SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

RipDelight This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

AutCuddly Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

Mandeep Tyson The acting in this movie is really good.

MARIO GAUCI A belated addition to my earlier tribute to the cult American director for his 79th birthday; back then, I did not manage to acquire this but, now that Christmas-time is here, I have so as to augment a series of Yuletide thrillers. This is the third entry in a horror franchise (started in 1984) I was not familiar with; given the similar title, I often got it confused with the earlier 1973 film SILENT NIGHT, BLOODY NIGHT with Patrick O'Neal, John Carradine and Mary Woronov; as if that was not enough, this film's subtitle equates it with the much superior Christmas EVIL (1980) whose original title was YOU BETTER WATCH OUT! I believe Hellman only became involved in this as a personal favor to the producer who was just starting out; though he ditched the original script and had it rewritten, this was still a straight-to-video blot on his filmography and which stopped his already plodding career for 21 straight years! – luckily, he finally bounced back with one of his best films i.e. ROAD TO NOWHERE (2010; though, typically, it only received a limited exposure). Given the latter's Lynchian echoes, it is interesting that Laura Harring (who became a relative star with the latter's MULHOLLAND DR. {2001} – incidentally, just this week, her GHOST SON {2005} i.e. Lamberto Bava's remake of his father Mario's SHOCK{1977}, was on Italian TV!) has a major supporting role in this one; the film also features another future notable character actor – Bill Moseley (of THE DEVIL'S REJECTS {2005}) – and two Hollywood veterans in Richard Beymer (who also received a brief lease of life around this time thanks to Lynch's TWIN PEAKS TV-series) and Robert Culp (who, by now, had apparently let his hair go white).The film initially riffs on a theme from John Boorman's EXORCIST II: THE HERETIC (1977) with psychiatrist Beymer making blind psychic Samantha Scully connect to comatose murderer Moseley (from the second entry in the series – ironically, the manifestations she has of Moseley's visions were lifted from the first film, in which the murderer was a totally different character!); needless to say, this works only too well and Moseley is soon off his bed and up to his old tricks at the hospital itself (his first victim being a visiting drunken Santa who sarcastically asks him if Perry Coma{!} was his favorite singer), a gas station and at a cottage in the country (it is amusing to see him hitching a ride in his hospital clothes, with his exposed brain inside a steam oven-type device, resulting in a driver who jokily queries about whether he has had his head transplanted being dumped on the side of the road soon after)! Scully and her incredibly hirsute (sporting not just long hair but a plentiful chest as well!) brother Eric Da Re, accompanied by his girlfriend Harring, are on their way to their granny's country house for a Christmas reunion and, given that the girl is telepathically connected to the killer, he follows them there (doing off with the old woman after she unwisely tries some BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN {1935}-like hospitality!); in the meantime, Beymer and Culp – on their way there themselves in the latter's car – indulge in pseudo-intellectual conversation that leads nowhere!Predictably, Moseley literally slits Beymer's guts open when the doc attempts to approach him (having deserted Culp when the latter has gone out to take a leak!) and the policeman only arrives on the scene after Moseley had been at long last dispatched by Scully (he unaccountably survives a shotgun blast to the chest) – the former having already done away with both Da Re and Harring; the unbelievably corny ending (with Moseley's ghost wishing us a "Happy New Year" in reply to Scully's "Merry Christmas"!) was apparently merely devised as a means of paving the way for a potential sequel (there were, in fact, 2 more of these in quick succession)! I had watched a "You Tube" clip of Hellman attending a screening of the film in which he jokingly names it his best work (while also taking care to badmouth THE EXORCIST {1973}!); it is a long way from being the best Christmas slasher, much less Hellman's zenith; even so, he does imprint it with his persona by quoting the famous "Even the phone is dead" line from Edgar G. Ulmer's classic THE BLACK CAT (1934) – apart from having various clips turn up on TV from THE TERROR (1963), the infamous Roger Corman quickie on which Hellman did uncredited doctoring work!

Chucky_Jr The third film in the series, and the last to have any relation to the previous films (The sequels that came out after this one had nothing to do with part 1-3 other than being set in Christmas time) is about Ricky, the brother of the psychotic Santa Claus killer from the first film who is now in coma. A psychiatrist is using a female patient with telepathic abilities to communicate with him on a subconscious level or something like that. Ricky eventually wakes up and sets out to find the woman, committing murder every time he sees the color red. Almost like bulls in cartoons eh? In this case it's because it triggers his childhood trauma as red was the color of Santa's suit. His psychiatrist and a cop is hot on his trail, hoping to catch him before it's to late.Ricky, this time played by Bill "Chop Top" Moseley is more like a partly braindead and nearly mute sleepwalker here and not so much of a cheesy wisecracker as in part 2. The brain in the plastic cap thing seemed a bit silly at first but it didn't bother me as much as the movie progressed. And in case you're wondering; sorry, but he doesn't wear any Santa suit here.The acting and the dialog is OK for the most part, the best are the scenes were the doctor and the cop exchange some interesting quotes.Bottom line is that it's a decent slasher movie, better than part 2, but not as good as the first one.

Scarecrow-88 Pretty blind Laura(Samantha Scully playing her cold and distant making it especially hard to sympathize with her plight) is psychically linked to comatose serial killer Ricky(Bill Moseley, completely devoid of emotion..pretty much a walking robot who seems to explode through doors without even cutting himself and takes very slow steps)thanks to the experiments of Dr. Newbury(Richard Beymer)who was able to reconstruct the man's brain placing a glass dome on his head(..this is to ensure that nothing touches the brain as it is exposed). These experiments is to generate thoughts and images from Ricky's fractured, emotionally damaged mind that might assist him in his goal to free guilty minds through "evil thought cleansing". But, the experiment goes awry when Laura's tapping into deep wounding past nightmares awakens Ricky who will pursue her, killing anyone who comes in his path. The color red(or anything representing the Santa Claus killer who took his parents' lives)triggers the kill mechanism in Ricky's demented mental framework. Laura is going to Granny's for the holidays with brother Chris(Eric DaRe)and his girlfriend Jerri(Laura Harring). Through their psychic link, Ricky can see where they are heading, somehow getting there before they can killing Granny. Without their knowledge of Ricky being at Granny's house, Laura will use uncomfortable feelings(she can sense something's wrong)to understand that something is not quite right..it only increases when Granny is nowhere to be found. Lt Connely(Robert Culp, a much welcome presence to the proceedings)will need the help of Dr. Newbury to find and stop Ricky before his rampage leaves a lot of dead bodies..and is Laura's only hope.Far-fetched premise and incredibly slow killer hinder the peculiar, weird atmosphere of the horror flick. Definitely unlike the previous two films, this is not the slightest bit gory. Blood splatter as violence to others occurs off-screen is about as gross as it gets. It also features a heroine with a potty-mouth and icy demeanor who you have a hard time rooting for. And, with such a robotic, monotonously slow psycho, it's mighty hard getting scares out of the hunting of victims. His amazing power is completely laughable as well..I mean he receives a shot-gun blast that forcefully throws him across the floor, yet he's able to get up and attack brother Chris who is quite bigger than Ricky.

HumanoidOfFlesh Dr.Newbury has saved the life of the hideously injured Ricky Caldwell.The doctor has encased his patient's explosive brain inside a Plexiglas cap,yet he has failed to revive him from his deep coma.In Newbury's attempt to reach the comatose victim's mind,he connects Ricky's brain waves to a gifted clairvoyant,Laura Anderson,who unexpectedly taps into the dark and twisted realm of his haunted dreams.Ghastly things begin to happen and detective Connoly(Robert Culp),must fight to stop the dangerous experiment."Silent Night,Deadly Night 3" is a mediocre horror film at its best.The pace is horrendously slow,the script is terrible and the acting is weak.Still there are some interesting camera angles and the film is suitably interesting.The next sequel was a completely unrelated gorefest from Brian Yuzna,whose unusual vision—often rejected by series fans—was at least a change of pace.6 out of 10.