Silent Night, Deadly Night | |
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Directed by | Charles E. Sellier Jr. |
Screenplay by | Michael Hickey |
Story by | Paul Caimi |
Produced by | Ira Richard Barmak Scott J. Schneid Dennis Whitehead |
Starring |
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Cinematography | Henning Schellerup |
Edited by | Michael Spence |
Music by | Perry Botkin |
Production company | Slayride Productions Inc. |
Distributed by | Tri-Star Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 82 minutes 85 minutes (Unrated) |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $750,000[1] |
Box office | $2.5 million[2] |
Silent Night, Deadly Night is a 1984 American slasher film directed by Charles E. Sellier, Jr., and starring Robert Brian Wilson, Lilyan Chauvin, Gilmer McCormick, Toni Nero, Linnea Quigley, Britt Leach, and Leo Geter. The story concerns a young man named Billy Chapman, who suffers from post-traumatic stress over witnessing his parents' murder on Christmas Eve by a man disguised as Santa Claus and his subsequent upbringing in an abusive Catholic orphanage. In adulthood, the Christmas holiday leads him into a psychological breakdown, and he emerges as a spree killer donning a Santa suit.
The film was released by Tri-Star Pictures on November 9, 1984; it received substantial controversy over its promotional material and content, which featured a killer Santa Claus. In addition to receiving mixed reviews, it was pulled from theaters a week after its release. However, it was a success during its opening week, grossing $2.5 million on a budget of $750,000. Since its release, it has developed a cult following[3] and spawned a series, consisting of four sequels, with the fourth and fifth installments having no connection to the original film, as well as a loose remake in 2012. Another reboot is in development.