Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)
Classic 80s slasher flick, about a young man with a mortal fear of Santa ever since his parents were killed by a criminal wearing the costume. After taking a job at the local toy store and eventually being forced to dress up as Santa, he snaps and goes on a rampage punishing all the bad ‘children’. There are some pretty comical and suitably blood soaked deaths in here, and some great scenes too including one where he begrudgingly gives a blood stained knife to a small girl as a present, after finding she really hasn’t done anything bad all year. The film isn’t taking itself the least bit seriously, and neither is it an outright spoof – I had a great time with it. Ending could have been more satisfying but this is definitely one to catch!
Wanted: Dead or Alive (1986)
A bounty hunter is offered a huge payout to go after a middle eastern terrorist following the bombing of a busy cinema. Rutger Hauer is a bit of a hit & miss actor, he’s played some amazing roles in films like Blade Runner, Sin City and of course Hobo With A Shotgun. This film – wow, it’s hopeless. The terrorists are caricatures who are impossible to take seriously, the script is poor and even Rutgers character is wooden, compounded by a definite off-day on the acting. The story and continuity are a mess too, in fact the only redeeming feature of the whole film is at the very end, where he pulls the pin out of a grenade placed firmly in the mouth of the lead terrorist. It’s so bad I don’t even mind spoiling it.
