Silent Night Remake 2012 - REVIEW

When I first heard that my favorite holiday slasher was being remade I was none too happy.  I'm not a huge fan of remakes in the first place.  As it got closer to the release of the Silent Night remake I saw previews and read reviews and put it together that it really was not a direct remake of the original.  In fact it's basically just a title remake.  So with that being said I thought I would give it a shot and see how well they were able to put this together.

Starting off quite different than the original.  No childhood experiences for our santa killer, they get right into the killing.  The first 2 victims of Santa have been claimed.  A man and a woman who were having an affair.  The man thinks its her husband and he is going to kill him for revenge.  Right before Santa pulls the switch he realizes this is just a madman who is going to kill him for no reason.  Our main character of the movie Aubrey (Jaime King) is awoken by a call from her boss, the Sheriff (Malcolm McDowell), that she has to come into work on Christmas Eve.  The day she has specifically asked to be off to spend with her family.  He does not take no for an answer and she is on duty.  Meanwhile there is a killer Santa still on the loose claiming victims around town leaving little clues to his identity.  The hardest part of catching a killer Santa in this town is on Christmas Eve every year there is a Santa parade were more than 50 Santa's will be dressed up and parading around town.

I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised with this film.  Silent Night sets itself apart from the original all together with a totally different story line.  So this could be considered more of a re-imagining rather than just a direct remake.  I thought the cast is what really sets this movie apart from the original.  A few big names in this one Jaime King, Malcolm McDowell and even Lisa Marie has a small role in the movie.  Malcolm McDowell adds the comic relief with some great one liner's.  Jaime King plays the lead role and she did a great job but something about her character I really did not like.  Her demeanor was too weak for most of the movie, too weak to be a Deputy.  The best parts about the movie are the deaths.  The are all bloody, gruesome and very sadistic.  There is something about the Santa that is just creepy.  The mask that he is wearing adds alot too it, and who doesn't love a killer Santa with a flamethrower.

Steven C Miller deserves a huge round of applause for his work on this movie.  I really thought it was fantastic and exceeded all my expectations 100%.  While I cannot say I like it more than the original, because it's a classic and nothing in my mind can top that.  This remake comes awfully close though.  It has been a while since I watched a new slasher movie with a killer that was so sinister and evil as the Santa was in this one.  I did read a couple reviews on this movie that said the backstory to the killer Santa was not needed.  I disagree totally!  I am someone that needs to know the killer's motives and likes it somehow to make sense to me.  The backstory to the killer in this one is not real elaborate and is really only flashbacks 2 or 3 times throughout the movie, but it was enough.  Did not drag it out too much and got right to the point.  This is definitely a must watch for the holiday season.  Stay twisted everyone!