Trivia / Silent Night, Deadly Night

• Completely Different Title:
  • Argentina: Bloody Santa Claus
  • Brazil: Bloody Christmas
  • Finland: Christmas Night, Murder Night
  • Japan: Devil's Santa Claus Slaughter Ax
  • Norway: Blood Red Christmas
• Creator Backlash:
  • The director of the film, Charles E. Sellier Jr. wasn't exactly familiar with the horror genre, as he had a background in family-friendly works such as the 70's Grizzly Adams TV series as well as several religious-themed documentaries but took the job anyway, but became uncomfortable with the death scenes so the film's editor agreed to direct those for him. After the huge backlash against the film he became ashamed of it and in an interview prior to his death he voiced hatred for the film, calling it the worst thing he had ever done.
  • Subverted with Linnea Quigley, who thought the backlash was ridiculous and was shocked when she heard about all the protests towards it.
  • Robert Brian Wilson was initially ashamed by the film's negative reception and told his family and friends to avoid seeing it. But years later, he warmed to the film and attended a 30th anniversary screening as well as several conventions.
  "Now I embrace the film. It's funny, it's provocative and scary. It tells the story well. Confused Billy Chapman and the sad story which became his life. Ha! Sympathy? Last and certainly not least! The Horror fans!! Wow, they are the absolute best film fans in the world! They love their films! And now I very humbly cherish their support!"
• Creator Killer: Because of the backlash, Charles E Sellier Jr had trouble finding work as a director afterwards, and focused on producing instead.
• Dawson Casting: Not as egregious as some examples with Billy, who is 18 played by Robert Brian Wilson at 22.
• Dueling Works: It opened on the same weekend as A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984). It was initially grossing more before it was pulled from theatres.
• Real-Life Relative: The two child actors who play Ricky Chapman as a baby and Billy at 5 years old are sister and brother.
• Similarly Named Works: There are also two other Christmas-themed horror films called Silent Night, Bloody Night and Silent Night, Evil Night (latter being the alternative title for the original Black Christmas - which also features a killer called Billy).
• What Could Have Been:
  • Among the directors seen for the film was a young Sam Raimi.
  • Six minutes of footage had to be cut to avoid an X-rating. Even though it was restored for the Blu-Ray, it was kept in such poor condition, the quality notably drops when it's used.
• Working Title: He Sees You When You're Sleeping and Slayride.
• Vindicated by Video: The film was slammed by critics and pissed off Moral Guardians due to it supposedly portraying Santa Claus as a villain, and they successfully lobbied to have it pulled from theaters just a week into its release out of fear it would traumatize children by depicting a murderous Santa Claus. This wound up stirring further interest in the film, and as such it wound up selling incredibly well on VHS, as people wanted to see why it was so controversial (they even advertised it as "the movie they tried to stop you from seeing"). (Didn't hurt that, despite being pulled, the film grossed a respectable $2.5 million on a $750,000 budget.)

---