Remaking or reimagining horror classics like Silent Night, Deadly Night or other films might not be the most popular thing among a certain subsection of the fanbase. Luckily for us, Mike P. Nelson (Wrong Turn 2021, Sweet Revenge) knew what makes a remake or reimagining something special. The new version of the film trades the utterly villainous turn for Billy and makes him more into a vengeful killer of the “naughty.” He’s played by Rohan Campbell (Halloween Ends, The Monkey) and he drifts from town to town with a voice inside his head helping him kill the naughty.

He makes his way to a new town, Hackett. He meets Pamela (played by Ruby Modine) and quickly makes himself a part of her and her father, Mr. Sims’s, (David Lawrence Brown) life. When a killer is preying on the kids of the area, Billy and the voice in his head, Charlie (Mark Acheson) have to go after them to bring back some Christmas cheer. Along the way, he meets some of the townsfolk who are on the naughty side and even does battle with a local white supremacist sect. It’s all in good fun, and like the original, is still shocking in some parts.

A remake should look to modernize and include new wrinkles for a new generation to watch, and this movie does that and then some. It’s not without its problems, but we’ll get to all of that in The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of Silent Night, Deadly Night.

The Good Of Silent Night Deadly Night

Starting off with the good, for those who want a different story from the film, this is pretty close to it. Billy isn’t naturally evil, he’s actually out to kill people for good. He just does so in a pretty brutal and violent way. Rohan Campbell is damn good in the role and the switch he flips going from Billy to Killer Santa is awesome to see. There’s also more character development here and we learn about his backstory and his sort of moral code.

Mark Acheson’s vocal turn as Charlie is also a good voiceover performance. This type of gimmick in a movie can be hit or miss a lot of the time, for Silent Night Deadly Night it works, really well. Ruby Modine is also excellent as Pamela. She’s fiery, and a great foil for Billy, who’s normally very mild-mannered; on the other hand, she’s a firecracker.

The biggest set piece in the film is also a sight to behold. Billy goes after a group of particularly unsavory people at a Christmas party armed with only an axe. it kind of transitions into an action film for a bit here. The scene is so gutbusting in execution that I didn’t mind the sort of tonal shift.

This one is not as violent as other Cineverse films like Terrifier, so while the gore is there, it’s not over-the-top in any way.

The Bad And Ugly Of Silent Night Deadly Night

The film only takes place over a couple of days in December and it speeds through things A LOT. Billy and Pamela’s relationship, the townspeople just trusting this random new guy who rolls into town, and everything just feels like its sped up. Starting at the beginning of December or something else, might have make it feel a bit less packed together. It stretches the boundaries of the supsension of disbelief that EVERYONE in town would just suddenly trust this new guy, and that Pamela would trust him enough to kindle a relationship.

The other thing about the film is that the so-called villain of the child kidnapper is practically nonexistent. They’re a faceless, nameless, guy wearing a Santa mask. The other villain, Pamela’s ex boyfriend Max (played by David Tomlinson) is also pretty weak. If you’re gonna go the route of Dexter and make Billy the hero, the villain of the film, kind of has to be on his level.

A Little Holiday Violence Won’t Hurt

Overall, SIlent Night, Deadly Night ends up doing what a remake should. It doesn’t outright copy the original film, and it doesn’t ruin that either. It takes its own stand, gives itself a new wrinkle, and features some strong performances in a nice holiday horror movie. This is satisfying, bloody, and also features some of the best holiday songs that aren’t all of the traditional ones you hear in movies.

Silent Night, Deadly Night releases in theaters on December 12th, 2025.

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