Silent Night Deadly Night Three-Disc Set

I've waited so long for the rest of this series! I have to say that part 4 is my favorite simply because of Screaming Mad George's FX work! He does an amazing job at creating the most nastiest bugs I've seen on film to this day! Step aside CGI. S.N.D.N. part 5 is cool too!....you can't go wrong with killer toys, plus, you gotta see the ending! I would mention part 3 but I don't remember that one. Part 4+5 are well worth the price. It's gonna be a great Christmas!

I love these movies and have waited a long time to see them get a DVD release. LionsGate's release of these three sequels to the classic originals leaves a lot to be desired. First, they are NOT in widescreen. They are 4 x 3 standard only (there is no widescreen edition offered according to the LionsGate website). The transfers are not restored and have quite a bit of dirt and some print fade. I suppose it is possible that this release presents the films in their original aspect ratio as they were all three made straight for video by Live Entertainment. I don't know, all I've ever seen are my VHS copies. Still, Amazon lists them as being widescreen. The soundtracks are stereo only. There are NO special features. Zero. Too bad Anchor Bay couldn't have released these and did a job like they did for their release of parts 1 and 2. Anyway, thats what you get with this edition: parts 3,4 and 5 in unrestored versions and nothing else. Also, this is in no way a BOXED set as claimed. It looks like any other DVD release in a standard case with one of those flippy things in the middle. The DVD's all have the same grey paint job, making them difficult to tell apart and they all have the same annoying LionsGate advertisements at the startup and they all have the same (non-animated) menu design (which consists of play and scene selection). The DVD comes in a cardboard slipcase with excellent new cover art.

Amazon has also dropped the ball on shipping these things. I pre-ordered mine so I would have it on the street date and the day after the street date they sent my an email saying they were unable to get copies and it would be another couple of weeks wait. I went to BestBuy and bought mine off the shelf the same day. What's the deal?

So how are the movies? Part 3 tries to keep the original plot of the first two going by having Ricky in a coma at the beginning of the film. He soon wakes up and starts his killing spree again. This is a strange entry in the series. It's very slow paced and having Richard Beymer and Eric Da Re from Twin Peaks in the cast is also sort of surreal. I suppose the most frightening thing about it is seeing Eric Da Re looking like a wet Sasquatch in a bubble bath. Casting devil's reject Bill Mosley as Ricky was just the wrong choice. His emaciated frame just dosen't come close to the beefy musclebound Eric Freeman from part 2. The dome on the head is pretty lame as well. Also in this film is Elizabeth Hoffman, a great actress (from FEAR NO EVIL). Robert Culp is also wandering around in this one. While this film uses far fewer flashbacks than part 2, it lacks the exploitative charm of the second sequel, and of course, it's missing the bug-eyed Freeman performance.

In spite of the presence of PHANTASM'S Reggie Banister, part 4 is a complete shambles. There are a couple of nasty sequences in it but a cult of lesbian bug worshipers is not my idea of a great Christmas horror film. The grotesque, pumpkinfaced Clint Howard is also a revolting addition. While this film is often repulsive, it is never scary and never whips up any Christmasy atmosphere.

Part 5 is probably the best of all the sequels and the one that comes closest to the quality of the original film (in tone and execution if not in storyline). Micky Rooney chews the scenery and is quite good in his role as Petto.
Clint Howard is back for an appearance in this one as well but he looks a bit more human in this one in spite of his unfortunate face. When all is said and done, this one is just another killer toy movie, but it IS a pretty good one and while it will never be the classic that part 1 is (Part one being one of the greatest slasher films of all time) it is certainly a worthy addition to this franchise.

Curiously now that parts 3,4 and 5 are at long last available, Anchor Bay has pulled parts 1 and 2 from distribution and they are now commanding ridiculous prices. Crazy.

The picture quality of the films in this set is just better than vhs, full frame, no extras. Part 3, despite boasting Bill Mosely and two actors from Twin Peaks, is a dull, ridiculous waste of time. It's not so bad it's good, it's just a poor conclusion to the killer santa story from the first two films. Part 4 is my least favorite Brian Yuzna film, but it's got some great bug/monster effects around the half way mark. It's also got Clint Howard being repugnant as usual, which is a bonus. Part 5 is fun and inventive with the best kills of the three films and some excessive silly looking gore. Overall, I'm glad I bought this set, and Lions Gate should be commended for releasing a set of catalog titles at a nice price.

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