Since the release of Dexter, there’s been a cultural fascination with serial killers as vigilantes you can cheer for despite their dark passengers. In his take on the psychosexual slasher nightmare Silent Night, Deadly Night, director Mike P. Nelson reframes the story into a campy Hallmark movie slasher that follows a troubled young man, the voice in his head, and his annual Christmas killing spree.
Billy (Rohan Campbell) is a drifter who’s blown into a small, unassuming town just five days before Christmas. All he’s got are the clothes on his back and the voice in his head that instructs him to kill. But, this isn’t your typical “evil voice in my head” movie, as this voice is able to sense when bad people worth killing are nearby. Together, the duo decimate terrible people every day of December. Oh, and with every kill, Billy smears that victim’s blood into a gnarly advent calendar from hell.
It’s all because Billy watched his parents suffer horrific deaths at the hands of a serial killer dressed as Santa Claus. He carries that trauma quite literally in his brain as he walks through the world with a constant reminder of their deaths. And yet, this voice is still a comfort, a reliable friend through thick and thin.
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So, when they settle in and Billy finds a job at a local store, the voice is cautious about putting down roots. But Billy is finally finding his place in the world, mainly with the store owner’s daughter Pam (Ruby Modine), who’s liable to fly off the handle. As he needs to satiate his blood lust but also wants to settle into an actual life, things continue to escalate as the bodies pile up and Christmas draws ever closer.
Tonally, Silent Night, Deadly Night is all over the place, but that’s by design. Nelson keeps the audience on their toes as he crafts a Hallmark Christmas slasher that’s over the top in everything from the kills to the emotional stakes. It admittedly isn’t going to be for everyone, as the tonal shifts come fast and often that it feels like whiplash. But if you’re tuned into the film’s specific frequency, then you’ll see this as a camp classic in the making. This isn’t an attempt to recreate the disturbing premise of the original, but rather Nelson embracing the ridiculous nature of the original idea and channeling that into something completely different, both in narrative and in tone. It works, though, because Nelson commits to that bit, never holding back in the absolutely gonzo twists and turns of his holiday horror.
Campbell, expectedly, is perfectly cast as the murderous cutie who rolls into town and wins the heart of the town firecracker. He showed off his skills as a tortured killer in Halloween Ends, and now he’s getting a chance to show a different side of himself. Sure, he’s still swinging axes and chopping up bodies, but he’s also an empathetic guy who’s always down to help decorate a Christmas tree and cuddle up in front of a true crime documentary.
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While the Dexter-like serial killer trope is getting a little tired, Nelson puts enough of a twist on it here to make it feel unique. Billy’s relationship with his special friend is complex, and more than just the nasty devil on Billy’s shoulder, pushing him to kill. My only wish is for more context and story about their relationship. But since this is a Hallmark Christmas slasher, temper any expectations about a complex story with intricate lore. It’s mostly about watching a cute boy swing an axe and decimate the bad guys in town.
With Silent Night, Deadly Night, Nelson further proves himself as a director unafraid to get a little weird with his movies. Sure, this is pure campy schlock, but that’s what you want from a movie about a serial killer dressed as Santa. Nelson just puts his own unique (and very 2025) spin on it that makes our killer a soft boy and the overall story one full of romance, rather than pure dread. And yet, it all comes together to create something weird, wild, and a lot of fun.
Silent Night, Deadly Night had its world premiere at Fantastic Fest 2025 as one of the secret screenings.
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