The Best Movie Remake Of 2025 Was A Bold Take On An '80s Horror Cult Classic

Remakes of movies are nothing new. It feels like people think of it as something that Hollywood became obsessed with in the 2010s but, in reality, it's been a thing throughout film history. Of course, the 21st century has brought about an obsession with established IP, with remakes certainly becoming more common. That trend continued in 2025, as massive hits such as "Lilo & Stitch" (which topped $1 billion at the global box office) and "How to Train Your Dragon" ($636 million in theaters worldwide) were remakes.

Still, bigger doesn't always mean better. I can't claim to have seen every single movie remake in 2025, but director Mike P. Nelson's take on the controversial '80s cult classic "Silent Night, Deadly Night" earned its place atop the list of remakes this year. What Nelson did with the material is nothing shy of bold and audacious, resulting in something that feels almost entirely new yet undeniably woven with the DNA of the original. It exists as the best-case scenario for remaking a movie in the modern era.

Nelson's film, much like the original, begins with a young boy named Billy witnessing his parents brutal murder by a man in a Santa Claus suit. Years later, a now-grown-up Billy (Rohan Campbell) decides to don a Santa suit himself as he embarks on a string of violent murders. His motivations seem purely sinister, at least at first — but over time, his true mission comes into focus.

To put my cards fully on the table, I don't think this is a perfect movie by any stretch. I gave "Silent Night, Deadly Night" a 7 out of 10 review out of Fantastic Fest. But it stuck with me, more than many other arguably better movies did from this year. That says something.

Nelson's "Silent Night, Deadly Night" will leave viewers thinking about it long afterward. I'll refrain from diving into spoilers since I imagine many people reading this haven't seen the movie yet, it pains me to say. "Silent Night, Deadly Night" came and went at the box office, which is a real shame. As such, I'd like to use this opportunity to encourage the world's horror lovers to seek this one out.

"I've never seen the original," you might say. It doesn't matter. "I love the original, why would anyone remake it?" I assure you, Nelson found a damn good reason. More than just doing the same thing again and playing it safe, he took the ball and ran with it in a wildly unexpected direction. It's nothing shy of a miracle that the folks at Cineverse and Bloody Disgusting backed Nelson's take at all. It goes places, none of them obvious. It's ultra-violent yet purposeful in its violence. It's not gratuitous for the sake of it, existing as some sort of test for the audience like "Terrifier 2" (itself also a Cineverse joint).

Instead, without giving too much away, Nelson finds a remarkably clever way to get audiences to root for the killer here. Whereas "Lilo & Stitch" was "aggressively safe," as BJ Colangelo put it in her /Film review, Nelson said f*** it, opting to take a big, ambitious swing that, at the very least, must be admired. It's the kind of thing we could use a lot more of.

There are currently seven "Silent Night, Deadly Night" movies, all of varying quality. The original got four sequels and a loose remake simply titled "Silent Night." Some of them are zany. Some are fun. But are they essential?

The problem with so many sequels is that they feel like cash grabs. Similarly, many remakes (particularly live-action revamps of animated classics) end up feeling extraneous. But at the same time, lots of remakes manage to be even better than their predecessors, with John Carpenter's "The Thing" coming to mind.

In this case, Nelson managed to make Billy (a horror icon in his own right) relevant in the modern cinematic conversation by telling a story that meant something to him, using the general premise of "Silent Night, Deadly Night" as a jumping-off point. Indeed, although he's yet to become a household name, Nelson is starting to develop a reputation for doing the unexpected with established franchises.

Case in point: His 2021 take on the "Wrong Turn" movies was both refreshing and, in my humble opinion, was one of the best movies done dirty by the pandemic. He also made this year's "Sweet Revenge," an official "Friday the 13th" short that, again, did some truly audacious stuff with a downright legendary horror property. Love it or hate it, it's hard not to respect his "Do something fresh, or why do it at all?" mentality.

Mind you, there were other good remakes in 2025. "Bugonia," Yorgos Lanthimos' wild re-imagining of the Korean movie "Save the Green Planet!," is equally commendable. But it's going to get its due, given its A-list pedigree. With any luck, Nelson's remake will also find an audience over time because, damn it, it deserves one.

Remakes don't have to be boring or the death of art. Whatever perceived flaws one could point out in this movie are radically outweighed by the sheer guts it has to be commendably preposterous.