"Silent Night, Deadly Night" - 3rd Time's a Charm

A drifter by the name of Billy Chapman (Rohan Campbell) rolls into the snowy town of Hackett, and procures a job at a Christmas shop alongisde eccentric perky Pam (Ruby Modine). But he harbours a dark secret: an imaginary friend named Charlie (Mark Acheson) and a need to fill his homemade advent calendar with the blood of those who have been "naughty"...

(Photo Credit: Rotten Tomatoes)
In what appears to be a newfound Christmas tradition, we've got a Christmas themed slasher/horror movie ("Krampus", "Violent Night", that fucking God-awful "Black Christmas" remake, "Rare Exports" which was pretty good, "Terrifier 3", "It's a Wonderful Knife", "Christmas Bloody Christmas" which, fun story there...) this time the 3rd crack at the rather atrocious "Silent Night, Deadly Night" from decades ago and after the rather fun breezy bloodbath of 2012 with Malcom McDowell (fuck yes) and Jaime King. Where the first was a rather sloppy slasher film with the then-unique gimmick of "what if the killer dressed as Santa?" and is best remembered (rightfully) for the absolute classic meme "Garbage Day" in its somehow-worse sequel, and the remake of 2012 went for a knowing irony of the time; this (helmed by, of all people, Mike Nelson from the "Wrong Turn" reboot) aims for a slightly more cerebral blend of commentary about mental illness and psychological stigma, and a slightly more satirical take on the violence.
It's actually pretty fun and relatively tight, for what that's worth, particularly when compared to the previous efforts and a lot better than what the material deserves. Rohan Campbell is good as Billy, and Mark Acheson fantastic fun as the psychotic murderous yet oddly supportive voice in his head; and the much-needed and underused Ruby Modine is the film's highlight as the first real flesh and blood friend Billy gets, who has issues of her own (and a fun bit at an ice hockey rink); she's very good when her ex-boyfriend returns. It gets kind of real actuall, kudos there Modine.
The thrills pile on later as we get murders of people who very much deserve it (the centrepiece is a rather Republican Santa Claus convention), it never really overstays its welcome and becomes more of a character piece between 2 (well, technically 3) people. I like the characters and their arcs, they're well done, and it's all competent fare with good blood effects. It never soars to the goofy heights one would expect from the premise and ultimately reigns it in a little bit - how much you enjoy that is going to be up to the individual reviewer. I appreciated the rather darkly Christmas ending of real friendships and the journey on the way, that was more on theme than either of the previous efforts.
I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, it's fun.