SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT 3: BETTER WATCH OUT! (1989)

 

(a.k.a. SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT III: BETTER WATCH OUT!. Director/co-screenwriter/uncredited co-editor: Monte Hellman. Co-screenwriters: Rex Weiner, Arthur Gorson, and uncredited Melissa Hellman.)

 

Review

Christmas Eve. Ricky Caldwell, killer from SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT PART 2 (1987), has been in a coma for six years, after being shot by the cops at the end of the previous film. A clear dome has been attached to the top of his head, exposing his brain to open view—not logical, considering all his bullet wounds were in his torso, but never mind about that—and an oddball doctor, Dr. Newberry (Richard Beymer), has been using a blind clairvoyant woman, Laura Anderson (Samantha Scully, BLOODSUCKERS, 1987) to try and rouse Caldwell from his six-year slumber.

Laura, often angry and sarcastic, has traded dream memories with Ricky (played by Bill Moseley, THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2, 1986—in SILENT 2, Ricky was played by Eric Freeman). These mingled memories and emotions stir them more than the doctor or Laura suspect, though the young woman, disturbed by what she’s experienced with Ricky, is ready to quit the experiments. Later that day, Ricky wakes and kills Danny, a drunken, mean-spirited hospital Santa (SILENT 3 director/co-screenwriter/co-editor Monte Hellman), and a b*tchy hospital receptionist (Isabel Cooley) before escaping the institution.

Laura arrives at her grandmother’s house with her brother, Chris (Eric DaRe, CRITTERS 4, 1992), and his new girlfriend, Jerri (Laura Harring, billed as Laura Herring), the latter of whom Laura openly dislikes. Their “Granny” (Elizabeth Hoffman, FEAR NO EVIL, 1981) is strangely absent from her house and they look for her. They’re unaware that Ricky, triggered by taunts and the color red, has slashed and decapitated his way to their current location.

Ricky’s bloody trek has not gone unnoticed by others. He’s being pursued by an intrepid cop, Lt. Connely (Robert Culp, SANTA’S SLAY, 2005) and Dr. Newberry, who are not far behind them. Will they find Granny safe and whole, and can they survive Ricky’s second-time-‘round murder spree?

Though director Hellman and Ed Rothkowitz show strong editing chops and the behind-the-scenes crew knew what they were doing, the often brightly (often whitely) lit movie lacks suspense (sometimes bordering on tedious) and the dream sequences aren’t particularly disturbing. The gore quotient is low but effective. This isn’t the worst horror movie I’ve seen, far from it, but it’s probably one that only die-hard Monte Hellman and/or SILENT franchise fans might appreciate. Followed by SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT 4: INITIATION (1990).

 

Other actors worth noting

Melissa Hellman (daughter of director Monte Hellman and uncredited SILENT 3 co-screenwriter) played “Dr. Newberry’s Assistant”.

Leonard Mann (NIGHT SCHOOL, 1981) played “Laura’s Psychiatrist”.

Carlos Palomino (IT’S ALIVE III: ISLAND OF THE ALIVE, 1987) played “Truck Driver”.

Jim Ladd (TO DIE FOR, 1988) played “Newscaster”.

Richard N. Gladstein (SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT 4: INITIATION, 1990) played “Detective”.

Dave Mount Jr., billed as Dave Mount (PUMPKINHEAD II; BLOOD WINGS, production assistant, 1993), played “Policeman”.

 

Deep(er) filmic dive

Eric DaRe, who played Samantha’s brother in SILENT 3, also appeared in David Lynch and Mark Frost’s TWIN PEAKS (1989-91), along with Richard Beymer, who played Dr. Newberry in SILENT 3.

Further David Lynch connection: Laura Harring, who played Jerri, Chris’s girlfriend, in SILENT 3, also appeared in Lynch’s MULHOLLAND DRIVE (2001) and INLAND EMPIRE (2005).

 

Richard N. Gladstein, who played a “Detective” in SILENT 3, was also an executive producer for the film. He also produced/acted in SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT 4: INITIATION (1990) and SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT 5: THE TOYMAKER (1991).

 

Hellman was not a fan of the original SILENT 3 script, so he requested original co-screenwriter Arthur Gorson work on a new screenplay with another writer, Max Weiner. (The other original screenwriter, Steven Gaydos, went uncredited for his work.). Later Hellman, and his daughter (Melissa) tweaked the rewrite—SILENT 3’s original script became the screenplay for SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT 4: INITIATION, 1990.

 

The movie the gas station attendant (and later Laura and Chris) watch on TV is THE TERROR (1963, directed by Roger Corman, Francis Ford Coppola, Jack Hale, and uncredited Monte Hellman).

GRINDHOUSE NIGHTMARES (2017)

(Director/screenwriter: Richard Driscoll.)

Note: NIGHTMARES, a direct-to-video double-bill anthology film with retitled trailers, was released in longer form the previous year as GRINDHOUSE 2WO (2016), also directed by Richard Driscoll (NIGHTMARES, at an hour and fifteen minutes, is eleven minutes shorter than 2WO).

Also: Tubi streaming service, on which I watched NIGHTMARES, lists it with a TV-14 rating, but given the subject matter and the amount of female nudity in it, an R rating is more appropriate.

 

Review

NIGHTMARES’s exploitation-minded ambition matches that of its 2007 cinematic inspiration, GRINDHOUSE. Unfortunately, NIGHTMARE’s screenplay─penned by director Driscoll─is a wildly uneven work.

The wraparound story centers around a blood-spattered, face-painted nurse (Linnea Quigley, also seen as a Nazi elsewhere in the film)─her character comes off as a (more) hyperactive, lower budget version of Baby (Sheri Moon Zombie) in HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES (2003). Quigley tries her best to make her lines entertaining but sometimes even a great B-movie actress can’t save groan-worthy dialogue.

 

Scratchy film stock, varying film quality, smash cuts, and swarming, man-hungry rats can’t save “Manhunt,” an overlong, blatant SAW (2004) rip-off whose “twists” are explicitly boosted from the much better milestone film. “Manhunt”’s long-overdue ending falls flat.

 

The between-mini-features “Prevues of Coming Attractions” are mostly fun. The better ones include: a charming bird-and-car-related cartoon for Doomsday Insurance; scenes of Bill Moseley (as Lemmas) in a TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE (1974) knock-off, TEXAS CHAINSAW HILLBILLIES; archive footage from NIGHTMARES director Richard Driscoll’s EL DORADO (2012)─this prevue is retitled ASSKICKER, featuring Michael Madsen as a tough guy and Patrick Bergin as the main villain; and the full of machine guns and hot nude women flick NAZI BITCHES MUST DIE.

“Stripper with a Shotgun,” the second half of the double bill, has strippers, nuns, gun play, Brigitte Nielsen, a cool yellow Trans-Am, and kung-fu fights in a fake-looking wrecking yard background. In it, with its own meta-wraparound story, a stripper-nun is interrogated by a cop about the events that led to their situation. “Stripper” is far superior to “Manhunt” on all levels, with intentionally laugh-out-loud, era-true cinematic clichés.

Is NIGHTMARES worth watching? Yes, if you fast-forward past “Manhunt,” enjoy Linnea Quigley (even in her lesser movies) and enjoy largely spot-on fake trailers (some of which feature footage from differently titled movies). Otherwise, you might want to skip this one. I haven’t seen the longer version of NIGHTMARES, GRINDHOUSE 2WO, so I can’t compare the two works.