‘Silent Night, Deadly Night’: 10 Things You May Not Know

Silent Night, Deadly Night is definitely a great name for a Christmas horror film, but that wasn’t always its title. During production, the movie’s production company, Slayride Productions Inc., intended to call it Slayride.

However, prior to release, the film’s distributor, TriStar Pictures, insisted on changing the title to the one we all know and love.

Silent Night, Deadly Night and A Nightmare on Elm Street are two of 1984’s most popular horror movies. What some fans might not realize, however, is that they were released on the exact same day. Even more surprising is that SNDN actually outperformed ANOES at the box office, although it had the advantage of playing in more theaters.

Its theatrical success would turn out to be short-lived, however…

If you were around in the early ’80s, you may remember the controversy surrounding the release of this movie. Television advertisements depicting the film’s killer wearing a Santa Claus costume were reportedly making children deathly afraid of St. Nick. Concerned about the movie ruining Christmas, angry parents took to picketing theatrical showings and campaigning for the movie to be pulled.

Ultimately, their efforts were successful, and Silent Night, Deadly Night was yanked from theaters.

Related: ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ (2003): 10 Things You May Not Know

Charles E. Sellier Jr. is credited as the director of Silent Night, Deadly Night, but he didn’t helm every scene. Most of the death and gore scenes made the filmmaker uncomfortable to shoot.

Because of this, the film’s editor, Michael Spence, came on board as an uncredited co-director and personally directed the movie’s more graphic scenes.

Like many horror movies from the ’80s, Silent Night, Deadly Night was met with negative criticism from film critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert. Siskel particularly abhorred the film, saying that the filmmakers were profiting from “blood money.”

Going a step further, Siskel even began listing the film crew members by name on his television program, telling them they have “nothing to be proud of.”

It wasn’t just concerned parents taking issue with the release of Silent Night, Deadly Night. Some celebrities had publicly condemned the film as well. This includes actor Mickey Rooney, who wrote a letter of protest against the movie.

The actual letter can be seen on the film’s Blu-ray release from Scream Factory. Despite his disdain for the original film, Rooney later went on to star in Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toy Maker.

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The credits of the film state that Silent Night, Deadly Night is based on a story by writer Paul Caimi. It was later erroneously printed that the movie is inspired by a book Caimi wrote called Slayride. The truth is that the book does not exist, as the name Slayride comes from the original title of the movie.

In fact, producer Scott Schneid had read a screenplay Caimi wrote titled He Sees You When You’re Sleeping, using its concept of a killer dressed as Santa Claus for a new slasher movie.

When the police become aware of a maniac dressed as Santa going on a murderous rampage, they patrol the streets to look for him. Noticing someone in a Santa costume creeping into the window of a home, the officers barge inside and draw their weapons. They discover that this Santa isn’t the killer but a father trying to surprise his daughter for Christmas.

The man in the Santa outfit, Don Shanks, would eventually become a homicidal murderer, however, when he starred as Michael Myers in Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers.

In Silent Night, Deadly Night, Billy Chapman’s murderous rampage begins at his workplace, Ira’s Toys. The establishment is likely named after producer Ira Richard Barmak. Not a set, the building used for the toy store still stands in Heber City, Utah, now a CrossFit gym called The Mountain Gym.

This means you can now work on those guns in the exact same spot Billy strangled a sexually aggressive coworker with Christmas lights.

This movie features original songs from musician Morgan Ames, notably “The Warm Side of the Door” and “Santa’s Watching.” However, Ames recorded at least ten songs for an entire Christmas album intended to be released in conjunction with the film. Unfortunately, the album’s release was axed because of the controversy surrounding the movie, and all of its music would go unheard for 30 years.

In 2014, the album was finally released as part of a 2-disc set along with the film’s score from composer Perry Botkin Jr.