SILENT NIGHT, BLOODY NIGHT
aka NIGHT OF THE DARK FULL MOON
Directed by Theodore Gershuny
Starring Mary Woronov, James Patterson, Patrick O’Neal, Astrid Heeren, Walter Abel and John Carridine

“The mansion…the madness…the maniac…no escape”

In 1950 Wilfred Butler was burned to death in an accident at his palatial estate in the small town of East Willard, MA. One of the stipulations of his will is that his house be left to his grandson Jeffrey with the stipulation that the premises never be changed. 22 years later New York lawyer (Patrick O’Neal) arrives in East Willard with instructions from the now adult Jeffrey (James Patterson) to sell the house for him. Several residents of East Willard take an unusual interest in the house and offer to buy it. But before the offer can be finalized, an escaped lunatic arrives in East Willard and begins dispatching of the interested parties one by one.

Having owned but never watched the Paragon VHS cassette for years, I surprised myself by watching this holiday horror film on this cold, gray winter day. Even more surprising is that hiding behind the generic title of SILENT NIGHT, BLOODY NIGHT is an atmospheric horror thriller with a great twist. And not only is SILENT NIGHT, BLOODY NIGHT a great horror film, but it is one that has been duped by the historians of horror cinema.

The biggest asset to SILENT NIGHT, BLOODY NIGHT is the film’s set-up. It packs a big punch in the end and actually left me guessing throughout the film. A few of the red herrings are a bit too obvious but they worked well enough. One of Gershuny’s biggest strengths is the subtle number of hints regarding the film’s big twist in the finale. If one pays close attention, there are several tip-offs as to what is really going on in the odd town of East Willard. It is refreshing to see a film where you are continually assessing the information as the mystery unfolds.

Director Gershuny, probably best known for SUGAR COOKIES (1973), knows how to build an atmospheric horror film. The wintry locations, especially the imposing house, are used to full effect and he gets great performances (particularly from Woronov) from his leads. The picture’s highlight is a extended flashback, chronicling what happened at the estate in the 1930s. The sepia look and use of wide-angle lens makes the entire scene very creepy. One complaint that pops up in reviews I have seen is the dark night shots. Truthfully, I think this has more to do with bad transfers rather than poor craftsmanship. Gershuny also uses an effective POV for the killer that echoes Bob Clark’s Yuletide themed BLACK CHRISTMAS (1974) from a few years later.

A lot of people credit Clark’s film as the earliest prototype of the slasher genre. But Gershuny’s film predates Clark’s by almost 2 years. According to various reports it was shelved for two years. This fact is further substantiated by the fact that lead Patterson actually passed away in August of 1972. So the film was completed well before the early 1974 filming date for Clark’s film. Given the killer POV shots, scary phone calls the killer makes and high number of murders; one has to wonder if Clark saw this film before making his own. This is not to diminish the power of BLACK CHRISTMAS (it is still an excellent film), but just to question the general belief that BLACK CHRISTMAS begat HALLOWEEN and the subsequent North American slasher genre. As it stands, SILENT NIGHT, BLOODY NIGHT is a great Christmas horror film, a more than pleasant surprise for this holiday season.

It's been disappointing to see so many poor PD copies of this on the shelves, especially since to the best of my knowledge MGM owns the rights to this through the Cannon buyout, and could issue a really good DVD of it. As such, I doubt they'll do so now that the grey market DVDs are so prevalent.