A Christmas scare

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This article was published 28/02/2025 (580 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Local company Bear Paw Studio has gotten behind the reins for the Winnipeg production phases of a remake of Silent Night, Deadly Night, a gory Christmas story that first freaked audiences out in 1984.

“You might suppose that Silent Night, Deadly Night, the Tri-Star horror movie about a marauding Santa Claus, has garnered the kind of publicity money can’t buy,” Janet Maslin reported for the New York Times one week after its release, which spurred protests across the country.

The reason for the widespread coal-lumping was that Santa’s squeaky-clean image was at stake for climbing down the chimney with an axe in hand.

Unable to pursue libel charges, owing to the fact that St. Nick’s existence has been called into question by non-believers, America’s parents took matters into their own hands, gathering outside a Bronx cinema to drown out the shrieks of bloody murder with carols of heavenly peace.

“But whatever the brouhaha has done for the Christmas spirit of all concerned, it hasn’t done anything for business,” Maslin concluded.

According to IMDb, the film actually did surpass its US$1.07 million budget over its opening weekend in Canada and the U.S., combined, eventually taking home a global gross of US$2.5 million.

At CBC, Randall King reported this week that scouting locations included Selkirk, Carman, Stonewall and Steinbach.

The original was filmed in Heber City, Utah.