SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT PART 2 (1987) Blu-ray review

Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 (1987) d. Lee Harry (USA)

Despite sequel fever running rampant throughout the 1980s, the genesis of SNDN2 is surprisingly unconventional. Seems that producer Lawrence Appelbaum approached editor Lee Harry with the assignment of simply re-cutting the footage from the original 1984 flick and attempting to re-issue it under a different title, one without the stigma of the notorious ad campaign that led to protests by concerned parents and scathing reviews from top critics like Siskel and Ebert. Somehow or other, Harry convinced Appelbaum that it might be worthwhile shooting new footage and employ the original footage as flashback material, serving as a kind of “greatest hits” montage, which is exactly what happened. With this knowledge in mind, it’s easier to appreciate the fact that the first 40 minutes (yes, OVER HALF THE ACTUAL RUNNING TIME, not counting the ultra-slow ending credits) are comprised of pre-existing material which you more than likely already watched this holiday season.

SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT (1984) Blu-ray review

Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) d. Charles E. Sellier, Jr. (USA)

After his parents are murdered by crook in a St. Nick outfit, young tormented Billy (Danny Wagner) is sent with his infant brother Ricky to stay at an orphanage where he is mercilessly abused by our resident Mother Superior (Lilyan Chauvin). After growing to adulthood, Billy (now played by Robert Brian Wilson) lands a gig at the local toy store which works out fine until he’s pressed into wearing an all-too-familiar red suit and white beard to entertain the kiddies. Predictably, this pushes him over the edge, leading to a murderous Christmas Eve rampage dressed as Santa, claiming “naughty” victims right and left.

SLEEPAWAY CAMP (1983) Blu-ray Review

Sleepaway Camp (1983) d. Robert Hiltzik (USA)

The phrase “You can never watch the same movie twice” is one that I’ve used many a time to describe my shifting cinematic perceptions from one viewing to the next. The films don’t change, but as I continue to grow (I wouldn’t go so far as to say “mature”) and consume greater varieties of the wild and woolly, my entertainment palate waxes and wanes like the October moon. Pieces of celluloid gold turn to muck monsters upon revisit while crapfests become craptastic as familiarity breeds contentment. Case in point, when I first got around to seeing Robert Hiltzik’s late-phase slasher on video in 2004, I pretty much tore it to pieces, naming the WTF ending its only redeeming feature.

BODY BAGS (1993) DVD/Blu-ray Review

Body Bags (1993) d. John Carpenter / Tobe Hooper (USA)

I’ll be honest, until its recent DVD/BR unearthing by Shout! Factory’s Scream Factory division, I had nearly forgotten this made-for-cable anthology effort even existed, much less sought it out. Since it’s billed as “John Carpenter presents Body Bags,” I was even unaware that Carpenter had served as director for the majority of the piece (two segments and the wraparound). Blame it on Wes Craven, whose stream of similarly branded straight-to-video awfulness (Dracula 2000, They, the 1998 Carnival of Souls remake) left me more than a little gun shy. And, in addition to the fact that it was made for Showtime long before its original programming was the stuff of ACE awards, no one within my horror crew ever talked about it. Like, at all. Even when the conversation would turn toward Carpenter and his output, people seemed to go out of their way to ignore this little gem, skipping straight from 1988’s They Live to 1994’s In the Mouth of Madness (with completists throwing in a cursory nod to Memoirs of an Invisible Man from 1992) without so much as a good, bad, or otherwise. Which is a darn shame, because this is horror charm on the cheap, a slice of low-budget cheese that should delight any fan of Tales from the Crypt or the short-lived syndicated series, Monsters.