Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2

MOVIE #1,217 • 🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿 • 11.01.23 50 MOVIES IN 32 DAYS! I don’t really like non-Halloween themed holiday horror, in general. It seems too gimmicky even for me. But there are a lot of these movies, especially in the Christmas sub-category. So I am declaring November 1st as the official amnesty day for films of this ilk. I hereby promise to review two Xmas horror flicks once a year on this day. You’re welcome? The Silent Night, Deadly Night franchise is probably the most famous of this very specific genre (although I reviewed Black Christmas last year, which is up there as well). There are five SNDN movies + a standalone reboot, but Part 2 is definitely the most meme-worthy.

And for this we have no one else to thank but Eric Freeman, who plays the little brother of the original’s lead/killer, Ricky Fowler. There are about 30 minutes of archival footage from Part 1 in this 88-min. movie, and, although that’s gratuitous and insane, it's craftily deployed with devilish narration by Freeman. Plus, this is all in the first 40 minutes of the movie, essentially a condensed version of the first film before we get into Ricky's story proper. It’s like a highlight reel of the best parts of its predecessor, which — since it’s been over a year since I watched that one — was fine by me.

But the reason people like Part 2 is Freeman and specifically the major meme it spawned: “Garbage Day!” However, every second he’s on screen is magical. He overacts in one of the most casual ways you’ll ever see, making this form of theatrics an art in and of itself. The “story” is virtually plotless, glomming off the exact same narrative of the original movie which then leads to a ridiculous killing spree. I wouldn't say this sequel is on par with the 1984 one, but it's close in so much as you're getting a "Greatest Hits" version of the original + another 45 minutes of mindless shlock that definitely fits the "So Bad It's Good" bill.

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CHRONOLOGICALLY
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Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 is a 1987 American slasher film edited, co-written with Joseph H. Earle, and directed by Lee Harry. It is the sequel to 1984's Silent Night, Deadly Night, and was followed by Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out! in 1989. Its plot focuses on Ricky Caldwell, the brother of Billy Chapman, and his own trauma regarding his parents' Christmas Eve murders, which triggers his own killing spree. The film relies heavily on flashbacks, utilizing approximately 30 minutes of stock footage from the original film. It was released on April 10, 1987.