Director: Mike P. Nelson
Writers: Mike P. Nelson, Michael Hickey, Paul Caimi
Stars: Rohan Campbell, Ruby Modine, March Acheson
Synopsis: A child witnesses his parents’ murder by a man in a Santa suit. Years later, as an adult, he dons a Santa costume himself and embarks on a violent quest for retribution against those responsible for the traumatic event from his childhood.
“Chug-a chug-a chug-a choo choo!” There goes the sound of the train of remakes continuing to roll on in Hollywood. Most remakes are a mixed bag of things to like and dislike. Audiences aren’t always satisfied with them because they don’t have familiar scenes from the originals or they are shot-by-shot recreations of your favorite movies. You’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t if you’re a filmmaker that’s hired to work on a remake. The 2025 remake of the cult classic Silent Night Deadly Night goes leaps and bounds over its predecessor. I watched the 1984 original movie last week in preparation for it and I can say that it left me wanting more. Luckily, the new movie has more of a plot, better kills, and a surprising warmness from its two leads.
We’re introduced to young Billy Chapman (Logan Sawyer) on a road trip with his parents. The three visit Billy’s grandpa at a nursing home before they celebrate Christmas. Billy peeks in at his grandfather to see how he’s doing. They crack jokes and Grandpa gives Billy the run down on Santa Claus. Grandpa chokes on something and Billy tries to help but he’s traumatized by what happens next. Billy and his parents leave soon after the incident. The back of their car is run into by a man in a Santa suit. Without warning, Santa Claus kills both of his parents. Billy tries to get away and that’s when we’re dropped into the present day with adult Billy (Rohan Campbell).
The new version of Billy that we have is still traumatized by the events of his past. After all, that kind of thing happening to someone wouldn’t just leave their mind and go away. Billy continues to have nightmares about the incident and he can’t shake this from constantly eating at his brain. Campbell has played multiple characters that endure being bullied and mistreated (The Monkey, Halloween Ends). This time, he’s a leading character with way more screen time and he puts on a performance that puts him in the spotlight. Billy is a wanderer, a drifter if you will. He doesn’t stay in one place for long. Working odd jobs and being mysterious has worked for him and it’s how he’s stayed alive. Weirdly, he’s not alone. He has a voice in his head that talks to him, tells him how to do things, warns him of trouble and how to handle it. This voice is a person named Charlie. There are definitely signs that Billy has mental health issues due to what he’s gone through in his life. The movie doesn’t touch on this being a thing and it chalks it up to him having this voice in his head from THE PERSON THAT KILLED HIS FAMILY. Freaky stuff huh? It only gets weirder from here.
Hackett, Minnesota is a quiet town. They’re very big on celebrating Christmas and spreading holiday cheer throughout the season. Billy lands here after fleeing the scene from a victim of his own doing. He sees a local girl named Pam (Ruby Modine) and takes a liking to her. Billy gets a job at a Christmas-themed store owned by Pam’s dad. The two spend a lot of time with each other. The more that they talk the more that they realize that trauma and pain is something that they share. Pam has a mean streak of her own and she’s violent when she needs to be. As they continue to hang out, Charlie is trying to keep Billy’s eye on the prize. This means no distractions until he’s finished his business. What’s his business you ask? It’s killing people that are deemed to be naughty by Charlie. In the original movie, Billy killed random people. Some of them deserved it, some of them didn’t. This change is one of the best changes from the original to the remake that I really appreciated.
The movie is a Cineverse, Bloody Disgusting, and Screambox production so you know that they’re going to give audiences super bloody and extravagant kills. They’re the companies that gave us the Terrifier franchise with Art the Clown. The practical effects and action sequences are fun and entertaining. There’s a big action sequence in the second act of the film that rivals the Santa fight scene in the ‘96 family comedy movie Jingle All The Way. Billy’s weapon of choice is an axe and he uses it very well, like it’s a Katana sword. He thinks that an axe is a more practical weapon and that “guns are for pussies.”
Fun and extravagant kills, a tight 95 minute runtime, necessary changes to its story and even warm moments between the two leads are reasons why this movie is one to see. We’re teased with a potential sequel at the end of the movie and I say that it should happen as long as it makes sense. The longer that some horror franchises go on, they focus on providing the audience with kills that we love and they don’t feature plots with story details that make sense. I would hate for this potential franchise to suffer the same fate and fall apart on its second or third film. Wait, now that I think of it, the original franchise already fell down that rabbit hole. This time around, avoid that at all costs.
