Silent Night, Deadly Night Reboot Scores 85% On Rotten Tomatoes

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Cineverse is making a new version of the classic slasher film Silent Night, Deadly Night, and early signs suggest it could be a hit with critics. The original, which came out in 1984, featured Robert Brian Wilson, Lilyan Chauvin, Gilmer McCormick, Toni Nero, and Linnea Quigley.

Despite becoming a beloved cult film over time, Silent Night, Deadly Night was initially met with criticism and poor reviews in the 1980s. It currently has a 53% rating on Rotten Tomatoes from critics, and an even lower 40% audience score.

A fresh reboot of the classic horror film Silent Night, Deadly Night will hit theaters on December 12th, following years of sequels and remakes.

The movie currently has an 85% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a significant improvement over the first film. Critics have described it as exciting, frightening, and surprisingly funny, praising the portrayal of Billy Chapman as a more sympathetic character. However, some reviewers found the movie to be boring and uninspired.

The movie initially showed the main character turning to murder after witnessing his parents’ deaths. When it came out in 1984, it caused a big uproar because the killer dressed as Santa Claus, and many parents didn’t want their children exposed to the movie’s advertising. The controversy escalated with protests nationwide, and the film was pulled from cinemas, ultimately earning only $2.5 million.

Even though the original film was controversial, several sequels were released over the years. These included Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 (1987), Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out! (1989), Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation (1990), Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toy Maker (1991), and a remake simply titled Silent Night in 2012.

The third, fourth, and fifth movies weren’t shown in cinemas, meaning there are no official critic scores from Rotten Tomatoes. However, audiences generally disliked the sequels, giving them ratings between 11% and 23%.

The 2012 remake brought the Silent Night, Deadly Night series back to cinemas, but it only played in a few cities and theaters. As a result, the film earned just over $130,000. With a 62% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it received the best reviews of any film in the franchise up to that point.

Silent Night, Deadly Night Franchise Rotten Tomatoes Score (Critics) Rotten Tomatoes Score (Audiences)
Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) 53% 40%
Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 (1987) 30% 27%
Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out! (1989) N/A 11%
Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation (1990) N/A 17%
Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toy Maker (1991) N/A 23%
Silent Night (2012) 62% 33%
Silent Night, Deadly Night (2025) 85% N/A

A new version of Silent Night, Deadly Night is coming out soon, and critics are loving it. Early reviews, especially the score on Rotten Tomatoes, suggest this could be the best movie in the series so far.

Mike P. Nelson directed and wrote the screenplay. Jeremy Torrie, Tanya Brunel, Scott Schneid, Dennis Whitehead, Jamie R. Thompson, and Erik Bernard served as producers. Notably, Schneid and Whitehead also produced the original Silent Night, Deadly Night.

Rohan Campbell, known for his role in The Hardy Boys, stars as Billy in this new project. Ruby Modine, David Lawrence Brown, David Tomlinson, and Mark Acheson also appear in the cast.

Silent Night, Deadly Night will be released in theaters on Friday, December 12, 2025.

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2025-12-09 19:40