What I would have done with Silent Night Deadly Night Part 2...

 What I would have done with Silent Night Deadly Night Part 2...

If there is ever a movie that is the laughing stock of the horror world, Silent Night Deadly Night part 2 sadly is that film.

On a shoestring budget, and insanely rushed filming, caused this D rated movie to consist of footage from the first movie, horrible acting, and beyond over the top cringe worthy moments. The words "Garbage Day!" will forever and always be ruined because of this movie...so isn't the image of a killer Santa clause. Taking a massive shit on the 1984 slasher classic that made such a stir when it was first released, the sequel that should of had tons of promise and potential due to the ending shot/line of the movie...it took a massive nosedive and somewhat redeemed itself with part III, lost it again with part 4, and somehow gained it back in a very strange way with part 5.

Silent Night Deadly Night Part 2 was a movie I still remember being beyond excited when I first rented this years and years ago after first watching part 1 (I love the fact my mother allowed me to watch these movies. I think I was in 4th or 5th grade.) Still, I remember even at that age being a little puzzled that this movie that should have been an awesome gore filled follow up with Ricky, the brother to Billy going on another holiday rampage. Instead...

Well yeah...

I feel maybe, just maybe the writers, and directors all sorta saw this film has one big joke due to the mess that followed the original release. Had they maybe taken it a little more serious, and spend their time on the screenplay maybe this movie would have turned out half decent. Or maybe that's just wishful thinking...

Things I would have done...

1) Recast Ricky.

Sorry Eric Freeman! Mind you it was 1987, the end of the slasher era, and the end to the 80's. I'm sure after everything that came along with the original not a lot of actors didn't want to attach their names to such a film. Not only was it a slasher...it was a low budget slasher linked to a movie about a killer Santa Clause. Being filmed it only 10 days, the film was as low as anyone could go. Not exactly a wise career choice. Still, I feel Eric's over the top eyebrow acting, and one liners sorta ruined the character of Ricky many fans believed would be passed down the axe from his brother Billy. I understand they wanted a large big built killer, but part of me feels maybe they should have cast Ricky as a 17/18 year old. It wouldn't matter if they cast a known actor, just a better one...also maybe somebody not as large. It would have been better if they cast an actor you wouldn't expect as going crazy. An actor who maybe was tall, but not exactly built. Somebody who uses less strength and more brains when they go on their rampage. Maybe Rodney Eastman from A Nightmare On Elm Street 3, and 4. 

2) Cut down on the flashbacks!

I understand the film was on a low budget, and that they needed to fill in most of the movie...but seriously, enough is enough, we've all ready seen this movie. I think a few sprinkled into the movie would have been fine, mostly showing the night Billy and Ricky's parents were killed. Have Ricky not remember that night at all but how his brother once told him all about it and how horrible it had been. I did like a few of the flashbacks showing Ricky grow up, such as when he sees the nuns coming down the street and the color red he almost has a seizure, also the scene where he runs the boyfriend over in the jeep only to have the girlfriend say "Thank you." had these moments been played on a darker note I think it would have been better.

3) Toss the whole "Gabage Day!" rampage out the window. 

Just awful...so plain awful. I know the reason so many people enjoy this movie is these classic moments/lines, but seriously? I would have loved this movie much better if it was played on a darker note. In fact what I would have done was show Ricky grow up in a pretty stable family. Once when he's in middle school he's teased by a bully in a red T-shirt and Ricky flips, punching the bully over and over again before people break them apart. Maybe show another scene of how around the holidays he always sinks into a depression since so many people over the years have teased him about what his brother did all those years ago. How his adopted parents shelter and try to protect him. How maybe he did indeed kill that guy all those years ago when he saw what he was doing to his girlfriend and he's never told anyone before. I would have it take place on Christmas Eve, Ricky is in high school and a few of his friends are throwing a party at one of the houses while the parents are away. Once there Ricky sees it's a Christmas party and begins to feel uncomfortable but due to a storm coming in he can't leave. While there a girl he's been wanting to ask out for a while leads him on, the two go to the garage to make out when Ricky sees it's just a terrible prank played by her and one of the other guys. Beyond embarrassed, Ricky starts getting these flashes of all the terrible violence he's seen and snaps, killing both teens in a blood thirsty rage. The remainder of the evening Ricky picks off the rest of his friends around the house before one escapes and calls the police. They find him standing out in the front lawn holding a bloody axe. There he's arrested.

4) Change the ending.

Believe it or not I sorta like the idea of Ricky wanting revenge of the one person besides the psycho who killed his parents who caused the most damage to him and his brother's lifes. Yes, Mother Superior. The way it sadly ended up coming to be...wasn't so great. I did love that most of the story is told while a doctor at the hospital is interviewing him, then he goes off to finish the job his brother started. I liked that the nun had a stroke and was now in a wheelchair, still the big ending fell a little flat in my eyes. I did like that Ricky found a Santa suit, but I would have played it much darker as well. The shootout was fine, maybe even show that Ricky wasn't dead leading onto part 3. Still, I just feel had they gone darker this movie would have been so much better!

Add in some crazy blood deaths, plenty of Christmas songs, and maybe even some cameos I feel Silent Night Deadly Night part 2 would have been MUCH, MUCH better.

Shame Stacy wasn't alive when this was made...