Vague Visages’ Silent Night, Deadly Night review contains minor spoilers. Mike P. Nelson’s 2025 movie features Rohan Campbell, Ruby Modine and Mark Acheson. Check out the VV home page for more film criticism, movie reviews and film essays.

The original Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) is hardly an untouchable masterpiece. In fact, it’s exploitative, misogynistic and has a mind-numbingly illogical plot and terrible kills famously sanded down for the theatrical release, to achieve an R rating. As such, the prospect of remaking/rebooting the 80s film for modern audiences isn’t fraught with quite as much danger as something like, say, The Exorcist (1973). Director and co-screenwriter Mike P. Nelson has previously rebooted a horror classic, of course, after helming the 2021 Wrong Turn remake (maybe his secret is choosing properties nobody really cares about aside from a hardcore few). But, in this case, Nelson either had more freedom or more inspiration because the 2025 version of Silent Night, Deadly Night is better than its forebear in practically every way.

Rohan Campbell stars as Billy, an unavoidably similar character to the one he was unfairly maligned for playing in 2022’s Halloween Ends (justice for Corey Cunningham). This time around, though, he has an actual voice in his head (Michael Myers doesn’t speak), one that encourages the young man to kill or, in this franchise’s parlance, punish. However, Billy notably only murders “naughty” people, exclusively during Advent, keeping track of each one with a bloody thumbprint in an old-school wooden calendar. Silent Night, Deadly Night begins with Billy fleeing his latest crime scene and hopping on a bus to the appropriately named town of Hackett, which bears a striking resemblance to modern Haddonfield even though David Gordon Green’s Halloween trilogy was shot in Atlanta, while Nelson’s movie was lensed in Manitoba. Still, the fictional towns have a similarly grimy quality to them, a sense that very bad things are happening behind closed doors.

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And yet, Billy finds some semblance of normalcy in Hackett, nabbing a job, a place to live and even forging a tentative romantic connection with local true crime lover named Pamela (Ruby Modine). One of the best decisions Nelson and co-writers Michael Hickey and Paul Caimi make is to flesh Pamela out so that she’s an actual character, rather than just another woman who can die horribly onscreen with her bare breasts showing (mercifully, there’s no nudity in the 2025 take either). Modine already had her breakout moment as the deceptively cunning roommate in Happy Death Day (2017), but there’s no denying her star power after co-starring in Silent Night, Deadly Night. Equal parts lovable, combative (including with children) and kooky-crazy, Pamela is a fully three-dimensional co-lead who gamely goes toe to toe with Billy.

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It’s refreshing to watch a woman being given the space she deserves to really shine in an ostensibly grindhouse slasher like Silent Night, Deadly Night, and Modine relishes the occasion, devouring every moment she’s onscreen with barely disguised glee. Campbell is a terrific match for her; the two performers share sweet chemistry and the two characters play well off each other’s wildly opposed but still strangely cohesive approaches to life. It’s tough not to root for them to end up together even despite it all. But Billy is driven to murder regardless of his outwardly kind personality. As such, Silent Night, Deadly Night frequently turns its attention to cleverly composed and proudly practical set-pieces involving terrible people being hacked to absolute pieces. The standout sequence takes place at a Nazi party as skinheads celebrate their white heritage, with everybody being laid to waste by Billy and his weapon of choice, a hatchet, and with a wicked glint in his eye the entire time.

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This might not sound like a massive political statement, but any filmmaker choosing to show the mass murder of Nazi scum in a mainstream release should be celebrated, especially as Donald Trump and his ICE goons rip families apart in the streets. Nelson takes his time showing these craven, despicable types running for their lives from Billy, each one caught and excised with ruthless precision. Campbell’s protagonist isn’t quite The Terminator, so he sustains some damage in the process, but it’s worth it to watch those swastika-adorned flags burning down. Nazi leader Delphine (Sharon Bajer), who’s technically another strong female character, is saved for last, her death both horrific and hilarious. The original Silent Night, Deadly Night features just one memorable kill involving an impalement, and it looks entirely unconvincing and doesn’t really leave much of an impression considering the victim is some poor half-naked lady who barely appears on screen, even though she is played by horror icon Linnea Quigley. In the 2025 film, there are only a handful of moments when Nelson refers to the original franchise, but he makes sure to return to the well with this particular kill and, as with everything else, elevates it to a gruesome extreme. The moment also hits harder because of the setup, which is more considered and developed this time around, as well as more legible in terms of motivation.

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Billy is inherently flawed as a character, but he’s a compelling antihero thanks to Campbell’s skilled, nuanced performance in the lead role. The actor’s heavy, sad eyes and perma-frown give him a sort of Killer Eeyore vibe (see the 2023 film Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey) that lends itself well to the cozy and festive setting. Even the way Campbell utters the word “naughty” is a step up from the 1984 movie, though he’s also a stronger actor working with a sharper script loaded with great lines and knowing, dry humor. When Billy inevitably has to put on a Santa suit to play the role in-store, the voice in his head warns him not to kill the cute little girl sitting in his lap. This split personality, named Charlie and winningly voiced by Mark Acheson, is a character in itself but crucially never steals focus from the protagonist or overpowers the narrative. There’s just enough Charlie to satisfy his inclusion, but Billy is still very much the star of the show.

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Silent Night, Deadly Night also has style to burn, with blood-red, comic book-style interstitials popping up whenever Billy locks in on killing someone. Often, these revelations are played in a jokey manner, but in the case of the Nazi takedown, they’re totally cheer-worthy. Red and green feature prominently, while the mystery of Billy’s sparkling clean Santa suit is quickly solved when he receives a massive package filled with them in the mail. Hackett itself might not look like the kind of place any reasonable person would want to call home, but it fits what Billy, a kid who’s been at a loose end for much of his life, would find comfort in. Unlike his 1984 predecessor, Billy is already on a knife’s edge by the time he first appears onscreen. He’s still battling some demons, most notably the one living inside his head, but it’s much easier to imagine this character interacting with regular people and getting away with it, rather than freaking out like a raving lunatic at every slight setback. He’s an antihero rather than a villain, which makes sense because there are plenty of actual no-good types hanging around Hackett.

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Silent Night, Deadly Night didn’t really have to do much to surpass the original franchise film, but Nelson and his co-writers have crafted something truly special. Christmas horror remains a frustratingly untapped resource, but on this evidence, there’s plenty more to be done with it, with just a little ingenuity and some visual panache. Pacy and ultra-violent, but never mean or cruel, Silent Night, Deadly Night bounces from scene to scene with delightful alacrity, buoyed by Campbell’s inherent ruefulness as Billy, a young man trying to find his way in the world who is drawn to killing in a way he can’t resist, and Modine’s Manic Pixie Dream Girl from hell as the protagonist’s surprisingly ideal counterpart. Nelson’s Silent Night, Deadly Night redux is a masterclass in how to successfully reboot a franchise while paving a bloody path forward that is uniquely its own.

Silent Night, Deadly Night released theatrically on December 12, 2025.

Joey Keogh (@JoeyLDG) is a writer from Dublin, Ireland with an unhealthy appetite for horror movies and Judge Judy. In stark contrast with every other Irish person ever, she’s straight edge. Hello to Jason Isaacs. Thank you for reading film criticism, movie reviews and film reviews at Vague Visages.

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