Not to be confused with a more controversial and popular film called 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...

.

Silent Night, Bloody Night is a low-budget 1974

1974 in film

The year 1974 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*February 7 - Blazing Saddles is released in the USA.*August 7 - Peter Wolf, lead singer of The J...

 psychological horror

Psychological horror

Psychological horror is a subgenre of horror fiction that relies on character fears, guilt, beliefs, eerie sound effects, relevant music and emotional instability to build tension and further the plot...

 film

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

 directed by Theodore Gershuny. It stars Patrick O'Neal and cult actress Mary Woronov

Mary Woronov

Mary Woronov is an American actress and writer. She is primarily known for her roles in independent and cult films. Woronov has appeared in over 80 movies, as well as numerous appearances in mainstream television series, such as Charlie's Angels and Knight Rider.-Early life:Woronov was born in the...

 in leading roles, with John Carradine

John Carradine

John Carradine was an American actor, best known for his roles in horror films and Westerns as well as Shakespearean theater. A member of Cecil B DeMille's stock company and later John Ford's company, he was one of the most prolific character actors in Hollywood history...

 in a supporting performance. It was filmed in Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York

Oyster Bay (town), New York

The Town of Oyster Bay is easternmost of the three towns in Nassau County, New York, in the United States. Part of the New York metropolitan area, it is the only town in Nassau County that extends from the North Shore to the South Shore of Long Island. As of the 2010 census, the town population was...

 in 1972 but was not released theatrically until 1974. Cult icon Lloyd Kaufman

Lloyd Kaufman

Lloyd Kaufman is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and occasional actor. With producer Michael Herz, he is the co-founder of Troma Entertainment film studio, and the director of many of their feature films, including The Toxic Avenger and Tromeo and Juliet. Kaufman also serves as...

 was an associate producer on the film.

Plot

Folks trying to sell an isolated mansion in Massachusetts, with a dark history, are being stalked and killed by an escaped maniac. But who is this deranged murderer and why do the local townspeople act so strange?

Cast

• Patrick O'Neal as John Carter
• James Patterson
  James Patterson (actor)
  James Patterson was an American Tony Award winning actor for his role in the 1968 Harold Pinter play, The Birthday Party . His best known film role was in Lilith , and he had numerous guest appearances on television through the early 1970s...
  
   as Jeffrey Butler
• Mary Woronov
  Mary Woronov
  Mary Woronov is an American actress and writer. She is primarily known for her roles in independent and cult films. Woronov has appeared in over 80 movies, as well as numerous appearances in mainstream television series, such as Charlie's Angels and Knight Rider.-Early life:Woronov was born in the...
  
   as Diane Adams
• Astrid Heeren as Ingrid
• John Carradine
  John Carradine
  John Carradine was an American actor, best known for his roles in horror films and Westerns as well as Shakespearean theater. A member of Cecil B DeMille's stock company and later John Ford's company, he was one of the most prolific character actors in Hollywood history...
  
   as Charlie Towman
• Walter Abel
  Walter Abel
  Walter Abel was an American stage and film character actor. His eyes were brown and his height was five foot ten inches....
  
   as Mayor Adams
• Fran Stevens as Tess Howard
• Walter Klavun as Sheriff Bill Mason
• Philip Bruns as Wilfred Butler (1929) (as Phillip Bruns)
• Staats Cotsworth as Wilfred Butler (voice)

History

Though filmed in 1972, Silent Night, Bloody Night wasn't released until 1974. The film played primarily at drive-in circuits before disappearing into obscurity. However, in the mid-1980s the film was featured on Elvira's Movie Macabre where its exposure would begin a small cult following. Since its release the film had fallen into public domain and is now available on DVD from various entertainment companies that specialize in public domain

Public domain

Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...

films.