Silent Night, Bloody Night
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''Silent Night, Bloody Night'' is a 1972 American
slasher film A slasher film is a subgenre of horror films involving a killer or a group of killers stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools. Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as a generic ...
directed by Theodore Gershuny and starring Patrick O'Neal,
Mary Woronov Mary Woronov (born December 8, 1943) is an American actress, writer, and Figurative art, figurative painter. She is primarily known as a cult film star because of her work with Andy Warhol and her roles in Roger Corman's cult films. Woronov has ...
,
James Patterson James Brendan Patterson (born March 22, 1947) is an American author. Among his works are the '' Alex Cross'', '' Michael Bennett'', '' Women's Murder Club'', '' Maximum Ride'', '' Daniel X'', '' NYPD Red'', '' Witch & Wizard'', '' Private'' and ...
, Astrid Heeren, and
John Carradine John Carradine ( ; born Richmond Reed Carradine; February 5, 1906 – November 27, 1988) was an American actor, considered one of the greatest character actors in American cinema. He was a member of Cecil B. DeMille's stock company and later J ...
. The plot follows a series of murders that occur in a small New England town on
Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas, the festival commemorating nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. Christmas Day is observance of Christmas by country, observed around the world, and Christma ...
after a man inherits a family estate which was once an
insane asylum The lunatic asylum, insane asylum or mental asylum was an institution where people with mental illness were confined. It was an early precursor of the modern psychiatric hospital. Modern psychiatric hospitals evolved from and eventually replace ...
. Co-written by Jeffrey Konvitz, ''Silent Night, Bloody Night'' was filmed in November and December 1970 in
Oyster Bay, New York The Town of Oyster Bay is the easternmost of the three Administrative divisions of New York#Town, towns that make up Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, New York (state), New York, United States. Part of the New York metropolitan area, it is ...
. A number of
Warhol superstars Warhol superstars were a clique of New York City personalities promoted by the pop artist Andy Warhol during the 1960s and 1970s. These personalities hung out at Warhol's studio, the Factory, appeared in his films, and accompanied him to his New ...
appear in the film as extras during the film's flashback sequences, among them Ondine,
Candy Darling Candy Darling (November 24, 1944 – March 21, 1974) was an American actress, best known as a Warhol superstar. She was a pioneer for transgender visibility, inspiring songs by the Rolling Stones and Lou Reed. Her performances Andy Warhol's f ...
, and
Susan Rothenberg Susan Charna Rothenberg (January 20, 1945 – May 18, 2020) was an American contemporary painter, printmaker, sculptor, and draughtswoman. She became known as an artist through her iconic images of the horse, which synthesized the opposing force ...
. ''Silent Night, Bloody Night'' was briefly released under the
alternative title An alternative title is a media sales device most prominently used in film distribution. Books and films are commonly released under a different title when they are screened or sold in a different country. This can vary from small change to the ...
''Night of the Full Dark Moon'' in November 1972 by
Cannon Films The Cannon Group, Inc. was an American group of companies, including Cannon Films, which produced films from 1967 to 1994. The extensive group also owned, amongst others, a large international cinema chain and a video film company that investe ...
, before receiving subsequent releases as ''Silent Night, Bloody Night'' and later, ''Death House''. Though attributed to Zora Investments Associates, the film was never registered with the
United States Copyright Office The United States Copyright Office (USCO), a part of the Library of Congress, is a United States government body that registers copyright claims, records information about copyright ownership, provides information to the public, and assists ...
and thus fell into the
public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...
. While it received little critical notice at the time of its release, it was frequently broadcast on television in the late-1970s during the Christmas season, and has been assessed by modern film critics and writers for its surreal style and atmosphere. It has also been noted as a progenitor of the slasher film genre. In 2015, '' Boston.com'' ranked it as one of the scariest films of all time, describing it as a "forgotten classic" and "the movie that birthed the modern slasher flick."


Plot

On
Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas, the festival commemorating nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus. Christmas Day is observance of Christmas by country, observed around the world, and Christma ...
1950, Wilfred Butler dies in a burning accident outside his mansion in East Willard,
Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
. The residence is bequeathed to his grandson, Jeffrey. Twenty years later, in 1970, lawyer John Carter arrives in East Willard on Christmas Eve with his assistant and mistress Ingrid, having been charged by Jeffrey to sell the house. Carter meets with the town's leading citizens: Mayor Adams; Sheriff Bill Mason; the mute Charlie Towman, who owns the local newspaper; and Tess Howard, who operates the town's
telephone switchboard A telephone switchboard is a device used to connect circuits of telephones to establish telephone calls between users or other switchboards. The switchboard is an essential component of a manual telephone exchange, and is operated by switchboard ...
. They all agree to buy the Butler mansion on behalf of the town for the bargain price of $50,000, which Jeffrey requires to be paid in cash the next day. Carter and Ingrid spend the night at the Butler mansion, but are brutally murdered in bed with an axe by an unseen assailant. After the murders, the killer places a
crucifix A crucifix (from the Latin meaning '(one) fixed to a cross') is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the (Latin for 'body'). The cru ...
in Ingrid's hand and proceeds to phone the sheriff, introducing himself as the house's owner and asking him to investigate Carter's disappearance. While talking with Tess, who forwards his call, the killer calls himself "Marianne". At nightfall, Jeffrey arrives at the mansion to meet with Carter, but finds it locked and empty. He drives to the mayor's home, where he meets Diane, the mayor's daughter. The mayor has gone to the county's bank to obtain the required cash for the payment, so she redirects Jeffrey to the sheriff's office. Simultaneously, the sheriff heads to the mansion, but first stops at Wilfred Butler's disturbed gravesite, where he is beaten to death with a shovel. Failing to locate the sheriff, Jeffrey returns to the mayor's home, where Diane tells him she has received phone calls for her father from someone named "Marianne" who beckons her to the mansion. Puzzled by the strange events, Jeffrey and Diane decide to drive to the mansion, but stop after they find the sheriff's abandoned car. The two stop by the newspaper office, where they meet Charlie who reveals that he cannot speak due to laryngectomy, but manages to explain to them (in written notes) that Tess has also gone to the mansion. Jeffrey and Charlie go after her while Diane researches the Butler house's history in the archives. Diane manages to piece together the Butlers' story: In 1930, Wilfred's wife died of
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...
. In 1933, his 15-year-old daughter Marianne was raped and got pregnant; the son she gave birth to is Jeffrey, who was sent away to
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
. In 1935, Wilfred converted the mansion into a mental hospital and had Marianne committed. The rest of the story has apparently been redacted. Tess arrives at the mansion and finds the sheriff's car running outside. In the foyer, she is greeted by the unseen killer, who bludgeons her to death with a candlestick. Jeffrey meanwhile arrives at Tess's house and finds it empty, after which he returns to Diane at the newspaper office. Diane tells Jeffrey that, based on her research, his mother did not die during his birth like he had thought. Jeffrey and Diane depart together to the mansion. En route, they pass Charlie's car, which has been set on fire; moments later, Charlie throws himself at Jeffrey's car and Jeffrey runs him over, killing him. Examining the body, Jeffrey realizes someone has cut Charlie's hands off. At the mansion, Jeffrey finds his grandfather's diary in the foyer, which reveals he was the one who got Marianne pregnant. The diary recounts how Wilfred grew hostile toward the complacent hospital staff, so during a 1935 Christmas Eve party, he freed the hospital's patients, causing a massacre that resulted in Marianne's death as well. He then ended up faking his death in 1950 and has been living anonymously in a nearby mental hospital ever since before escaping earlier that day after reading from a local newspaper about the Butler mansion being put up for sale. Jeffrey tells Diane that his grandfather/father is still alive, and that the sheriff, Tess, Towman and the mayor were all former inmates Wilfred sought revenge on for the death of Marianne. The mayor arrives at the mansion armed with a rifle, and he and Jeffrey open fire, killing each other. The killer, revealed to be the elderly Wilfred Butler, finally appears, and Diane grabs Jeffrey's gun and shoots him dead. In the final scene set several months later the following year, Diane takes one last look at the Butler mansion before it is destroyed by a bulldozer crew.


Cast

Additionally,
Candy Darling Candy Darling (November 24, 1944 – March 21, 1974) was an American actress, best known as a Warhol superstar. She was a pioneer for transgender visibility, inspiring songs by the Rolling Stones and Lou Reed. Her performances Andy Warhol's f ...
, Ondine, Tally Brown, Charlotte Fairchild, Lewis Love, Harvey Cohen,
George Trakas George Trakas is a sculptor who was born in Quebec City in 1944 and has lived in New York City since 1963. Many of his projects are site-specific art, site-specific installations, and he describes himself as an environmental sculpture, environment ...
,
Susan Rothenberg Susan Charna Rothenberg (January 20, 1945 – May 18, 2020) was an American contemporary painter, printmaker, sculptor, and draughtswoman. She became known as an artist through her iconic images of the horse, which synthesized the opposing force ...
, and Jack Smith appear as various party guests and psychiatric inmates in the film's flashback sequences.


Themes

Writer Matthew DuPée notes that ''Silent Night, Bloody Night'' examines themes of abuse, victimization, madness, and perversion of justice. Biographer Tom Weaver notes that the film features commentary on power structures and the " polite society" of small communities. Film scholar
Kim Newman Kim James Newman (born 31 July 1959) is an English journalist, film critic, and fiction writer. He is interested in film history and horror fiction – both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's ''Dracula'' at the age of eleven & ...
comments on this theme in his book '' Nightmare Movies: Horror on Screen Since the 1960s'' (2011): "''Silent Night, Bloody Night'' finds that all the pillars of the local community were once inmates of the asylum, and have been running the town since their violent mass breakout. In the canon of modern gothic themes, the evil asylum occupies roughly the same position held in the nineteenth century by the unholy convent."


Production


Development

Writer Jeffrey Konvitz wrote the story for ''Silent Night, Bloody Night'' between 1969 and 1970 with his friend Ira Teller, after an unsuccessful stint working as a talent agent. He had previously become acquainted with director Theodore Gershuny and actress
Mary Woronov Mary Woronov (born December 8, 1943) is an American actress, writer, and Figurative art, figurative painter. She is primarily known as a cult film star because of her work with Andy Warhol and her roles in Roger Corman's cult films. Woronov has ...
, with whom he had attended
Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...
. The film originally had the working title ''Zora'', which was the title of an unrelated screenplay owned by Cannon Films. Konvitz asked Gershuny to direct, with Woronov, at that time Gershuny's soon-to-be wife, starring in the film. Konvitz described Gershuny as "a peculiar fellow...  but that's why I hired him. I knew he was a bit bent." Gershuny and Woronov, both friends of
Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...
and associates of his
Factory A factory, manufacturing plant or production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. Th ...
, brought on various
Warhol superstars Warhol superstars were a clique of New York City personalities promoted by the pop artist Andy Warhol during the 1960s and 1970s. These personalities hung out at Warhol's studio, the Factory, appeared in his films, and accompanied him to his New ...
to appear in the film's flashback sequences as inmates and party guests. The film marked the production debut of co-producer
Lloyd Kaufman Stanley Lloyd Kaufman Jr. (born December 30, 1945) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. Alongside producer Michael Herz, he is the co-founder of Troma Entertainment film studio, and the director of many of their featu ...
.


Filming

Principal photography of ''Silent Night, Bloody Night'' began November 30, 1970 in Oyster Bay, New York, and lasted eighteen days. The production budget was between $212,000 and $295,000, The James William Beekman house (also known as The Cliffs estate) in Oyster Bay served as the Butler home in the film. The production was marked by technical issues early on due to inclement weather, resulting in electrical outages and camera operating equipment freezing in the cold temperatures. Actor
James Patterson James Brendan Patterson (born March 22, 1947) is an American author. Among his works are the '' Alex Cross'', '' Michael Bennett'', '' Women's Murder Club'', '' Maximum Ride'', '' Daniel X'', '' NYPD Red'', '' Witch & Wizard'', '' Private'' and ...
became extremely ill with
cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...
during the latter part of the production, and was unable to continue filming, resulting in the editors having to restructure the film's conclusion. Konvitz recalled that "it wasn't written or meant to be shot that way...  we rushed some scenes and had to cut some other things in. That's why the end might seem bizarre, disjointed." In a retrospective interview, Woronov recalled making the film a "terrible" experience: "We were given a weird script, and Ted ershunytried to spark it up. He tried to make it an artistic statement, but it didn't work. It didn't even make much sense. Most people couldn't understand what was going on—which is not good, particularly for a horror film." Woronov did, however, provide favorable recollections of working with
John Carradine John Carradine ( ; born Richmond Reed Carradine; February 5, 1906 – November 27, 1988) was an American actor, considered one of the greatest character actors in American cinema. He was a member of Cecil B. DeMille's stock company and later J ...
, commenting: "It was very cold, and we all had to stay in a big old house in which we were shooting, but he never complained...  Carradine was a real trouper."


Post-production

Post-production took place in the summer of 1972, with director Gershuny and editor Tom Kennedy completing
dubbing Dubbing (also known as re-recording and mixing) is a post-production process used in filmmaking and the video production process where supplementary recordings (known as doubles) are lip-synced and "mixed" with original production audio to cr ...
, scoring, and sound effects with re-recording engineer Raun Kirves. The film was cut and edited using a
Moviola A Moviola () is a device that allows a Film editing, film editor to view a film while editing. It was the first machine for motion picture editing when it was invented by Iwan Serrurier in 1924. History Iwan Serrurier's original 1917 concept f ...
machine.


Release

The film was given a
limited theatrical release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few cinemas across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...
in the United States under the title ''Night of the Full Dark Moon'' through
Cannon Films The Cannon Group, Inc. was an American group of companies, including Cannon Films, which produced films from 1967 to 1994. The extensive group also owned, amongst others, a large international cinema chain and a video film company that investe ...
, beginning November 15, 1972. It was subsequently released as ''Silent Night, Bloody Night'' in the spring of 1973, and continued to screen under this title through December 1973, sometimes paired as a double feature with ''
I, Monster ''I, Monster'' is a 1971 British horror film directed by Stephen Weeks (his feature debut) and starring Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. It was written by MIlton Subotsky, adapted from Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novella '' Strange Case o ...
'' or ''
The Blood on Satan's Claw ''The Blood on Satan's Claw'' is a 1971 British supernatural period folk horror film directed by Piers Haggard and starring Patrick Wymark, Linda Hayden, and Barry Andrews. Set in early 18th-century England, it follows the residents of a rur ...
''. It subsequently screened in Australia in December 1974. The same year, the
Sitges Film Festival SITGES - International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia () is an annual film festival held in Sitges, Catalonia, Spain. It specializes in fantasy film, fantasy, Horror film, horror and Cult film, cult films. Established in 1968, the festiva ...
in Spain screened the film as an official selection. The film was released once again in 1981 by Cannon under the title ''Death House'', stylized as ''Deathouse'' in some advertisements and on the film's
title card In films and videos, an intertitle, also known as a title card, is a piece of filmed, printed text edited into the midst of (hence, ''inter-'') the photographed action at various points. Intertitles used to convey character dialogue are referred ...
.


Copyright status

Although there is a 1972 copyright statement in the opening credits for Zora Investment Associates, the film was not registered for copyright, and since its release has fallen into
public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...
. Regarding the film's copyright and ownership, writer Jeffrey Konvitz commented in a 2019 interview that
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...
held the original film elements:


Television broadcast

In 1974, television broadcasting rights to the film were sold to
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
for $300,000, who subsequently screened it as a midnight movie. The film was also shown on ''
Elvira's Movie Macabre ''Elvira's Movie Macabre'' (titled on-screen as ''Movie Macabre with Elvira, Mistress of the Dark'' in its original run), or simply ''Movie Macabre'', is an American Horror host, hosted horror movie television program that originally aired locall ...
'', part of
WWOR-TV WWOR-TV (channel 9) is a television station licensed to Secaucus, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York metropolitan area as the flagship of the MyNetworkTV programming service. It is owned and operated by Fox Television Stations alon ...
's ''
Fright Night ''Fright Night'' is a 1985 American supernatural horror film written and directed by Tom Holland, in his directorial debut. The film follows teenager Charley Brewster (played by William Ragsdale), who discovers that his next-door neighbor Je ...
'' beginning in 1978, and became a staple of late-night television in the November and December months. Despite the film's dark subject matter and depictions of violence, the network chose to air it at Christmastime each year. Executive Larry Casey commented on it, saying, "Don't get me wrong. I loved '' White Christmas'' and traditional holiday movies. But how many times can you watch those things? We always pushed the envelope on ''Fright Night'', and ''Silent Night, Bloody Night'' was a great fit. WOR never got any complaints for showing it that I heard about."


Home media

The film had its
VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...
release by Paragon Video in the 1980s. In subsequent years, it has been made available on
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...
from various entertainment companies that specialize in public domain films, though many of the prints on these editions are of extremely poor quality. The majority of the prints used on DVDs were sourced from the VHS transfer released by Paragon Video. A high-definition restored print of the film (sourced from the original master of the ''Death House'' print) was released on DVD by
Film Chest Film Chest, is a privately held media company that specializes in the archiving, restoring, licensing and distribution of films. It is headquartered in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Film Chest distributes consumer DVDs, and sells digital content via o ...
on December 10, 2013. The same print was also used for a DVD release by boutique company Code Red in 2013, in a limited edition
double feature The double feature is a Film, motion picture industry phenomenon in which theaters would exhibit two films for the price of one, supplanting an earlier format in which the presentation of one feature film would be followed by various short subjec ...
paired with '' Invasion of the Blood Farmers'' (1972). In June 2014,
Vinegar Syndrome Vinegar Syndrome is an American home video distribution company which specializes in "protecting and preserving genre films". The company was founded in 2012 in Bridgeport, Connecticut by Joe Rubin and Ryan Emerson, who created it to restore ...
made this
720p 720p (720 lines progressive) is a progressive HD signal format with 720 horizontal lines/1280 columns and an aspect ratio (AR) of 16:9, normally known as widescreen HD (1.78:1). All major HD broadcasting standards (such as SMPTE 292M) includ ...
HD version available for free digital download on their website.


Reception

Though it received little critical notice at the times of its release, the film has received some assessment from various film critics, with praise for its atmosphere,
experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs whe ...
and
arthouse An art film, arthouse film, or specialty film is an independent film aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made prima ...
qualities, as well as being noted as a proto-
slasher film A slasher film is a subgenre of horror films involving a killer or a group of killers stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools. Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as a generic ...
. In particular, its use of
point-of-view shot A point-of-view shot (also known as POV shot, first-person shot or subjective camera) is a film scene—usually a short one—that is shot as if through the eyes of a character (the subject). The camera shows what the subject's eyes would see ...
s from the killer's perspective predate those used in other subsequent slasher films, such as '' Black Christmas'' (1974) and ''
Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...
'' (1978). In an article by '' Boston.com'' ranking the scariest films of all time, it placed at number 59, and was heralded as a "forgotten classic" and "the movie that birthed the modern slasher flick." A review published by the magazine ''
Castle of Frankenstein ''Castle of Frankenstein'' is an American horror fiction, horror, science fiction and fantasy film magazine first published between 1962 and 1975 by Calvin Thomas Beck's Gothic Castle Publishing Company, distributed by Kable News. Larry Ivie—w ...
'' in 1973 was unfavorable, noting that the film appeared to have been "re-edited and reworked to such an extent in the intervening period that it makes little sense in its final form, although the plot had some potentially clever angles...  otherwise,
t is T, or t, is the twentieth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is d ...
a hopeless jumble constricted by flashbacks-within-flashbacks, off-on narration by two different characters, ndclumsy direction." In his book ''Slasher Films: An International Filmography, 1960 Through 2001'', Kent Byron Armstrong wrote that the film "has a lethargic pace, but it provides enough intrigue and mystery to help a viewer retain interest." Film scholar
John Kenneth Muir John Kenneth Muir (born December 3, 1969) is an American literary critic. As of 2022, he has written thirty reference books in the fields of film and television, with a particular focus on the horror and science fiction genres. Biography Bor ...
criticized the film in his book ''Horror Films of the 1970s'', deeming it "technically incompetent" and deriding the screenplay and plot for its lack of cohesion. Biographer Tom Weaver disagrees with the sentiment that the film lacks narrative clarity, conceding that though it features some "odd plot glitches," it is "not nearly as incomprehensible as its detractors—star Mary Woronov included!–would have us believe," and ranked it among star John Carradine's better horror films. Film writer Brian Albright described the film as stylistically moody and surreal, but similarly conceded that its plot is confusing. Writing for ''
Bloody Disgusting Bloody Disgusting is an American independent multi-media company, which began as a horror genre-focused news website specializing in information services that covered various horror media. The company expanded into other media including podcast ...
'', Bee Delores praised the film for its suspense, noting: "With its brisk runtime, clocking in at 83 minutes (including credits), ''Silent Night, Bloody Night'' tightens the screws in a way that make you frozen to the core." A review published by ''
TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...
'' similarly praised it for its "nicely atmospheric moments and some fairly shocking gore." In a favorable retrospective review for the film's 50th anniversary in '' Rue Morgue'', Mark Lager wrote that the film is "a criminally forgotten hidden gem...
Gershon Kingsley Gershon Kingsley (born Götz Gustav Ksinski; October 28, 1922 – December 10, 2019) was a German-American composer, a pioneer of electronic music and the Moog synthesizer, a partner in the electronic music duo Perrey and Kingsley, found ...
’s music is cold and haunting, a melancholy mood." Writer Matthew DuPée notes that the film has received substantial criticism for its convoluted plot and "gritty" cinematography, but asserts that it is "propped up by a fascinating location, strong acting and a visceral story. The Christmas carol "
Silent Night, Holy Night "Silent Night" () is a popular Christmas carol, composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber to lyrics by Joseph Mohr in Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria. It was declared an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2011. The song was first recorde ...
" plays as a musical motif throughout, adding a layer of acoustic eeriness to an already atmospheric haunted house tale." DuPée later added, "director Ted Gershuny’s highly stylistic approach, an amazing location, a competent cast, and a dreary and dark script that was ahead of its time."


Related works

A remake by UK production company North Bank Entertainment, '' Silent Night, Bloody Night: The Homecoming'', was released on DVD in the United States by Elite Entertainment in February 2014. New Wave Independent Pictures produced the sequel to the original film, titled '' Silent Night, Bloody Night 2: Revival''. The film was released on March 15, 2015. On December 10, 2016, the film was adapted into a play in Brooklyn, New York for a one-night-only production by One And Done Productions.


See also

*
Holiday horror Holiday-themed horror films or holiday horror are a subgenre of horror films set during holidays. Holiday horror films can be presented in short or long formats, and typically utilize common themes, images, and motifs from the holidays during which ...


Notes


References


Sources

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External links

* * * * at
Letterboxd Letterboxd ( ) is an online social cataloging service for film founded (partially with investment company Tiny since 2023) and owned by Matthew Buchanan and Karl von Randow in 2011, and headquartered in New Zealand. Members can rate and review ...
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Silent Night Bloody Night 1972 horror films American Christmas horror films American exploitation films American independent films American mystery horror films American slasher films Articles containing video clips Films about incest Films about inheritances Films about telephony Films produced by Lloyd Kaufman Films set in 1933 Films set in 1935 Films set in 1950 Films set in 1970 Films set in Massachusetts Films shot in New York (state) Films set in abandoned houses Films set in country houses Films set in psychiatric hospitals American gothic horror films Golan-Globus films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films 1970s American films 1970s English-language films 1970s Christmas horror films 1970s mystery horror films 1970s slasher films English-language horror films