‘Silent Night, Deadly Night’ review: Santa meets Dexter in a delicious and violent holiday slasher

If you saw the 1987 film, Silent Night, Deadly Night, you might wonder why’d they remake the film. Don’t worry, the 2025 film from Mike P. Nelson is truly and honestly epic and one of the best remakes of slasher films!

The film follows Billy Chapman (Rohan Campbell), a young man who kills for the days leading up to Christmas as part of his own ritual, the film allows the audience to somehow feel bad for their serial killer protagonist. To not spoil the fun moments of the movie, a lot of how Billy functions in the world reminded me of Michael C. Hall’s Dexter Morgan from Dexter.

What really worked about the remake is that Nelson made it entirely his own. Slasher movies during the holiday season are not rare. We sometimes love a bit of violence mixed in with the celebrations. And that’s exactly what fans will get with Silent Night, Deadly Night. As someone who knew nothing about the original, I was surprised by how fun and exciting the movie was.

But, as I said before, if you were thinking that it is going to be the same movie, it isn’t. I at least know what the big changes were and it really works to make this stand out among the holiday season influx of movies all about the big guy in a red suit.

Rohan Campbell is a horror king

Campbell, who was in the Stephen King adaptation of The Monkey earlier this year, is carving a nice spot for himself in the horror genre. As Billy, he makes you care for him and fear both for him and him himself throughout the movie. You almost forgot the horrors that Billy is unleashing on the holiday season because you can see how it torments him.

What makes this movie so much fun is the fact that it takes what the original sets up and does something new and refreshing with it. Yes, if you want a shot by shot remake, this isn’t that. But if you go into Silent Night, Deadly Night with an open mind, you’re going to have a lot of fun.

(featured image: Cineverse)

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Rachel Leishman

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Rachel Leishman (She/Her) is the Editor in Chief of the Mary Sue. She's been a writer professionally since 2016 but was always obsessed with movies and television and writing about them growing up. A lover of Spider-Man and Wanda Maximoff's biggest defender, she has interests in all things nerdy and a cat named Benjamin Wyatt the cat. If you want to talk classic rock music or all things Harrison Ford, she's your girl but her interests span far and wide. Yes, she knows she looks like Florence Pugh. She has multiple podcasts, normally has opinions on any bit of pop culture, and can tell you can actors entire filmography off the top of her head. Her current obsession is Glen Powell's dog, Brisket. Her work at the Mary Sue often includes Star Wars, Marvel, DC, movie reviews, and interviews.

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