Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out!
Encyclopedia
Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out! is a 1989 slasher film
directed by Monte Hellman. A direct-to-video
release, the film is the second sequel to the 1984 film Silent Night, Deadly Night
and centers around the Christmas
-obsessed killer Ricky Caldwell awakening from a coma and stalking a blind teenager with psychic powers, while she travels to her grandmother's house for the Christmas holiday with her brother and his girlfriend. The film was the last to follow the storyline set by the previous two films, the next two sequels being standalone entries.
Killer Richard "Ricky" Caldwell (Bill Moseley
) has been left comatose for six years, with a transparent dome being affixed to his head by doctors in order to repair his damaged skull. Wanting to contact Ricky, the eccentric Doctor Newbury (Richard Beymer
) begins using a blind clairvoyant
girl named Laura Anderson (Samantha Scully) to try reach out to him. One Christmas Eve, after a particularly traumatic session with Newbury, Laura begins to regret her participation in his experiment, but Newbury tries to convince her to keep trying, saying that they can talk more after Laura returns home from visiting her grandmother (Elizabeth Hoffman
) over the holiday. After Laura is picked up from the hospital by her older brother Chris (Eric Da Re
) a drunk hospital employee dressed as Santa Claus wanders into Ricky's room and begins taunting him, rousing Ricky back to consciousness. Killing the Santa impersonator Ricky escapes from the hospital, taking a letter opener with him after killing a receptionist as well.
Picked up from a session with her psychiatrist, Laura is introduced by her brother to his new girlfriend, a flight attendant named Jerri (Laura Harring
) who Laura takes a dislike to. As the trio head off to Granny's they fail to notice Ricky (who can hear Laura thanks to the mental link formed between them) following them. Acquiring a truck and some fuel after murdering a motorist and gas station attendant, Ricky makes it to Granny's first; believing Ricky is simply an unfortunate handicapped vagrant Granny tries befriending him, but is killed when Ricky is provoked at the sight of a Christmas gift she offers him. At the hospital the two staff members butchered by Ricky are found and Lieutenant Connely (Robert Culp
) and Newbury begin trying to track Ricky down, realizing he is drawn towards Laura after surveillance camera footage shows him uttering her name.
Reaching Granny's house, Laura feels something is wrong, though her suspicions are ignored by Chris, who believes Granny may have simply gone for a walk. When Granny fails to show up and the car is found sabotaged the group become worried, with Chris and Jerri deciding to go out and look for Granny. Left alone Laura senses Ricky staring at her through the window and screams, bringing Chris and Jerri back to the house. After discovering the phone is dead and her picture is missing Laura realizes it must be Ricky who is after her moments before Ricky punches through the door and begins throttling Jerri, who is saved when Chris stabs Ricky in the arm. Elsewhere when Connely leaves the car to urinate Newbury drives off, intending to try and reason with or trap Ricky, not wanting his experiment to go to waste by having Connely kill Ricky.
Armed with an old shotgun
Chris, Laura, and Jerri go out in search of aid, but are ambushed by Ricky, who stabs Chris in the chest while Laura and Jerri run back to the house, just as Newbury finds Ricky. At first Ricky is uninterested in Newbury but is drawn close when Newbury plays a tape of one of his and Laura's sessions. As Ricky reaches out to him, Newbury, believing the tape has had a calming effect, grabs Ricky's hand, only to be stabbed in the stomach. At the house Laura and Jerri barricade the door, but Ricky still manages to break in. While looking for a gun Jerri is killed by Ricky, her body being found seconds later by Laura, who Ricky approaches, allowing Laura to touch his face. Enraged when Laura flees in terror after feeling his artificial skullcap
, Ricky chases after her. In the basement Laura is encouraged by a vision of Granny, seconds before finding her body and knocking the light out. Laura is easily knocked aside trying to attack Ricky. As Ricky begins choking her, Laura is saved when Chris appears and shoots Ricky with a shotgun; unfortunately the shotgun is loaded with blanks and the unharmed Ricky grabs it off Chris and uses it to choke him into unconsciousness. Ricky then moves in to finish off Laura, but she grabs a piece of a broken stick and holds it in front of her at the last second and Ricky impales himself on the stick.
Reaching the house with backup, Connely finds the dying Newbury before discovering Laura cradling her brother's body in the house. Driven away by Connely as the body of a survivor (the film does not indicate whether this is Chris or Ricky) is rushed to the hospital by paramedics, Laura wishes the lieutenant a "Merry Christmas" before having a vision of Ricky, who states "... And a Happy New Year" while staring into the camera.
in Austin, Texas
in July 2008, Hellman introduced the film, saying he thought it was his best work (though not his best film). His esteem for the work was partly due, he said, to the speed at which the entire project was put together. The original script was thrown out and rewritten in one week, starting in March. By the end of April, principal photography was done, editing was done in May (with Hellman taking time out to go to the Cannes Film Festival
), and by July 1989 there was an answer print screened at a film festival.
, while Image Entertainment released it on laserdisc
.
Lions Gate Entertainment
released Silent Night, Deadly Night 3 along with its sequels, Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation and Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toy Maker
as a three disc set on December 1, 2009. They are presented in full screen format with no special features included.
Lions Gate re-released the film to DVD on January 4, 2011 in a "4-Film Collection" set along with My Best Friend Is a Vampire
, Repossessed
and Slaughter High
.
Slasher film
A slasher film is a type of horror film typically involving a psychopathic killer stalking and killing a sequence of victims in a graphically violent manner, often with a cutting tool such as a knife or axe...
directed by Monte Hellman. A direct-to-video
Direct-to-video
Direct-to-video is a term used to describe a film that has been released to the public on home video formats without being released in film theaters or broadcast on television...
release, the film is the second sequel to the 1984 film Silent Night, Deadly Night
Silent Night, Deadly Night
Silent Night, Deadly Night is a 1984 slasher film produced by Ira R Barmak, directed by Charles E. Sellier Jr. and starring Robert Brian Wilson, Lilyan Chauvin, Gilmer McCormick, Toni Nero, Linnea Quigley, Britt Leach, and Leo Geter...
and centers around the Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
-obsessed killer Ricky Caldwell awakening from a coma and stalking a blind teenager with psychic powers, while she travels to her grandmother's house for the Christmas holiday with her brother and his girlfriend. The film was the last to follow the storyline set by the previous two films, the next two sequels being standalone entries.
Plot
After being shot down by police at the end of the previous film, the infamous Santa ClausSanta Claus
Santa Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus...
Killer Richard "Ricky" Caldwell (Bill Moseley
Bill Moseley
William "Bill" Moseley is an American film actor and musician who has starred in a number of cult classic horror films, including House of 1000 Corpses, Repo! The Genetic Opera and The Devil's Rejects. His first big role was in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 as Chop Top...
) has been left comatose for six years, with a transparent dome being affixed to his head by doctors in order to repair his damaged skull. Wanting to contact Ricky, the eccentric Doctor Newbury (Richard Beymer
Richard Beymer
George Richard Beymer, Jr. is an American actor known for playing Tony in the 1961 film version of West Side Story and Ben Horne on the 1990 television series Twin Peaks.-Life and career:...
) begins using a blind clairvoyant
Clairvoyance
The term clairvoyance is used to refer to the ability to gain information about an object, person, location or physical event through means other than the known human senses, a form of extra-sensory perception...
girl named Laura Anderson (Samantha Scully) to try reach out to him. One Christmas Eve, after a particularly traumatic session with Newbury, Laura begins to regret her participation in his experiment, but Newbury tries to convince her to keep trying, saying that they can talk more after Laura returns home from visiting her grandmother (Elizabeth Hoffman
Elizabeth Hoffman (actress)
Elizabeth Hoffman is an American actress who has guest-starred in a number of television shows, mini-series as well as several movies including playing the role of "Grandma Ruth" in Dante's Peak. She also played the role of Beatrice Reed on the television drama Sisters and Catherine Langford in...
) over the holiday. After Laura is picked up from the hospital by her older brother Chris (Eric Da Re
Eric Da Re
Eric Da Re is an American actor who is primarily famous for playing the notorious criminal Leo Johnson on the cult TV show, Twin Peaks and its prequel, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me.- Biography:...
) a drunk hospital employee dressed as Santa Claus wanders into Ricky's room and begins taunting him, rousing Ricky back to consciousness. Killing the Santa impersonator Ricky escapes from the hospital, taking a letter opener with him after killing a receptionist as well.
Picked up from a session with her psychiatrist, Laura is introduced by her brother to his new girlfriend, a flight attendant named Jerri (Laura Harring
Laura Harring
Laura Harring is a Mexican-American actress and former Miss USA . She is known for her role as Rita in Mulholland Drive.-Early life:...
) who Laura takes a dislike to. As the trio head off to Granny's they fail to notice Ricky (who can hear Laura thanks to the mental link formed between them) following them. Acquiring a truck and some fuel after murdering a motorist and gas station attendant, Ricky makes it to Granny's first; believing Ricky is simply an unfortunate handicapped vagrant Granny tries befriending him, but is killed when Ricky is provoked at the sight of a Christmas gift she offers him. At the hospital the two staff members butchered by Ricky are found and Lieutenant Connely (Robert Culp
Robert Culp
Robert Martin Culp was an American actor, scriptwriter, voice actor and director, widely known for his work in television. Culp first earned an international reputation for his role as Kelly Robinson on I Spy , the espionage series in which he and co-star Bill Cosby played a pair of secret agents...
) and Newbury begin trying to track Ricky down, realizing he is drawn towards Laura after surveillance camera footage shows him uttering her name.
Reaching Granny's house, Laura feels something is wrong, though her suspicions are ignored by Chris, who believes Granny may have simply gone for a walk. When Granny fails to show up and the car is found sabotaged the group become worried, with Chris and Jerri deciding to go out and look for Granny. Left alone Laura senses Ricky staring at her through the window and screams, bringing Chris and Jerri back to the house. After discovering the phone is dead and her picture is missing Laura realizes it must be Ricky who is after her moments before Ricky punches through the door and begins throttling Jerri, who is saved when Chris stabs Ricky in the arm. Elsewhere when Connely leaves the car to urinate Newbury drives off, intending to try and reason with or trap Ricky, not wanting his experiment to go to waste by having Connely kill Ricky.
Armed with an old shotgun
Shotgun
A shotgun is a firearm that is usually designed to be fired from the shoulder, which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number of small spherical pellets called shot, or a solid projectile called a slug...
Chris, Laura, and Jerri go out in search of aid, but are ambushed by Ricky, who stabs Chris in the chest while Laura and Jerri run back to the house, just as Newbury finds Ricky. At first Ricky is uninterested in Newbury but is drawn close when Newbury plays a tape of one of his and Laura's sessions. As Ricky reaches out to him, Newbury, believing the tape has had a calming effect, grabs Ricky's hand, only to be stabbed in the stomach. At the house Laura and Jerri barricade the door, but Ricky still manages to break in. While looking for a gun Jerri is killed by Ricky, her body being found seconds later by Laura, who Ricky approaches, allowing Laura to touch his face. Enraged when Laura flees in terror after feeling his artificial skullcap
Calvaria (skull)
The calvaria is the upper part of the cranium and surrounds the cranial cavity containing the brain.The calvaria is made up of the frontal, occipital and right and left parietals....
, Ricky chases after her. In the basement Laura is encouraged by a vision of Granny, seconds before finding her body and knocking the light out. Laura is easily knocked aside trying to attack Ricky. As Ricky begins choking her, Laura is saved when Chris appears and shoots Ricky with a shotgun; unfortunately the shotgun is loaded with blanks and the unharmed Ricky grabs it off Chris and uses it to choke him into unconsciousness. Ricky then moves in to finish off Laura, but she grabs a piece of a broken stick and holds it in front of her at the last second and Ricky impales himself on the stick.
Reaching the house with backup, Connely finds the dying Newbury before discovering Laura cradling her brother's body in the house. Driven away by Connely as the body of a survivor (the film does not indicate whether this is Chris or Ricky) is rushed to the hospital by paramedics, Laura wishes the lieutenant a "Merry Christmas" before having a vision of Ricky, who states "... And a Happy New Year" while staring into the camera.
Cast
- Richard BeymerRichard BeymerGeorge Richard Beymer, Jr. is an American actor known for playing Tony in the 1961 film version of West Side Story and Ben Horne on the 1990 television series Twin Peaks.-Life and career:...
as Doctor Newbury - Bill MoseleyBill MoseleyWilliam "Bill" Moseley is an American film actor and musician who has starred in a number of cult classic horror films, including House of 1000 Corpses, Repo! The Genetic Opera and The Devil's Rejects. His first big role was in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 as Chop Top...
as Richard "Ricky" Caldwell - Samantha Scully as Laura Anderson
- Eric Da ReEric Da ReEric Da Re is an American actor who is primarily famous for playing the notorious criminal Leo Johnson on the cult TV show, Twin Peaks and its prequel, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me.- Biography:...
as Chris Anderson - Laura HarringLaura HarringLaura Harring is a Mexican-American actress and former Miss USA . She is known for her role as Rita in Mulholland Drive.-Early life:...
as Jerri - Elizabeth HoffmanElizabeth Hoffman (actress)Elizabeth Hoffman is an American actress who has guest-starred in a number of television shows, mini-series as well as several movies including playing the role of "Grandma Ruth" in Dante's Peak. She also played the role of Beatrice Reed on the television drama Sisters and Catherine Langford in...
as Granny Anderson - Robert CulpRobert CulpRobert Martin Culp was an American actor, scriptwriter, voice actor and director, widely known for his work in television. Culp first earned an international reputation for his role as Kelly Robinson on I Spy , the espionage series in which he and co-star Bill Cosby played a pair of secret agents...
as Lieutenant Connely - Richard C. Adams as Santa
- Melissa Hellman as Doctor Newbury's Assistant
- Isabel Cooley as Hospital Receptionist
- Leonard Mann as Laura's Psychiatrist
- Carlos Palomino as Truck Driver
- Marc Dietrich as Craig the Gas Station Attendant
- Jim Ladd as Newscaster
- Richard N. GladsteinRichard N. GladsteinRichard N. Gladstein is a film producer based in Los Angeles. His production company is FilmColony. His films include Finding Neverland, The Bourne Identity, Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, Hurlyburly, and The Cider House Rules. His two Academy Award nominations came from Finding Neverland and The...
as Detective - Tamela Song as Nurse
- Michael Ameen as Coroner
Production
At a screening at the Alamo DrafthouseAlamo Drafthouse
The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema is an American cinema chain founded in 1997 in Austin, Texas, United States. It has screens in nine locations across Texas and one in Winchester, Virginia...
in Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
in July 2008, Hellman introduced the film, saying he thought it was his best work (though not his best film). His esteem for the work was partly due, he said, to the speed at which the entire project was put together. The original script was thrown out and rewritten in one week, starting in March. By the end of April, principal photography was done, editing was done in May (with Hellman taking time out to go to the Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
), and by July 1989 there was an answer print screened at a film festival.
Release
International Video Entertainment released the film on VHSVHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
, while Image Entertainment released it on laserdisc
Laserdisc
LaserDisc was a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially licensed, sold, and marketed as MCA DiscoVision in North America in 1978, the technology was previously referred to interally as Optical Videodisc System, Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Optical...
.
Lions Gate Entertainment
Lions Gate Entertainment
Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation is a North American entertainment company. The company was formed in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1997, and is headquartered in Santa Monica, California...
released Silent Night, Deadly Night 3 along with its sequels, Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation and Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toy Maker
Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toy Maker
Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toy Maker is the fifth movie in the Silent Night, Deadly Night franchise. The film was also featured in an episode of Svengoolie. It stars William Thorne, Jane Higginson, Van Quattro, Tracy Fraim, Conan Yuzna, and veteran screen legend Mickey Rooney as The Toy Maker...
as a three disc set on December 1, 2009. They are presented in full screen format with no special features included.
Lions Gate re-released the film to DVD on January 4, 2011 in a "4-Film Collection" set along with My Best Friend Is a Vampire
My Best Friend Is a Vampire
My Best Friend Is a Vampire is a 1987 American horror-comedy film about a newly made vampire who is trying to live as a "good" vampire and not feed on humans. Jeremy is played by Robert Sean Leonard and Rene Auberjonois also stars as Jeremy's vampire guidance counsel...
, Repossessed
Repossessed
Repossessed is a 1990 comedy film that spoofs the 1973 horror film The Exorcist. It was written and directed by Bob Logan. The film features the original star of The Exorcist, Linda Blair, as well as Leslie Nielsen and Anthony Starke...
and Slaughter High
Slaughter High
Slaughter High is a 1986 slasher film written and directed by George Dugdale, Mark Ezra, and Peter Litten.-Plot:The day begins with a popular student, Carol Manning , jokingly asking Marty Rantzen , the school nerd, to have sex with her in the women’s locker room...
.