Gorehounds Unite!

Offended parents and others protested this slasher film when it was released in 1984 because it portrays Billy (Robert Brian Wilson) as a toy-store Santa Claus who goes on a rampage and axes people to death while still in his Santa garb. Four sequels prove the adage that there is no such thing as bad publicity. When Billy was just a boy he saw someone dressed as Santa murder his parents at Christmastime. Billy's stint in an orphanage did nothing to unwarp his mind (he is tied to his bed for "misbehavior"), and when he starts playing Santa in the store -- much against his wishes since he is deathly afraid of both Christmas and Santa Claus, he first only frightens the children who come to see him. Then his mind snaps, and he repeats the scene he saw as a child, on one person after another, in full gory color.

 On December 11th Anchor Bay offers a reissue of one of my favorite holiday films of all time.....Silent Night Deadly Night! This is the film that upon release on christmas of 1984 caused an uproar from parents all over the United States and beyond. You had everyone from community leaders and parents groups to the damn P.T.A fighting to ban the film. And they actually managed to cause enough of a stir that concerned theater owners decided to pull the film despite the fact that it was selling out at an alarming rate. Parents and the moral majority had won the battle.....

 That is until the advent of the 80's VHS Video boom! When the film recieved it's VHS Video release it quickly garnered a cult status and was one of the harder titles to find on the video store shelves. The film to date has thousands of adoring fans and has garnered 4 sequels as well as a remake that is now in the works. (of course....)

 Anchor Bay previously released a version of this film on DVD in 2003 and it also featured the sequel Silent Deadly Night Part 2. I'll attempt to give you an idea as to which version is the best value for your holiday dollar.

 As I stated before I still hold this film as a personal favorite and view it every year at midnight when it turns from Christmas eve into Christmas day. I'll begin my review by comparing the actual film on both discs to see which is the better print.

 As far as the two DVD's go even though this new version claims to be "Uncut and Uncensored!! The Way It Was Meant To Be Seen!" I see no real differences between the two versions. The running time is the same so there have been no additional time or scenes added (in fact I looked at my VHS version as well and for some reason the rape scene runs about 12 seconds more on there.). I did notice however that a few scenes on the new DVD seem to be slightly brighter but that may just be the fact that this DVD was new and I have watched the other many, many times before!

  This new version of the film contains no new special features at all and in fact has the second film cut out of this release (honestly not  a great film but cmon....2 films for the same price still looks alot better to the wallet.) So I was extremely dissapointed to find this out and actually kinda annoyed with Anchor Bay for doing this and trying to trick consumers into buying the same DVD with the promise of an unrated and uncensored cut of the film and at the same time cutting out the sequel.

 The packaging on the other hand features brand new artwork and looks alot cooler on your shelf than the previous version. But is new artwork really worth paying $15.00 for the same DVD you already have? I don't think so.......Then again for the completists out there it may be.

 All in All I find it very hard to reccomend this DVD to anyone out there who already has a version as there isnt anything new to us on this one. I also can't reccomend it to anyone who doesnt have a version of this film on DVD yet either. I would suggest that if you dont have a copy yet, to search out the previous Anchor Bay release because you get so much more value for your money. If you havent seen the film yet you really do need to search it out as it is one no horror fan in their right mind should go without seeing.

 I do beg all fans of this film to lobby Anchor Bay to release a box set of all 5 films as that is what we really want to see. While the sequels were hit or miss as far as the quality of them go, I would still love to be able to have them all in one package. So go tto the website and suggest it to them as it's the only way we will ever see it made. (I was told to do this by a rep of Anchor Bay as there are no plans to do this unless there is a fan outcry for them.) So go do that and scold them at the same time for trying to get us to spend our hard earned money for what basically is a lesser product. A shame................

Anchor Bays Website: http://www.anchorbayentertainment.com/

 Starz:   www.starz.com.

 RATING:

DVD RELEASE: 1 Out Of 5 Severed Heads!

ORIGINAL FILM: 4 Out Of 5 Severed Heads!