Silent Night Bloody Night (1973)

          Wilfred has raped his own daughter and produced a son of that relationship, Jeffrey. With his daughter since gone insane, he turns his spacious home into an insane asylum and let a few doctors come in to stay. But soon he realizes this isn’t what he wanted and lets the crazies loose, who then turn on their caretakers. Wilfred’s daughter, Maryanne, dies at their hands and this pushes his into committing suicide. Now years later, Jeffrey is back to sell off the house and see what is happening in his home town, but knowing none of his own history. It’s gonna get worse though since the townspeople start dying off 1 by 1.

          Overall: This is a very weird and confusing film and you may need 2 or 3 viewings to understand everything. The lighting is so bad in this film it actually I think has helped this film build up its mystery but that’s because you can’t really see what the hell is going on. I think the underlying story is the best part of the film but it really is a very slow movie. The plot finally comes in late in the film with a very long flashback sequence with some narration and finally you can understand what is going on.

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I’m gonna tell ya who did it because you may not get it otherwise. The killer hacking everyone up is Wilfred (now about 80-90 years old) who didn’t really die by fire but went to an asylum after freaking out over Maryanne’s death. He wanted to kill all the crazy people who killed Maryanne, and does that by killing the town’s leaders, who actually are the escaped mental patients. However, Wilfred only realizes at the end that Diane Adams is Maryanne and she’s not really dead. So basically Diane & Jeffrey are brother/sister as well as mom & son...and everyone the town thought was dead (Wilfred & Maryanne)...is still alive.

          What this film has to do with Christmas defies all logic as it isn’t quite connected the way other “Christmas Horror Films” are. It’s a weird film with very poor quality but it’s worth a look. I suggest keep watching until you “get it.”

          Comparison: House on Haunted Hill meets Legend of Hell House

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