Silent Night

"You better watch out."

Director: Steven C. Miller Year: 2012 Runtime: 94 min IMDb: ⭐ 5.2
Movie Poster

Synopsis

As their small Midwestern town prepares for its annual Christmas Eve parade, a sheriff and his deputy discover that a maniac in a Santa suit is murdering those he judges as naughty.

A mysterious man dresses in a Santa Claus suit, complete with a mask. Once dressed, "Santa" captures and kills Deputy Kevin Jordan in the small town of Cryer, Wisconsin. Jordan is sleeping with the married Alana Roach and is electrocuted with Christmas lights in his home. The following day, Christmas Eve, Sheriff James Cooper calls Deputy Aubrey Bradimore in on her day off when Jordan does not arrive at work. Aubrey is a new addition to the sheriff's office and is still reeling from the unexpected death of her husband John. She does not think she is a good deputy, as she is trying to live up to her father, a retired sheriff. Aubrey was going to spend the holiday with her parents but instead goes out to check on Jordan, finding his mangled body, and Roach, who has been dismembered, later in the day. Sheriff Cooper decides not to tell Mayor Revie until the case is solved. Meanwhile, the masked Santa killer goes on a murder spree, killing those who have done something he considers 'naughty.' His next victim is a bratty teenage girl who he kills with a cattle prod. He then makes his way to the local motel, murdering Frank and Goldie during a softcore porn shoot. Maria tries to hide in a Christmas tree farm, but the killer chops off one of her legs and shoves her into a woodchipper. Sheriff Cooper calls in Deputy Stanley Giles and goes out to find the killer himself but comes back empty-handed. The killer Santa arrives at the church and kills the perverted Reverend Madeley for stealing donation money. Aubrey starts to suspect drug dealer Stein Karsson as the killer. Aubrey attempts to interrogate Karsson, but he flees. Aubrey gives chase, and she is nearly killed but is narrowly saved by Sheriff Cooper. Aubrey and Cooper suspect Santa portrayer Jim Epstein as the killer, who now kills Mayor Revie, his daughter Tiffany, and her boyfriend Dennis. During the town's annual Christmas parade, Aubrey searches for the killer but is unable to identify him among a crowd of men dressed in Santa Claus suits, though she arrests Jim when he flees from her. Aubrey goes to Karsson's motel room to arrest him and is forced to kill him when he draws a gun. Aubrey notices a gift box that contains a piece of coal and recalls that both the station and her father had received the same gift. Aubrey arrives at her parents' home, only to find her father disemboweled and her mother hiding in the closet. Meanwhile, the killer attacks the station, killing Giles with an axe, torching Cooper with a flamethrower, and beating Jim to death with brass knuckles. Aubrey, along with the station secretary Brenda, are cornered inside the police station, where the killer tries to burn down the building with a homemade flamethrower. Aubrey is able to overpower the killer Santa and sets him on fire, leaving the station with Brenda. Unbeknownst to them, the killer manages to survive and escape. It is revealed that the killer Santa is Ronald Jones, Jr., owner of a local chimney cleaning and repair service. During the manhunt, Aubrey learned from Karsson that Ronald Sr. had crashed his ex-wife's Christmas party many years ago, burning her alive with the homemade flamethrower. Aubrey's father Hank was the deputy that responded to the situation and gunned him down, causing the flamethrower to explode, burning him to death, only to find out that Ronald Jr. was in his father's truck watching the entire time. The tragedy caused Ronald Jr. to go insane and seek revenge, dressing as Santa so he would not get caught during Cryer's Christmas festivities. The film ends with Ronald Jr leaving Cryer in his truck.

Summary adapted from TMDb and Wikipedia sources.

🎄 Holiday Cheer Breakdown

Holiday Cheer Level: 5

Content Warnings

⭐ IMDb Parents Guide 🛡️ Common Sense Media

someone is sexually assaulted
spoiler There’s a scene where the main character (who is a female) asks this male character how he plans to spend Christmas. He says something along the lines of, “hoping to get my girlfriend so wasted she doesn’t even know I fucked her in her ass”
there's a dead animal
Yes
there's child abuse
spoiler A 14-year-old girl is murdered.
there's domestic violence
spoiler A man sets his wife on fire.
there's abusive parents
Yes
someone gets gaslighted
spoiler I wouldn’t really consider this gaslighting. ***SPOILERS*** But there’s a character who has a sick grandpa and in the movie they describe the grandpa as being in a catatonic state. Out of the blue the grandpa talks to his grandson. Rightfully the grandson is excited and tells the nurse when she comes in,but she doesn’t believe him.
the abused becomes the abuser
Yes
someone is stalked
Yes
there's addiction
Yes
alcohol abuse
Yes
someone uses drugs
Yes
rape is mentioned
Yes
someone is restrained
spoiler A guy is tied to a chair and is electrocuted
there's pedophilia
Yes
there's eye mutilation
spoiler That and the cop taking out the trash gets a pickaxe to the eye
there's excessive gore
spoiler This movie has a lot of unique torture and is gory at times. I wouldn’t suggest it to anyone that is sensitive to that. For example,one character dies from being put in a wood chipper.
there's torture
spoiler Someone is electrocuted in a chair in the beginning until their eyes explodes and the topless girl gets her leg sliced off and is then slowly put into a wood chipper feet (foot?) first - it’s very long and horrible.
there's body horror
Yes
there's finger/toe mutilation
spoiler The Santa cuts off the priests fingers at church
heads get squashed
spoiler I don’t know if I wanna call it squashed? More like split in half in a gory way.
teeth are damaged
Yes
someone is burned alive
spoiler In the flashback the Santa eating the burger tells, a man burns a woman alive with a blowtorch
there's shaving/cutting
spoiler Santa is shaving in the opening scene and someone has fingers cut off with a knife
someone is crushed to death
Yes
there's amputation
spoiler A girl gets her leg sliced off with a chainsaw when she’s running away
someone struggles to breathe
spoiler Santa tried to suffocate a girl in the tab but she gets away and he suffocates someone with Christmas lights
there's Achilles Tendon injury
spoiler Santa slices the blonde porn actress’s AT when she’s running away
someone asphyxiates
spoiler Someone is strangled with Christmas lights
someone breaks a bone
Yes
hands are damaged
Yes
somebody is choked
Yes
someone is stabbed
Yes
someone has a seizure
spoiler A preteen girl is tased to the point she has a seizure. She has foamy spit coming out of her mouth too.
there's genital trauma/mutilation
spoiler The porn filmer gets a pick axe to the genitals
a kid dies
spoiler A preteen girl is tasered and begins to seizure and is then stabbed
a major character dies
Yes
someone dies
Yes
the r-slur is used
Yes
A child's dear toy is destroyed
Yes
a parent dies
Yes
someone cheats
Yes
a family member dies
Yes
someone is kidnapped
Yes
there are jump scares
Yes
there are shower scenes
spoiler ***SPOILER*** Yes,there’s a shower scene but the character isn’t bathing or taking a shower. I know,you’re probably thinking like what the heck? They were running away from the killer and fell into the shower. So yeah,technically it is a shower scene.
someone vomits
spoiler 24th Minute - Visual and Audio
There's audio gore
Yes
there's spitting
Yes
there is copaganda
spoiler Some of the main characters are cops. That doesn’t exclude that some of them were a bit annoying to listen to in my personal opinion.
there's a mental institution scene
Yes
electro-therapy is used
spoiler It’s not therapeutic,but a character is electrocuted via Christmas lights.
someone self harms
Yes
a mentally ill person is violent
Yes
there's body dysmorphia
Yes
someone has an anxiety attack
Yes
there's a claustrophobic scene
Yes
someone suffers from PTSD
Yes
shaky cam is used
Yes
there's flashing lights or images
Yes
there is obscene language/gestures
Yes
there's fat jokes
Yes
there are homophobic slurs
Yes
someone is misgendered
Yes
there's ableist language or behavior
Yes
there are "Man in a dress" jokes
Yes
there's antisemitism
Yes
someone speaks hate speech
Yes
there are nude scenes
spoiler Porn filming
someone is sexually objectified
spoiler Porn filming
there is sexual content
Yes
someone has a chronic illness
Yes
someone is homeless
Yes
the ending is sad
Yes
Santa (et al) is spoiled
spoiler A serial killer is dressed as Santa.
there's blood/gore
Yes
there's gun violence
Yes

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