Trailer of the Week: Silent Night, Bloody Night (1974)

Christmas-themed horror, now on disc from Code Red with a new transfer.

Code Red Delivers Silent Night, Bloody Night

Everyone knew Code Red was planning to release a new version of Invasion of the Blood Farmers on disc, but I was certainly surprised to see that the company had paired it with another New York horror film, Theodore Gershuny's Silent Night, Bloody Night (here under its Death House title), creating a double feature that veers from ridiculous to sublime and back again.


Silent Night, Bloody Night is an excellent low-budget film, but for years has only been available in murky, full-frame versions via public domain DVD collections. Code Red has released it in a much-improved 1.85.1 transfer clocking in at 85 minutes.

Blood Farmers is presented at 1.78.1, and includes a feature-length commentary by very funny producer Ed Adlum, who I interviewed for my book.

For more on Blood Farmers, see my Jack Neubeck interview. For more on the Gershuny film, see my write up here.

Silent Night, Bloody Night (1974)

Silent Night, Bloody Night (1974)
Oyster Bay, Long Island

This weird, fascinating, and somewhat confusing early slasher film has unfortunately slipped into the public domain, so I have a feeling that we may never get to see it in any form other than the murky prints populating so many horror-themed multi-movie DVD sets. It's still worth checking out.

The film details the bloody history of a former madhouse, the return of its mysterious owner, and an accompanying murder spree. It's a moody, atmospheric film marred by a confusing script, a few missing scenes (at least it appears something has been cut from the prints available), and Mary Woronov's somewhat disengaged performance. The cast is also a lot of fun, and includes Hollywood vets Patrick O'Neal, John Carradine and Walter Abel, along with Warhol Factory refugees like Ondine and Candy Darling.

Late director Theodore Gershuny (who was married to Woronov at the time), filmed this in 1972. Associate producer Lloyd Kafman worked with Gershuny again on Sugar Cookies (1973), and went on to found Troma Films. Both Kaufman and Frank Vitale (another producer on this film) also worked with Oliver Stone around the same time.

Producer and writer Jeffrey Konvitz was an entertainment attorney also wrote both the novel and film The Sentinel (1977), and produced Spy Hard (1996).

From the Uniontown, Pa., Morning Herald-Evening Standard, Aug. 8, 1974: