Review: Silent Night, Bloody Night (1972)

Directed by: Theodore Gershuny
Starring:
Written by: Theodore Gershuny, Jeffrey Konvitz, Ira Teller
Music by: Gershon Kingsley
IMDb

Silent Night, Bloody Night was one of the last of my Christmas horror blindspots. The picture quality on Amazon Prime is not very good, but the low quality sort of worked in the movie’s favor, other than some night scenes that were almost impossible to discern. It felt very old-fashioned, as a lot of ‘70s horror does. The film is very eerie and cold, with a spooky score that does a great job of incorporating some thematic melodies from Christmas music. The central mystery is pretty interesting, and even though a lot of the exposition is clunkily delivered via random voice-overs, the approach complements the overall feel the movie seems to be going for, which is something almost anachronistic. There’s kind of an EC horror vibe to this film that I dug. One of the final scenes, which is shot as archival footage wherein the killer’s backstory is explained, is quite unnerving, Some of the acting is stodgy and this is really a tame horror movie, but it does a great job of unsettling through suggestion and mood. I would have appreciated more Christmas touches, but there are enough to feel seasonal. A very decent watch!

Rating: 7 out of 10