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Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Silent Night (Blu-ray) (2012)

Silent Night (Blu-ray) (2012)

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Released 9-Dec-2015

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Comedy / Horror Featurette-Behind The Scenes-(6:14)
Deleted Scenes-(4:55)
Rating Rated R
Year Of Production 2012
Running Time 94:04 (Case: 91)
RSDL / Flipper Dual Layered Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 2,4 Directed By Steven C. Miller
Studio
Distributor
Gryphon Entertainment Starring Malcolm McDowell
Jaime King
Ellen Wong
Andrew Cecon
Courtney-Jane White
Tom Anniko
John B Love


Case Standard Blu-ray
RPI ? Music Kevin Riepl


Video Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame None English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1
Widescreen Aspect Ratio 2.35:1
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
Video Format 1080p
Original Aspect Ratio 2.35:1 Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures No
Subtitles None Smoking Yes
Annoying Product Placement No
Action In or After Credits No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

     It is Christmas Eve in the small Midwestern town of Cryer, Wisconsin. Newly widowed Deputy Sheriff Aubrey Bradimore (Jaime King) is called in on duty by Sheriff Cooper (Malcolm McDowell) because one of the other deputies has failed to report. At the office she joins Deputy Giles (Andrew Cecon) and receptionist Brenda (Ellen Wong). Audrey is still grieving over the death of her husband and was looking forward to a peaceful Christmas with her parents. But Audrey and the police soon have bigger troubles. Someone dressed as a Santa is on a spree murdering townspeople who he believes have been “naughty” during the year, such as an adulterous couple, a sleazy priest and a soft porn movie producer and his starlet, and is showing no sign of stopping. The added complication is that the main street of Cryer is awash with Santas gathering for the annual Christmas Eve Santa parade. Not all the Santas are above board or innocent of crimes, but how can Aubrey find the one that is guilty of murder?

     Silent Night is basically little more than a film in which a man in a Santa suit murders people in inventive ways, including electrocution and in a mulching machine, although his favourite weapon seems to be a two bladed axe with a flame thrower coming a close second. The film starts with the murders of an adulterous couple and adds another murder every five to eight minutes, the intervals in between taken up by the police trying to discover what is happening, including a few false leads. That these sections work is mainly a result of the sure performance by Jaime King, who is no stranger to slasher films after My Bloody Valentine (2009); her Aubrey is a woman who is suffering from the loss of her husband and who has doubts about her abilities, but nevertheless has determination and courage. Ellen Wong as the supportive Brenda is also good value although veteran Malcolm McDowell (still going strong with 247 credits currently on the IMDb) does not really convince, seemingly lacking the comic touch needed for the part as written. Other cast members are mostly only so much Santa fodder, with only a few, such as the sexy blonde Tiffany (Courtney-Jane White), Mayor Revie (Tom Anniko) or Aubrey’s ex-policeman father (John B Love), making much of an impact.

     Silent Night may be another film about a man in a mask indulging in a killing spree but, for a slasher film, Steven C. Miller has directed it with a light touch. Silent Night is certainly quite gory in places with, for example, a head being split in two by an axe, but the film does not dwell on the blood so this is not a bleak, gross-out film. Instead, the film retains a strand of enjoyable black humour, it does not waste any of its 94 minute running time in superfluous subplots, it is well made, the murders are inventive and the performance of Jaime King is very good, all of which elevate the film above the normal run of the mill horror /slasher films.

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Transfer Quality

Video

     Silent Night is presented in the original 2.35:1 aspect ratio, in 1080p using the MPEG-4 AVC code.

     Shot using Red Epic cameras, the print of Silent Night has exceptional, crisp detail and looks very good. Colours are bright, with the red Santa suits standing out; indeed one flashback scene is in black and white except for the red Santa suit! Exterior colours are natural while the colours in the climax, greens and reds especially, are vibrant. Blacks are inky, shadow detail very good. Skin tones seem lightish, but without that digital yellow tinge, contrast and brightness is consistent.

     There was aliasing against some vertical lines but otherwise I did not notice any marks or artefacts.

     No subtitles are provided.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     English DTS-HD MA 5.1 is the only audio option.

     The audio was quite front oriented, with little of note in the rears except a bit of ambience and some music; even during the climax in the Police Station with the fire sprinklers on there was little activity. Dialogue was however clear and easy to understand. The score by Kevin Riepl was effective but not used extensively; more use was made of traditional Christmas carols. The sub-woofer supported some of the music and a bit of the action but to little real effect.

     There are no lip synchronisation issues.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

Behind the Scenes (6:14)

     Six minutes of unstructured on-set footage without any linking text or comments. Rather pointless.

Deleted Scenes (4:55)

     Three deleted scenes, some quite substantial. Nothing essential and most likely cut for pacing reasons.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

     The Region A US release of Silent Night has a Dolby TrueHD audio, Spanish subtitles and the same extras as our release. Draw.

Summary

     I am not a great fan of slasher films but I did enjoy Silent Night. It has its fair share of bloody and gory murders but the concept of looking for a Santa amid a street full of Santas is a good visual gag. I was also surprised by the humour, inventiveness and colour of Silent Night as well as being drawn in by the performance of (Jaime King). This is an entertaining film which fans of the genre should enjoy.

     The video is very good, the audio acceptable. The extras are minor, but are the same as is available in the US.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Ray Nyland (the bio is the thing)
Monday, February 15, 2016
Review Equipment
DVDSony BDP-S580, using HDMI output
DisplayLG 55inch HD LCD. This display device has not been calibrated. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p.
Audio DecoderNAD T737. This audio decoder/receiver has not been calibrated.
AmplificationNAD T737
SpeakersStudio Acoustics 5.1

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