X-MASSACRE Double Feature: SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT and BLACK CHRISTMAS This Weekend at The Des Peres Cinema – ‘Late Nite Grindhouse’

‘Late Nite Grindhouse’ film series, presented by Destroy the Brain continues this weekend! Head to the Marcus Des Peres Cinema (12701 Manchester Rd, Des Peres, MO 63131) this Friday and Saturday (December 6th and 7th) at 10pm for a double-bill of yuletide slasher essentials: SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT and BLACK CHRISTMAS (the ’74 original!) Since this is a Marcus Theater, you may need to reserve your seats ahead of time HERE. There may (or may not be) tickets available the nights of the screenings, but it never hurts to get them in advance! Tickets are $13 (technically $13.12 w/ tax). One ticket will get you in to both films.A Facebook invite for the event can be found HERE

SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT (1984)

“You scared, ain’t ya? You should be! Christmas Eve is the scariest damn night of the year!”

SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT tells the tale of Billy Chapmen, orphaned at five after witnessing the murder of his parents at the hands of a Santa suit-clad madman on Christmas Eve. Now eighteen and out of the brutal grip of orphanage nuns, Billy is forced to confront his greatest fear, sending him on a rampage, leaving a crimson trail in the snow behind him. SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT, the poster child for Holiday horror films, caused a huge stink when it was released back in 1984. Influential film critic Gene Siskel especially despised the film, going as far to list, on his syndicated TV show, the film’s producers by name and, wagging his finger like a sweater-vested church lady, wailed “shame, shame, shame” after each name. What got Siskel’s holiday hackles up was the distasteful idea to have a slasher film featuring Saint Nick as its bloodthirsty villain. It wasn’t even the first “killer Santa” movie – (CHRISTMAS EVIL from 1980 has that distinction) but SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT is the most notorious because it had the balls to be released during the Christmas season and its holiday television ads attracted the ire of overly-sensitive parents, some of who actually went out and picketed various theaters in protest of it. Outraged moms and dads wrote letters to the film’s producers (“My little Billy is afraid to sit in Santa’s lap because of a TV commercial he saw for your disgusting film”). Consequently, the flick got pulled out of the cinemas and in some markets, including St. Louis, it was never shown theatrically at all. It eventually did find a big audience when it was released to video stores and several increasingly inferior sequels were spawned (though the great Monte Hellman directed part 3!). Lost in the controversy is that SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT was actually a pretty solid and scary horror flick. Of course it was never meant for kids, who would likely have been scarred for life if they had seen the opening sequence where an escaped criminal in a Santa suit rapes and kills off a kids mom while the child looks on. SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT has plenty of fun bloody death scenes and some great one-liners.

BLACK CHRISTMAS (1974)

“Filthy Billy, I know what you did nasty Billy!”

BLACK CHRISTMAS was one hell of a claustrophobic and bleak holiday gift that gave me the genuine willies when I saw it just down the road from the Hi-Pointe at the Esquire cinema back in 1974 (when the Esquire was still a single-screener). I was 12 years old. It’s not nearly as blood-soaked as some of the Late Night Grindhouse‘s past offerings but BLACK CHRISTMAS, generally acknowledged as the forerunner of the “slasher” genre, is so graphic in its imagination that you don’t even need to see any gore or murder. BLACK CHRISTMAS holds up spectacularly well and everyone should thank the Destroy the Brain guys and the Hi-Pointe theater staff for the opportunity to see this blood-curdler on the big screen. Basically BLACK CHRISTMAS tells the tale of a group of sorority sisters that are hounded and harassed by a mysterious obscene crank caller. Circumstances take a disturbing turn when one of the poor gals winds up missing (She’s the one up in the attic throughout the movie! With the plastic bag over her head!). Up next is an investigation and the appearance of a few more dead bodies, ultimately leading up to a finale that will forever be etched in your mind when you tuck under the covers and prepare for sleep (which may actually never come). BLACK CHRISTMAS was made before the thousands of cliches of the slasher genre became typical, and it set the tone & atmosphere for years to come. HALLOWEEN has the mystery of who the killer is nearly down pat; it was a holiday horror with a stalker and anonymous phone callers but it came out a full four years after BLACK CHRISTMAS. WHEN A STRANGER CALLS took the nerve-strumming concept from BLACK CHRISTMAS and used it for the opening act, where “the calls were coming from inside the house.” Many slashers to follow would use BLACK CHRISTMAS ‘ “Is that you?” line when a character would wonder who is lurking about. Today, the creepy caller often gets spoofed (SCARY MOVIE) or updated in the form of a less effective cell phone (SCREAM). The Canada-filmed terror of BLACK CHRISTMAS has influenced so many subsequent shockers that it feels like a crime that it is rarely seen as the powerhouse it deserves to be acknowledged as.

Upon initial release in the US the titled was changed to SILENT NIGHT EVIL NIGHT because the American distributor worried that the title BLACK CHRISTMAS might cause the film to be mistaken for a blaxploitation film (!). However the film didn’t do well under this new title and it was changed back to BLACK CHRISTMAS, and was a success. BLACK CHRISTMAS sports a stellar cast that includes Olivia Hussey (ROMEO AND JULIET), Margot Kidder (acting drunk and slutty), John Saxon (acting drunk and studly), Keir Dullea, and Andrea Martin (who would play the house mother in the forgettable 2006 BLACK CHRISTMAS remake). Add to the mix director Bob Clark, one of the most eclectic independent directors ever, and a born storyteller (the man was responsible for A CHRISTMAS STORY, PORKY’S, and CHILDREN SHOULDN’T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS). No doubt, if Bob Clark could’ve copyrighted the slasher movie concepts and cliches that he created, he would’ve been just as famous as John Carpenter or Wes Craven, maybe even more. If you really want to spend a week hiding under your covers, track down Clark’s 1972 Monkey’s Paw/zombie riff DEATHDREAM (aka DEAD OF NIGHT)which is, believe it or not, even scarier than BLACK CHRISTMAS.

Destroy the Brain’s site is HERE