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'''''Silent Night, Bloody Night''''' is a 1972 American [[ |
'''''Silent Night, Bloody Night''''' is a 1972 American [[slasher film]] directed by Theodore Gershuny and co-produced by [[Lloyd Kaufman]]. The film stars [[Patrick O'Neal (actor)|Patrick O'Neal]] and cult actress [[Mary Woronov]] in leading roles, with [[John Carradine]] in a supporting performance. The plot follows a series of murders that occur in a small New England town on [[Christmas Eve]] after a man inherits a family estate which was once an [[insane asylum]]. |
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Many of the cast and crew members were former [[Warhol superstars]]: Mary Woronov, [[Ondine (actor)|Ondine]], [[Candy Darling]], Kristen Steen, [[Tally Brown]], Lewis Love, filmmaker [[Jack Smith (film director)|Jack Smith]] and artist [[Susan Rothenberg]]. It was filmed in [[Oyster Bay (town), New York|Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York]] in 1970 but was not released theatrically until 1972 under the alternate titles ''Night of the Dark Full Moon'', and in 1981 as ''Death House'' (sometimes stylized as ''Deathouse''). |
Many of the cast and crew members were former [[Warhol superstars]]: Mary Woronov, [[Ondine (actor)|Ondine]], [[Candy Darling]], Kristen Steen, [[Tally Brown]], Lewis Love, filmmaker [[Jack Smith (film director)|Jack Smith]] and artist [[Susan Rothenberg]]. It was filmed in [[Oyster Bay (town), New York|Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York]] in 1970 but was not released theatrically until 1972 under the alternate titles ''Night of the Dark Full Moon'', and in 1981 as ''Death House'' (sometimes stylized as ''Deathouse''). |
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Revision as of 19:47, 19 May 2019
| Silent Night, Bloody Night | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | Theodore Gershuny |
| Screenplay by |
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| Story by |
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| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Adam Giffard |
| Edited by | Tom Kennedy |
| Music by | Gershon Kingsley |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | |
Release date |
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Running time | |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $295,000[2] |
Silent Night, Bloody Night is a 1972 American slasher film directed by Theodore Gershuny and co-produced by Lloyd Kaufman. The film stars Patrick O'Neal and cult actress Mary Woronov in leading roles, with John Carradine in a supporting performance. The plot follows a series of murders that occur in a small New England town on Christmas Eve after a man inherits a family estate which was once an insane asylum.
Many of the cast and crew members were former Warhol superstars: Mary Woronov, Ondine, Candy Darling, Kristen Steen, Tally Brown, Lewis Love, filmmaker Jack Smith and artist Susan Rothenberg. It was filmed in Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York in 1970 but was not released theatrically until 1972 under the alternate titles Night of the Dark Full Moon, and in 1981 as Death House (sometimes stylized as Deathouse).
Although it is attributed to Zora Investments Associates in the credits, the film was never registered with the United States Copyright Office, and thus fell into the public domain.
Plot
On Christmas Eve 1950, a man named Wilfred Butler, engulfed in flames, runs out of his mansion near the small town of East Willard, Massachusetts. His death is ruled accidental, and the house left to his grandson Jeffrey.
Twenty years later in present-day 1970, lawyer John Carter arrives in East Willard on Christmas Eve with his assistant and mistress Ingrid, having been charged by Jeffrey Butler to sell the house. Carter meets with the town's leading citizens: Mayor Adams; Sheriff Bill Mason; the taciturn Charlie Towman, who owns the local newspaper; and Tess Howard, who operates the town's telephone switchboard. They all agree to buy the Butler mansion on behalf of the town for the bargain price of $50,000, which Jeffrey Butler requires to be paid in cash the next day. Carter and Ingrid stay the night at the Butler mansion, unaware that they are being watched by an unseen man who has just escaped from a local mental hospital and just arrived in East Willard in a stolen car. After dinner, Carter and Ingrid retreat to a bedroom to have sex. Their unknown stalker enters the bedroom and brutally murders them both with an ax, and then reads from a Bible before placing a crucifix in Ingrid's hand. The killer calls the sheriff, asking him to come investigate Carter's disappearance, and introduces himself as the house's owner. While talking with Tess, who forwards his call, he calls himself "Marianne".
At nightfall, Jeffrey Butler arrives at the mansion to meet with Carter, but finds it locked and empty. He drives to the mayor's home, where he meets Diane, the mayor's daughter. The mayor has gone to the county's bank to obtain the required cash for the payment, so she redirects Jeffrey to the sheriff's office. At the same time, the sheriff is heading to the mansion, but stops at Wilfred Butler's disturbed gravesite, where he finds Butler's diary, then he's attacked and bludgeoned to death with a shovel by the same homicidal madman.
Failing to find the sheriff, Jeffrey goes back to the mayor's house, where Diane tells him she's received some calls for her father by a certain "Marianne", who said to be waiting at the mansion. Puzzled by the strange events, Jeffrey and Diane decide to drive to the mansion, but stop after they find the sheriff's abandoned car. They instead go find Towman at the newspaper. Towman, who can't speak due to laryngectomy, manages to explain that Tess also drove to the mansion. Jeffrey and Towman go after her while Diane does more research in the archives. After a call from "Marianne" tells her to look up the events of Christmas 1935, she pieces together Wilfred's story. In 1930, his wife died of tuberculosis. In 1933, his daughter Marianne, who was 15 at the time, was raped and got pregnant; the son she gives birth to is Jeffrey, whom was sent away to California. In 1935, Wilfred turned the mansion into a mental hospital and had Marianne committed. The rest of the story has apparently been redacted.
At the mansion, Tess timidly walks inside while calling out Mason's name after finding his car abandoned. She then hears movement in the other room and sees a shadow of a person's feet standing behind the door. Not sure who could possibly be, she reluctantly calls out Bill's name again when suddenly the lights go off. Tess tries to make a break for the door, but is unable to find her way out due to not being able to see. Immediately after that, a flashlight is shown in her face. The killer tells her not to be scared and offers her his hand to take, which is revealed to actually be a severed hand that falls to the floor. Tess screams in pure fright and the shadowed killer swings his axe, striking her directly in the chest.
Jeffrey then returns to the office and Diane asks about his mother Marianne, whom Jeffrey was told had died in childbirth. Jeffrey reads the newspapers, and Diane suggests that his mother is alive and waiting at the house. As they drive to the house, they find Towman's car in flames. Further down the road, Jeffrey accidentally knocks over Towman with the car. Jeffrey stops and sees that the man is dead, and he tells Diane that someone had cut off Towman's hands. A little later, they finally arrive at the house, and see Mason's car. The killer calls Mayor Adams and tells him about the "reunion" at the house and says that even his daughter will be there. Adams who is noticeably unnerved takes a shotgun off of his gun rack and subsequently departs.
After an unfruitful trip to Tess's house, Jeffrey finds a diary and reads of Marianne's child being taken away and sent to California. Doctors and guests lived in the house, and Wilfred was upset about the way the people acted. One day, as the doctors drank and danced, Wilfred went to Marianne's room where he admits to being the father of her baby and leads her away. To save the patients from being "abused" further by the doctors, Wilfred had freed the inmates. The crowd of lunatics walked into the house as a Christmas Eve dinner was being held and savagely murdered the doctors at the dinner table. As Wilfred went to the car, Marianne has slipped away, and the inmates, believing she was instead another doctor, killed her. Diane walks into the house and Jeffrey tells her that Wilfred is actually still alive, making the town believe he was dead by instead setting fire to a random squatter he found at the house. Jeffrey also says that the sheriff, Tess, Towman, and Diane's father were actually all former inmates at the asylum and they had in fact founded the town while Wilfred had apparently been residing in another asylum after all these years.
Mayor Adams arrives at the house and finds a corpse on the porch covered up with a blanket and runs away after pulling it off as he yells in unadulterated fear. Diane quickly and nervously gives Jeffery her revolver. As Mayor Adams walks inside, the two men abruptly open fire at each other and shoot one another dead, however not before Jeffrey has time to solemnly apologize from the bottom of his heart for what he just did to Diane until eventually bleeding out not too long after from his wounds. Before his daughter can have any time to grieve though, from at the top of the stairs, the actual authentic bloody-thirsty perpetrator appears, whom is finally revealed to be a very disheveled, haggard, sinister-looking, blood-stained and equally disorentied 80 year old Wilfred Butler. He starts to tell Diane (whom he mistakenly addresses instead as "Marianne" in his confused, demented state) not to run away from him as she starts screaming at the top of her lungs.
A rather surreal yet extremely eerie flashback shows a young Marianne giggling as she also is running from her father, though at the same time Wilfred Butler briefly chases Diane while trying to console and plead with her not to leave him, in addition to long he's waited for this moment. Completely terrified, goes to Jeffrey's side, grabs the revolver, and shoots Wilfred three times. who tumbles down the stairs... dead. Diane who is barely able to contain herself then runs into a nearby darkened room and sobs as she subsequently passes out on the carpet from shock, leaving the house at daybreak. Nearly one year later, Diane takes one last look at the Butler mansion as she recounts her feelings and the reason why her father shot Jeffrey was because mistakenly assumed he was the escaped asylum patient who killed his friends. Not to mention that the reason why Wilfred Butler's son fired at Diane's father was due to the fact that he wanted revenge for the death of his mother... more or less, as she puts it in her own words, "were both victims of the same house that was a house of victims" before it is destroyed by a bulldozer crew not too long after.
Cast
- Patrick O'Neal as John Carter
- James Patterson as Jeffrey Butler
- Mary Woronov as Diane Adams
- Astrid Heeren as Ingrid
- John Carradine as Charlie Towman
- Walter Abel as Mayor Adams
- Fran Stevens as Tess Howard
- Walter Klavun as Sheriff Bill Mason
- Philip Bruns as Wilfred Butler (1929) (as Phillip Bruns)
- Staats Cotsworth as Wilfred Butler (voice)
- Jay Garner as Dr. Robinson
- Donelda Dunne as Marianne Butler (age 15)
- Michael Pendry as Doctor
- Lisa Blake Richards as Maggie Daly
- Grant Code as Wilfred Butler (age 80)
- Debbie Parness as Marianne Butler (age 8)
- Charlotte Fairchild as Guest
- Barbara Sand as Guest
- Candy Darling as Guest
- Ondine as Inmate
- Tally Brown as Inmate
- Lewis Love as Inmate
- Harvey Cohen as Inmate
- Hetty MacLise as Inmate
- George Trakas as Inmate
- Susan Rothenberg as Inmate
- Cleo Young as Inmate
- Kristeen Steen as Inmate
- Jack Smith as Inmate
- Leroy Lessane as Inmate
- Bob Darchi as Inmate
Production
![[icon]](/enwiki/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (July 2018) |
Principal photography for Silent Night, Bloody Night began on November 30, 1970 in Oyster Bay, New York.[3] The Fritz House in Oyster Bay served as the Butler home in the film.[4] The film originally had the working title Zora,[3] which was the title of an unrelated screenplay owned by Cannon Films.[5] Post-production took place in the summer of 1972, with director Gershuny and editor Tom Kennedy completing dubbing, scoring, and sound effects.[3]
Star Mary Woronov recalled of the production: "Silent Night, Bloody Night was terrible. We were given a weird script, and Ted [Gershuny] tried to spark it up. He tried to make it an artistic statement, but it didn't work. It didn't even make much sense. Most people couldn't understand what was going on–which is not good, particularly for a horror film."[1]
Release
Theatrical
The film was given a limited release in the United States under the title Night of the Full Dark Moon through Cannon Films,[3] beginning November 17, 1972.[a] It was subsequently released as Silent Night, Bloody Night in the spring of 1973,[8] and continued to screen under this title through December 1973.[9][10] It subsequently screened in Australia in December 1974.[11]
The film was released once again in 1981 by Cannon under the title Death House,[12] stylized as Deathouse in some advertisements and on the film's title card.[b]
Television
In 1974, television broadcasting rights to the film were sold to CBS for $300,000,[2] who subsequently screened it as late-night movie.[14] The film was also shown on Elvira's Movie Macabre, part of WWOR-TV's Fright Night beginning in 1978, and became a staple of late-night television in the November and December months.[15] Despite the film's dark subject matter and depictions of violence, the network chose to air it at Christmastime each year. Executive Larry Casey commented on it, saying, "Don't get me wrong. I loved White Christmas and traditional holiday movies. But how many times can you watch those things? We always pushed the envelope on Fright Night, and Silent Night, Bloody Night was a great fit. WOR never got any complaints for showing it that I heard about."[16]
Home media
Although there is a 1972 copyright statement in the opening credits for Zora Investment Associates, the film was not registered for copyright,[3] and since its release has fallen into public domain.[17] After the film's video release by Paragon Video in the 1980s, it was acquired by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and the original negatives remained in their vault for decades.[5]
The film is available on DVD from various entertainment companies that specialize in public domain films, though many of the prints on these editions are of extremely poor quality.[18] The majority of the prints used on DVDs were sourced from the VHS transfer released by Paragon Video.
A high-definition restored print of the film (sourced from the original master of the Death House print) was released on DVD by Film Chest on December 10, 2013.[5] The same print was also used for a DVD release by boutique company Code Red in 2013, in a limited edition double feature paired with Invasion of the Blood Farmers (1972).[5]
Critical response
Upon its initial release, Michael Pitts of the Anderson Daily Bulletin criticized the film for having an unclear plotline and being "poorly photographed."[19] He concluded by writing that the film "is so bad it could have been made for television, but on the other hand most of today's TV films are better than this."[19] The Sydney Morning Herald noted: "The exact plot of the family mania is hard to follow but by the time the whole revolting theme of madness and butchery has been run through the thud of axe against flesh has obliterated any artistic purpose."[11]
AllMovie called it a "minor gem", complementing the film's "eerie atmosphere" and noting its place as a predecessor to the slasher film genre.[20] Leonard Maltin gave the film two stars, calling it an "uneven low-budgeter."[21] The film was featured in the book 150 Movies You Should Die Before You See, where it was written that the film "manages to disappoint on every level."[22]
Film historian Brian Albright referred to the film as "moody... surreal, and sometimes confusing."[23] In his book Slasher Films: An International Filmography, 1960 Through 2001, Kent Byron Armstrong wrote that the film "has a lethargic pace, but it provides enough intrigue and mystery to help a viewer retain interest."[24] In Nightmare USA: The Untold Story of the Exploitation Independents (2007), Stephen Thrower wrote: "[the film is] “painfully slow... plotted for maximum irritation, with a deferred mystery structure that will have you screaming with impatience after the first hour."[25]
In a review published by The Hysteria Lives!, the film was awarded five out of five stars, with the reviewer noting: " The rather soap-operish proceedings are very involved, but suffice it to say, there's more than enough bodies to please the slasher purists while entertaining those of us who enjoy a classic macabre tale as well."[26] John Kenneth Muir noted that the film "bears all [the] reassuring tell-tale signs of a bad movie, signs that today's garbage might avoid through expense: amateur editing and filming, bad sound, bad film stock, atrocious dialogue, and the rest. Still, at least you know where you stand with a movie like Silent Night, Bloody Night. It doesn't take long to realize that you're trapped in bad movie hell."[27]
Influence
Some elements of the film have been noted as influential, particularly the killer's phone calls to victims, which was a significant plot element in Bob Clark's Black Christmas, released two years later.[26]
Related works
Remake and sequel
On December 9, 2011, the website Dread Central announced that a remake of the film would be remade by UK production company North Bank Entertainment as Silent Night, Bloody Night: The Homecoming.[28] The film was released on DVD in the United States by Elite Entertainment in February 2014.[29]
On December 29, 2014, New Wave Independent Pictures announced that the production of a sequel to the original film, titled Silent Night, Bloody Night 2: Revival, had begun.[30]
Adaptations
On December 10, 2016, the film was adapted into a play in Brooklyn, New York for a one-night-only production by One And Done Productions.[31]
Notes
- ^ Contemporaneous newspaper sources show the film opening on November 17, 1973 in Terre Haute, Indiana[6] and Binghamton, New York[7] (among others) under the Night of the Full Dark Moon.
- ^ Trade advertisements printed by Cannon in 1981 bear the Deathouse title,[13] as does the restored print of the film released on DVD by Film Chest in 2013.
References
- ^ a b c Muir 2011, p. 295.
- ^ a b Thomas, Bob (August 7, 1974). "Konvitz decides on job". Clarksdale Press Register. Clarksville, Mississippi. Associated Press. p. 10B – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d e "Silent Night, Bloody Night". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
- ^ Chappell, Russ (May 13, 1973). "Out of castles in the air Monica dreams up a gracious living". New York Daily News. New York City. p. 16 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d Smith, Richard Harland (December 20, 2013). "DON'T GET LONELY: SILENT NIGHT, BLOODY NIGHT ON DVD (AGAIN)". Streamline. FilmStruck. Archived from the original on October 26, 2017. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ "Summer of 1942 Lives Again". The Terre Haute Star. Terre Haute, Indiana. November 11, 1972. p. 6A – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Movie Timetable". Press & Sun-Bulletin. Binghamton, New York. November 17, 1972. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Theater Schedule". Akron Beacon Journal. Akron, Ohio. May 11, 1973. p. A 14 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Tri-State Drive-In Theaters Ass'n". The Pittsburgh Press. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. December 5, 1973. p. 41 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Golden Gate". The San Francisco Examiner. San Francisco, California. December 14, 1973. p. 44 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Silent Night, Bloody Night". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, New South Wales. December 1, 1974. p. 107 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Singer 1989, p. 117.
- ^ Original 1981 trade advertisement from Cannon Films. Archived on January 10, 2018.
- ^ "Tuesday TV Highlights". Shreveport Times. Shreveport, Louisiana. May 23, 1976. p. 5-G – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Arena 2011, pp. 56–57.
- ^ Arena 2011, p. 57.
- ^ "Silent Night, Bloody Night". Public Domain Movies. Retrieved December 17, 2017.
- ^ Cotenas, Eric. "Silent Night, Bloody Night". DVD Drive-In. Archived from the original on January 27, 2015.
- ^ a b Pitts, Michael (November 20, 1972). "'Night of the Full Dark Moon' poorly done, obviously cheap". Anderson Daily Bulletin. Anderson, Indiana. p. 32 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Beldin, Fred. "Silent Night, Bloody Night (1973)". AllMovie. Archived from the original on January 16, 2013.
- ^ Maltin 2008, p. 1250.
- ^ Miller 2010, p. 75.
- ^ Albright 2012, p. 267.
- ^ Armstrong 2003, p. 268.
- ^ Thrower 2007, p. 500.
- ^ a b "Silent Night, Bloody Night". The Hysteria Lives!. Archived from the original on December 17, 2018.
- ^ Muir 2011, p. 297.
- ^ "Silent Night, Bloody Night Remake Cooking in the UK". Dread Central. December 9, 2011. Retrieved June 27, 2012.
- ^ Barton, Steve (November 28, 2012). "Silent Night, Bloody Night: The Homecoming Find U.S. Distro". Dread Central.
- ^ "Exclusive new photos: Latest Santa slayer in "SILENT NIGHT, BLOODY NIGHT 2". Fangoria. December 9, 2011. Archived from the original on January 15, 2015.
- ^ One and Done Productions (December 10, 2016). "Silent Night Bloody Night w/One And Done Productions". Facebook. Archived from the original on January 10, 2018. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help)
Sources
- Albright, Brian (2012). Regional Horror Films, 1958–1990: A State-by-State Guide with Interviews. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. ISBN 978-1-476-60042-0.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Armstrong, Kent Byron (2003). Slasher Films: An International Filmography, 1960 Through 2001. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. ISBN 978-0-786-41462-8.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Arena, James (2011). Fright Night on Channel 9: Saturday Night Horror Films on New York's WOR-TV. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. ISBN 978-0-786-46678-8.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Maltin, Leonard; Sader, Luke; Clark, Mike (eds.). Leonard Maltin's 2009 Movie Guide. New York: Plume. ISBN 978-0-452-28978-9.
- Miller, Steve (2010). 150 Movies You Should Die Before You See. Avon, Massachusetts: Adams Media. ISBN 978-1-440-50362-7.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Muir, John Kenneth (2011). Horror Films of the 1970s. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. ISBN 978-0-786-49156-8.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Singer, Michael (1989). Film Directors. Vol. 7. Beverly Hills, California: Lone Eagle Pub. ISBN 978-0-943-72827-8.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Thrower, Stephen (2007). Nightmare USA: The Untold Story of the Exploitation Independents. Godalming, Surrey: FAB Press. ISBN 978-1-903-25469-1.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help)
External links
