor Tri-Star Pictures on his and Roger Ebert ‘s television show, then said, “Shame on you.” He also called out the writer, director and producer and said, “You people have nothing to be proud of.”
- Opened on the same weekend as A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), and briefly out-grossed the latter by around $161,800-since “Silent Night” was playing in more than twice as many theaters as “Nightmare”-before the gross fell about 45% by the second weekend.
- The release of this film was picketed by angry parents who were not happy to see Santa Claus depicted as an ax murderer, despite the fact that Tales from the Crypt (1972) had done the exact same thing twelve years earlier, and Christmas Evil (1980) had done the same thing in 1980. As a result, box office sales plummeted and the film was shelved for another year where it saw new light in an uncut video form (which has since gone out of print).
I have never seen the original Silent Night, Deadly Night but I had the chance to see Silent Night, Deadly Night 2 at the Hollywood Theater in Dormont before Christmas a few years back. I feel that one needs a definite rewatch one day.
This is your reminder to be good Avocados this year.
Don’t be NAUGHTY or you will be PUNISHED!