Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out!

"When your nightmare ends, the real terror begins!"

Director: Monte Hellman Year: 1989 Runtime: 90 min IMDb: ⭐ 3.7
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Synopsis

Ricky Caldwell, the notorious 'Killer Santa Claus', awakens from a six-year coma after being kept alive on life-support by a slightly crazed doctor experimenting with ESP and other special abilities. Ricky targets a young, clairvoyant blind woman, named Laura, whom is traveling with her brother Chris, and his girlfriend Jerri to their grandmother's house for Christmas Eve, and Ricky decides to go after her, leaving a trail of dead bodies in his wake.

On Christmas Eve four years after the events of the first film, Ricky Caldwell (né Chapman), the now-adult brother of serial killer Billy Chapman, is being held in a psychiatric hospital for a series of murders he himself committed. While being interviewed by the psychiatrist Dr. Henry Bloom, Ricky tells the story of the murders his elder brother committed throughout a series of several flashbacks. After this, Ricky tells his own story: after Billy's death, he was adopted by the Rosenbergs, a Jewish family and given a good upbringing, but his trauma was never addressed. After his adoptive father's death, Ricky loses his composure and commits a series of random murders, targeting people who are "naughty". A chance for a normal life seems to appear when he starts dating Jennifer Statson, but an unpleasant encounter with Jennifer's ex-boyfriend Chip sends Ricky over the edge. He kills Chip by electrocuting him with jumper cables attached to a car, while Jennifer watches in horror, and then strangles Jennifer to death with the car antenna after she screams that she hates him. A security officer witnesses this and as Ricky is about to be arrested, he grabs the officer's revolver and shoots him in the forehead, before going on a shooting spree. He kills at least three more people throughout the neighborhood, including one man taking out his garbage. Eventually, Ricky finds himself in a stand-off with the police, and attempts suicide before being arrested. Upon finishing his recollection to Dr. Bloom, Ricky strangles Dr. Bloom to death using audio tape and escapes from the mental hospital. He murders a Salvation Army Santa and steals his costume. Ricky plans to kill Mother Superior, the nun who abused Billy as a child, and whom Billy failed to murder four years earlier. After chasing Mother Superior throughout her house, Ricky succeeds in decapitating her with an axe. Ricky cleans up the blood and stages the scene, with Mother Superior sitting in a chair, her severed head balanced on her body. As soon as this is discovered by the police officers that arrive on the scene, a screaming Ricky leaps out and prepares to attack, but is shot down out the patio door. Sister Mary wakes up, and the police officer tells her, "He's gone, Sister. It's over." Then she turns over and sees Mother Superior's severed head, before screaming in terror. Ricky suddenly opens his eyes and smiles devilishly, indicating that he survived his gunshot wounds.

Summary adapted from TMDb and Wikipedia sources.

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Content Warnings

⭐ IMDb Parents Guide 🛡️ Common Sense Media

a dog dies
spoiler A dog is heard barking at the 55 min. mark. Never shown.
someone is sexually assaulted
spoiler During a flashback
someone is stalked
Yes
there's shaving/cutting
Yes
someone struggles to breathe
Yes
there are hangings
Yes
a parent dies
spoiler At 24 min. a character says her parents were killed in a plane crash.
there are jump scares
Yes
there are shower scenes
spoiler More of a bathtub scene. At the 51 min. mark.
electro-therapy is used
Yes
there's a hospital scene
Yes
someone self harms
spoiler No but a character slits another characters wrist
a mentally ill person is violent
Yes
someone has an anxiety attack
Yes
shaky cam is used
Yes
there is a baby or unborn child
spoiler At the 17 min. mark, an infant is seen.
there's ableist language or behavior
spoiler Main character is blind and is on the receiving end of a lot of ableism.
there is sexual content
Yes
Santa (et al) is spoiled
Yes
a plane crashes
spoiler At 24 min. a character says her parents were killed in a plane crash.
there's blood/gore
Yes
there's gun violence
Yes

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