Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 is a 1987 American black comedyslasher 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 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 40 minutes of archive footage from the original film.
Plot
The sequel picks up on Christmas Eve four years after the first movie, with Ricky Caldwell, the 18-year-old brother of the first film's killer, now being held in a mental hospital, sentenced there for life after a trial he had for a series of murders that he committed. While being interviewed by the psychiatrist Dr. Henry Bloom, Ricky tells the story of the murders his brother Billy committed throughout a series of several flashbacks using footage from the original film. These flashbacks have new shots to make Ricky appear in more of Billy's original story. After this, Ricky tells his own story: after Billy's death, he was adopted and given a good upbringing, but his trauma was never treated. After his foster father's death, Ricky loses his composure and commits a series of random murders, targeting people who are "naughty". A chance for a normal life seems to appear when he starts dating Jennifer Statson, but an unpleasant encounter with Jennifer's ex-boyfriend Chip sends Ricky over the edge. He kills Chip by electrocuting him with jumper cables that are attached to a car while Jennifer watches, and uses the car antenna to strangle Jennifer to death. A security guard witnesses this and as Ricky is about to get arrested, he grabs the guard’s gun, shoots him in the forehead, and goes on a shooting spree. He kills at least three more people throughout a suburban neighborhood, including one man taking out his garbage. Later on, Ricky gets himself into a stand-off where he tries and fails to commit suicide before getting arrested by the police. Cutting back to the present day, Ricky kills Dr. Bloom and escapes from the mental hospital, murdering a Salvation Army Santa and stealing the costume. Ricky plans a mission to accomplish what Billy failed to do, which was to kill Mother Superior. After chasing Mother Superior throughout her house, Ricky succeeds in decapitating her. Ricky cleans up the blood and stages the scene to make it look like Mother Superior sitting in a chair by placing the loose unconnected head on her body. As soon as this is discovered by the police officers that had arrived on the scene, a screaming Ricky leaps out and prepares to attack, but is shot down out the patio door. Sister Mary wakes up, and the police officer tells her, "He's gone, Sister. It's over." Then, she turns over and sees Mother Superior's severed head, before screaming in terror. Ricky, who had been shot by the cops, suddenly opens his eyes and smiles devilishly, indicating that he had survived his gunshot wounds. The final shot shows Billy's arm dressed in a Santa suit plunging a knife into the screen, before it freezes and the credits roll.
Cast
Principal
Archival footage
Production
On the film’s DVD commentary, the filmmakers say that they were paid a dismal amount of money to make the film. Originally, they say, they were told to re-edit the first film and pass it off as a sequel. Director Lee Harry said that he demanded that a new film be shot, though he did not have the budget to create an entirely new story. Harry says that they tried to find Eric Freeman to participate for the commentary track, but they were unable to locate him at the time.
Release
The film received a limited release theatrically in the United States in 1987. It grossed $154,323 at the box office. The film was released on VHS in the United States by International Video Entertainment in 1987, while Image Entertainment released it on Laserdisc. The film was available on the DVD Double Gift Pack on October 7, 2003 from Anchor Bay Entertainment, along with the original Silent Night, Deadly Night, but was discontinued due to copyright problems, and is currently out of print. On December 4, 2012, the film was again released alongside Part 1 as a two-disc "Christmas Survival Double Feature", containing the same archival bonus features as the 2003 release. In the United Kingdom the film was declined a certificate by the BBFC after the distributors refused to make the cuts required for an '18' certificate. On December 11, 2018, Shout Factory under its Scream Factory label released the film in a two-disc set collector's edition on Blu-ray. It contains new special features produced by Justin Beahm's Reverend Entertainment such as interviews with director Lee Harry, actors Eric Freeman, James Newman, Elizabeth Kaitan, Darrel Guilbeau, Kenny McCabe, and makeup effect artist Christopher Biggs. It also contains special features from the 2004 and 2012 DVD releases as well. Scream Factory also released the film in a limited edition collector set that is limited to 2,000 orders. It contains the Blu-ray set along with an 18x24 poster of the Blu-ray's artwork cover and an 8" action figure of Ricky Caldwell.
Reception
The film was heavily criticised due to the excessive use of footage from the original film. However, the film does have an audience with slasher fans/horror fans, and has gained a cult following as a black comedy, due to Freeman's performance. In addition, the scene in which Ricky shoots a man who is taking out his trash became an Internet meme. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 14% rating, out of 7 reviews, and an average score of 3.1/10. The site has not given the film a critical consensus.
