Silent Night, Deadly Night Review: A Bloody Remake With Something New To Offer [Fantastic Fest]

Remaking a movie is always an interesting prospect. Stick too close to the original and you start to wonder, "What's the point?" Gus Van Sant's shot-for-shot remake of "Psycho" comes to mind. Stray too far from what came before and it starts to feel similarly pointless, albeit for different reasons. That brings us to director Mike P. Nelson's remake of the infamous '80s Christmas slasher "Silent Night, Deadly Night." It walks a fine line, becoming a remake that absolutely justifies its existence. At the same time, it rather boldly sets itself apart in ways that are, in word, surprising.

The remake recently premiered at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas as one of the fest's secret screenings. In this new version, much like the original Christmas horror classic, a young boy named Billy witnesses his parents brutal murder by a man in a Santa Claus suit. From there, things diverge a bit. We pick up years later with Billy (Rohan Campbell) as an adult who now dons a Santa suit, embarking on a series of on a violent murders of his own. His motivations seem purely sinister, at least at first — but over time, his true objective becomes more clear.

What I can say as I sit here right now is that I am still thinking about this movie and how it unfolds. I probably will be for some time. Whether it's great or not, I don't know. What I can say with confidence is that Nelson somehow both honored the premise of director Charles Sellier's original, but used that premise to tell a story that is all his own. And that story is wild. Love it or hate it, it's hard not to respect it.

When the original "Silent Night, Deadly Night" arrived in 1984, it felt dangerous. The idea of watching a guy dressed as Santa killing people was offensive to many, and it became highly controversial in its day. In 2025, in an era when "Terrifier 3" can make nearly $90 million at the box office as a no-holds-barred, deeply disturbing gore fest with Art the Clown dressed as Santa, the shock and awe factor just isn't there with the premise alone.

Nelson understood this and, to be clear, doesn't pull punches when it comes to the violence. Billy has his trusty ax in hand and makes use of it. There is gore-a-plenty with some brutal kills. But Nelson also decides to do something radically different with the character of Billy and use his trauma in new ways, making it more of a fascinating, bizarre character piece. There are some pretty big reveals that aren't worth spoiling, but once this movie reveals itself, there is a real big "Oh!" moment one has when it all clicks into place.

What Nelson does with this material is anything but safe. It's a big, crazy swing. In an era when Hollywood is so IP obsessed, even if it doesn't all work like gangbusters, there is something refreshing about how straight-up audacious this movie ends up being. For those who haven't seen it, Nelson also did 2021's criminally underseen "Wrong Turn" reboot which was similarly bold. In that case though, he diverted even more from the source material. In any event, he's a director who is quickly asserting himself as someone who can take long-standing IP and do something pretty interesting with it. If we must continue to reboot and remake things, why not have some fun with it?

"Silent Night, Deadly Night" is a shockingly enduring franchise, with four sequels and now two remakes to its name. Much of that is owed to the appeal of the central character Billy Chapman. It has, at times, resulted in so-bad-it's-good gems such as "Silent Night, Deadly Night 2." In this case though, Nelson treats the material a little more seriously. That wouldn't work at all without the right actor in place. Rohan Campbell was absolutely the right actor.

Campbell sort of stole the show as Corey in "Halloween Ends," a movie that similarly takes a big swing within a pre-existing franchise. Casting him as Billy is perfection, as he brings an everyman quality to this twisted, strange character. Billy isn't like Jason Voorhees or any other masked slasher without much humanity. He's a real person and a multi-dimensional character, one who also happens to rack up a body count. The take on Billy in this movie is bold and it would have been easy for the wrong actor to drop the ball. Campbell rises to the task, making a case for himself as one of our more compelling modern scream kings along the way.

What we're left with is a movie that makes one think more than anyone would have expected heading into it. It's silly at times. It doesn't take itself too seriously. Yet, it also has something pretty loud and timely to say. It goes hard with the gore when it needs to. The movie feels a little long in the tooth at times, particularly before we figure out what's going on, but that's a minor crime compared to what Nelson got away with here.

I would rather have a slightly messy movie that sticks with me than a safe, boring retread of what came before any day of the week. In that way, the new "Silent Night, Deadly Night" more than earns its place in the world.

/Film Rating: 7 out of 10

"Silent Night, Deadly Night" hits theaters on December 11, 2025.