Over 40 years ago, Silent Night, Deadly Night turned jolly, old Santa Claus into a beacon of terror with a controversial slasher that launched an enduring Christmas horror franchise.
You better watch out, because a fresh reimagining of the ’80s cult classic opens this weekend, while the previous installments are streaming now.
Here’s where to watch all seven Silent Night, Deadly Night movies…
Silent Night, Deadly Night – Shudder, AMC+, Pluto TV, Philo
Released on the very same day in 1984 as A Nightmare on Elm Street, there’s a chance that Silent Night, Deadly Night would have been lost in the sea of slashers if not for its controversial marketing campaign. An early example of the Streisand Effect, commercials featuring a killer Santa provoked ire and protests among parents, which in turn fueled interest in the movie.
Directed by Charles E. Sellier Jr. and written by Michael Hickey, the holiday horror classic opens with a 5-year-old boy witnessing his parents being murdered by a man dressed as Santa. When he turns 18, Billy Chapman (Robert Brian Wilson) leaves the orphanage only to have his trauma triggered, leading him to “punish” the naughty as an axe-wielding Santa Claus.
Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 – Prime, Shudder, AMC+, Screambox, Tubi, Shout TV, Hoopla, Plex
The story behind 1987’s Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 goes that editor Lee Harry was hired to re-cut the original film so it could be repackaged as a sequel. Along with co-writer Joseph H. Earle, Harry persuaded the studio to allow him to shoot additional footage to be incorporated into the existing footage.
About one-third of the sequel consists of recycled footage in the form of flashbacks. The rest focuses on Billy’s equally disturbed brother, Ricky Caldwell (Eric Freeman), who dresses as Santa for a killing spree of his own. Despite its reputation as one of the worst sequels ever made, the charmingly ill-advised film has garnered a cult following with the rallying cry of “Garbage day!”
Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out! – Tubi, Fandango at Home, Fawesome, Plex
In the wake of the critical and commercial failure of Part 2, the franchise was relegated to straight-to-video territory with 1989’s Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out. Cult filmmaker Monte Hellman (Two-Lane Blacktop) was enlisted to direct from a script by Carlos Laszlo.
Horror icon Bill Moseley takes on the role of Ricky, trading in his metal head plate from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 for a brain-exposing device affixed to his skull. The mad Dr. Newbury (Richard Beymer, “Twin Peaks”) attempts to reach the comatose killer with the help of a blind clairvoyant (Samantha Scully). It’s not long before Ricky is awakened and continues his Yuletide killing spree.
Silent Night Deadly Night 4: Initiation – Tubi, Fandango at Home, Tubi, Fawesome, Plex
1990’s Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation saw the franchise eschew its established narrative in favor of a new tale of terror set around Christmastime. What it lacks in holiday spirit — Christmas is an afterthought, relegated to a handful of decorations in sunny, snowless Los Angeles — it makes up for in originality.
Society director-producer Brian Yuzna, writer Zeph E. Daniel, and special effects maestro Screaming Mad George reunite for what can best be described as The Craft meets Rosemary’s Baby by way of Junji Ito. Inspired by the myth of the primordial she-demon Lilith, it follows an aspiring reporter (Kim Levitt) who investigates a mysterious death, leading her to uncover a coven of witches with questionable intentions.
Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toy Maker – Tubi, Fandango at Home, Tubi, Fawesome, Plex
Friday the 13th Part III and Friday the 13th: A New Beginning writer Martin Kitrosser made his directorial debut with 1991’s Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toy Maker, which he co-wrote with Yuzna. Despite the Jason Voorhees connection, this bizarre outing plays more like Christmas’ answer to Halloween III: Season of the Witch.
In a twist of fate as interesting as anything in the movie, silver screen icon Mickey Rooney stars in the sequel, a mere seven years after publicly condemning the original. He plays Joe Petto (a cute Pinocchio reference, until you realize how much it sounds like pedo), an elderly toy store owner who, with the help of his son Pino (Brian Bremer, Pumpkinhead), designs toys to kill their customers’ children.
Silent Night – Tubi, Fandango at Home, Plex, The Roku Channel
Released in 2012 — the tail end of the remake trend that dominated Hollywood for the better part of a decade — Silent Night slashed the franchise back to its roots, with a killer Santa, festive kills, and tongue-in-cheek humor. Steven C. Miller (Escape Plan 2: Hades) directs from a script by Jayson Rothwell (Polar).
The reboot sees a killer dressed as Santa picking off citizens of a small Midwestern town on Christmas Eve. This time around, the homicidal Saint Nick adds a mask to his costume, turning his identity into a mystery for the first time in the franchise. Jaime King (My Bloody Valentine 3D), Malcolm McDowell (Rob Zombie’s Halloween), and Donal Logue (“Gotham”) lead the cast.
Silent Night, Deadly Night (2025) – In Theaters
Billy Chapman is back in a new take on Silent Night, Deadly Night from writer-director Mike P. Nelson — who previously rebooted Wrong Turn in a refreshing way, did some of the most interesting work in V/H/S/85, and revived Jason Voorhees in Sweet Revenge. It sees the return of original Silent Night, Deadly Night producers Scott Schneid and Dennis Whitehead after more than four decades.
Rohan Campbell plays Billy, channeling a pathos similar to his work in Halloween Ends. Drawing comparisons to “Dexter” and Venom, the new version of Billy is something of an antihero — including a crowd-pleasing seven-minute sequence in which he takes out over 20 Nazis. Ruby Modine (Happy Death Day) adds an interesting dynamic as Billy’s muse.
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