Waiting until a few shopping days before Christmas to buy gifts is stressful. Picture having only had a few months to shoot, edit, and market a blood-soaked reboot of 1984’s Silent Night, Deadly Night for the big screen. As of April 2025, Cineverse’s updated version is in production and is slated for a fast-approaching (and fitting) release on December 12, 2025.
Photos recently emerged of lead actor Rohan (Halloween Ends) Campbell, who plays the demented slasher in a Santa suit, Billy Chapman, taking over the role played by Robert Brian Wilson in the 1984 film. Supporting Campbell’s killer Santa are the original film’s producers, Scott Schneid and Dennis Whitehead. Horror fans will appreciate their presence since Schneid and Whitehead likely wish to preserve their legacy by delivering a blood-splattered Santa slasher.
Filmmakers can find it challenging to finish a film on such a tight schedule. James Cameron achieved this when he began writing the screenplay for Terminator 2 and delivered a finished blockbuster roughly a year after he wrote the first word of the script. Silent Night, Deadly Night positively must hit screens by December 12 for obvious marketing and ticket sales reasons. No pressure!
A horrific yuletide legacy
Horror fans who were around in 1984 can speak about the firsthand shock of the original Silent Night, Deadly Night's release. For many, a standard evening of watching late-night UHF television left them stunned when the commercials for the psychotic Santa film aired. By crossing early 1980s good taste lines, the controversy sparked incredible box office ticket sales.
Slasher movies were waning by 1984. The twisted gimmick of a slasher Santa reflected exploitation at its gimmicky best. Controversy led to outraged protests, which shortened its theatrical run to two weeks. Later, it found a new home and cult following on VHS and spawned several sequels.
Ironically, Silent Night, Deadly Night was not the first film to feature a mad Santa on screen. 1972's Tales from the Crypt anthology featured a lunatic in a Santa suit terrorizing Joan Collins. Christmas Evil (1980) presented a full-length movie with a killer Kris Kringle, but the off-kilter character study never gained the attention that the more mean-spirited and graphic Silent Night, Deadly Night did.
Parting trivia: the Canadian fright classic Black Christmas (1974) also featured a killer named Billy and was retitled Silent Night, Evil Night in some U.S. markets. Will the Silent Night, Deadly Night reboot be as controversial as the original? We’ll find out when Cineverse stuffs multiplex theaters’ stockings with the film on December 12.