Douce nuit, sanglante nuit - L'initiation

This film begins with a young woman being engulfed in flames and falling to her death from a tall building. Recognizing a story when she sees one, an aspiring female reporter named "Kim Levitt" (Neith Hunter) asks the newspaper's editor "Eli" (Reggie Bannister) for the opportunity to cover it. Since he doesn't take her very seriously, he refuses her requests and gives the assignment to Kim's boyfriend "Hank" (Tommy Hinkley) instead. Furious with this decision, Kim decides to cover the story anyway. To that effect, one of the first people she interviews is a woman named "Fima" (Maud Adams) who runs a bookstore in that area and lives in the same building where the woman fell to her death. Yet even though Fima appears to be very helpful at first, it soon becomes clear that she is involved in a strange religious cult--and Kim just happens to be at the center of something extremely dangerous. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this film has absolutely no relation to any of its three predecessors. And considering that the last two weren't that remarkable, then perhaps that's a good thing. Having said that, although I thought this effort was definitely a step in the right direction, I believe that the decision to rely more heavily upon special effects rather than suspense hurt the overall experience to some degree. Now, that's not to say that this was a terribly bad film by any means--it's just that these special effects weren't nearly as capable at delivering the necessary horror all by themselves. At least, I didn't think so. In any case, while I don't consider this to be a bad film by any means, I wasn't overly impressed with it, and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly below average.

This film is totally insane...and by totally insane, I mean that is totally insane to imagine that someone watched any of the previous three Silent Night, Deadly Night films...before dreaming up this lesbian cult bio-horror as an appropriate sequel.

In fact, the only logical explanation is that this was a completely separate project, that was already written- and possibly even partially filmed already- when Yuzna had it appropriated by the SNDN franchise...after which he shot a few extra scenes, as to sell the Ricky connection (which is weak as f*ck, at best- and doesn't make sense at all, if you think about it).

You could easily go through and watch this entire film without a) realizing it takes place on or around Christmas, and b) that the mental patient that is subservient to the lesbian cult is supposed to be Ricky.

It was likely a pre-existing film called Initiation, that they added to the SNDN franchise, because after the second and third films were flops- they figured Yuzna could somehow revive it from it's death throes, by sketchily attempting to tie it into the ongoing storyline, after the fact.

With that being said, it's actually a pretty good little film. It starts off with an anti-Vertigo vibe, but then turns more into a Rosemary's Baby sort of thing. And it has a feminist angle woven throughout. But all this is secondary to it being only remotely connected (and forced, at that) to the original franchise- whose name it bears.

Worth a watch if you are into lesbian cults, bio-horror, or Clint Howard.

5.5 out of 10.

A young reporter investigating a bizarre death becomes involved with a coven of modern day witches headed by Maud Adams. Good script and effects, but by the numbers acting and direction almost destroy it. Maud Adams outclasses the whole production. Rated R; Adult Themes, Sexual Situations, Nudity, Violence, and Profanity.

This movie feels more like a sequel to Rosemary's Baby. For whatever reason they called it a Silent Night, Deadly Night sequel, and had it set at Christmas time. Just like Pt. 3, it's Christmas in L.A., so now snow on the ground.

Clint Howard's character is named Ricky, which has to be more than just a coincidence. But I can't see how this Ricky can be tied to the Ricky in Pt.2 and 3.

Screaming Mad George still has the cochroach puppets left over from Nightmare On Elm Street 4.

It's good to see Reggie Banister in a movie not directed by Don Coscorelli.

A female reporter investigates the death of a woman who, on fire, leapt off of a building to her death. Her investigation leads her to discover the existence of a strange cult dedicated Egyptian god Isis--and the cult wants her as its new queen. While the plot is virtually unrelated to the first 3 films, SNDN4 is a surprisingly effective gross-out thriller. There are a few scares and gruesome moments here and there and the visual effects are terrific and, as we've come to expect from Screaming mad George, different. Both The script and acting are unimaginative but it's good horror fun from the Yuzna team that we've all come to love and it makes a great holiday family......err, horror film. My rating for "Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation"-8/10.