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Silent Night, Dead Night 4 (Otherwise known as both Initiation and Bugs) is a weird one because it's another Horror franchise that ditches the original material and goes in a new direction altogether.

The first 3 movies were about the psychotic "Naughty" Caldwell brothers, this is oddly about a coven of witches and their bug themed birthing rituals and.....yeah, it gets a bit weird.

Starring industry legend Clint Howard and Phantasm alumni Reggie Bannister this isn't as bad as you'd imagine but it's a really weird choice to veer off so dramatically.

Okay fine it can work, Halloween 3 for example is my favorite of the franchise and has nothing to do with Michael Myers.

This is passable, but weird. Also not one for those with weak stomachs, some of it is really quite grosse.

A bizzare choice of content, but it could have been worse.

The Good:

Reggie Bannister, Clint Howard and Allyce Beasley are all great

Creature effects are great

The Bad:

Just plain weird

Simply not a Silent Night, Deadly Night movie

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

All Asian people know karate chops

The second in a trio of Brian Yuzna-directed early-90s sequels to 80s horror classics, this one stands out - as particularly uninspired. Bride of Re-Animator was a decent direct sequel, continuing the story where it ended in Re-Animator, while Return of the Living Dead III surprisingly re-animated a left-for-dead franchise with a new story bearing only some connections to the original (and missing its humor). Both of them were B-movies, sure, but they had good ideas, the weird make-up effects that Society, Yuzna's freaky debut, made him known for, and lots of B-charm of their own. Why Yuzna even bothered with the trite SNDN series I don't know - probably it started with a late-night call like this: " Well, that last Silent Night Deadly Night movie did OK, so if you have anything which we could somehow distribute under that franchise, we'll do it." The only thing that connects this one to the others is the character of Ricky (this time it's the great Clint Howard in one of his lamest performances) who's shot-to-goo brain has healed remarkably well in just one year. Well, the bum he plays may as well be named Ron or Gerald - and probably was before they tried to make some unnecessary connection with the SNDN series. The story is uninteresting from the start, the acting is bland (the unknown Neith Hunter probably got the lead because she was willing to do the slime-trenched nude scenes) and yes, there's Yuzna's trademark scenes involving Screaming Mad George's body melt effects which are fun as always, but they are few and short, hardly worth the wait. As there's hardly any Christmas connections either, this one doesn't even qualify for a Trashmas video night in the holidays.

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.

While not as bad as Part 2, this was still awful. It's mostly because of how utterly ridiculous it is. This movie features a woman on fire jumping off a building and another woman investigating her death. It turns out the woman was a member of a cult that worshipped giant larvae (!) and she failed to go through initiation. Now only does this movie have virtually nothing to do with the previous movies, but it has virtually nothing to do with Christmas at all! Couldn't these guys have at least kept that consistent? There's a few Christmas trees and presents here and there and a Christmas party, but that's it!

The woman is plagued by insects all around her house. I do know what that's like unfortunately. There are several giant insects that appear throughout the movie and it looks absolutely stupid. I think this woman is actually supposed to give birth to a giant bug at one point. This film is really disgusting and has nothing to do with anything. There's just so many random things going on it's hard to put any plot together. It looks like they just took random elements and objects and made a movie out of them. This is just pointless. *

"Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 4: Intiation" is one strange movie. In fact, I don't think I've seen anything quite like it before. And I've seen a lot of films. It is about a Los Angeles journalist who is investigating a woman's death around Christmastime. The woman spontaneously combusted and leaped from the top of a building downtown. While asking the owner of a bookstore (Maude Adams) within the building about the strange death, she is lead into a sacrificial cult of modern day witches that plan on using her for one of their sacrificial ceremonies on Christmas Eve.

Take elements from "Rosemary's Baby" and throw in some nasty monster creatures and feminist witches in a Christmas setting, and you've got this movie. I swear, this movie is one of the weirdest movies I think I've seen. There are a lot of strange bugs and creatures throughout the film that are really disgusting. Bizarre events and sequences take place throughout the movie. This film has pretty decent acting, Maude Adams is the best of the cast as the head of the cult, and the special effects are pretty cheap but sufficient. Since it's Los Angeles and there's no snow, the Christmastime mood isn't really set here, but the film didn't really have anything to do the Christmas anyway. And the sequence where Ricky attacks Kim and her boyfriend in the apartment was pretty well-done.

This is the only "Silent Night, Deadly Night" film that I've seen so far, but still I'd probably only recommend this to hardcore fans of the "Silent Night, Deadly Night" series, and from what I know this sequel is unrelated to the other films. It's entertaining and has some good moments, but it's a little far out there. I liked it though, oddly enough. 6/10.

First, let me start off by saying that as an avid horror fan, I can appreciate the vision of most movies - good or bad. I've seen my share of both over the years and I'm sure you have too. Occasionally, there is always a title that creeps up on you, leaving you scratching your head. "What did I just watch?" you might ask yourself. Imagine that little scenario, but multiply its impact ten fold and you've found yourself laying in a pool of confusion, as the end credits play, with an image of Initiation: Silent Night Deadly Night 4 projecting through your television.

One of the biggest observations that goes without saying is the most obvious one...what does this, in any way, have anything to do with the Silent Night, Deadly Night series. I was forewarned that this title would be irrelevant to the first three titles. Arguably, I could sit here and say a movie like Friday the 13th Part VII is irrelevant...I could bring up the fact that many titles in the Children of the Corn lineup are questionable in terms of content. However, none of these can light a candle to the sheer audacity that Silent Night, Deadly Night 4 has. The main difference is that in the previously mentioned titles, the storyline (although far gone and nonsensical by that point) is still left somewhat intact. The current fan-base is still expecting a revival of their favorite character or plot line. Initiation, on the other hand, goes off running in some odd direction with the attention span of an ADD-stricken grade-schooler.

I feel very cheated on account of this movie. For the record, I admire Brian Yuzna for his contributions on the Re-Animator series, Dagon, Faust, Necronomicon, and Return of the Living Dead III. I even enjoyed his directorial debut on the 1989 title, "Society." I can see that his personal tastes played a huge part in the outcome of this movie. I found that the creature effects involving many of the insects were very much akin to his style (I was reminded of the third story in Necronomicon, and some scenes from Society, for example).

To be fair, I don't have many complaints about the acting or the amount of gore that I've learned to appreciate. The lead female character is believable to a degree, and Clint Howard delivers a decent performance as well, but the acting in general isn't too thought provoking. To elaborate on my previous point concerning relevance, the actors present in the earlier films were not here to reprise their roles - and why should they when there is absolutely no mention of them? I would have been more pleased if Yuzna decided to somehow include Billy or Ricky (the two murderers that took part in 1-3)...and to admit that preference is humiliating.

In conclusion, it baffles me beyond the scope of any human being's imagination to consider this movie brilliant or fun. The fact that this film tacks on the Silent Night, Deadly Night moniker on the end of the title is pitiful; I absolutely refuse to label it as an "original horror movie twist about Christmas." For my own personal records that I keep offline, this has to be the second worst horror movie contained within a series, only slightly falling below the Howling III...an abomination so horrendous that the cast and crew responsbile should be tarred and feathered. So here's to another hand-drawn "tick" added to the very vast wall of horror for completion purposes. If you're a glutton for punishment and a masochist, throw this one in and lay back. Don't be surprised if you wake up in another state surrounded by bottles of alcohol and an empty container of pills - it wasn't the movie's fault.

Tired of the same old boring Christmas flicks that they show every year? Then this is the movie for you! Horror-meister Brian Yuzna (Society, Dentist 1 and 2), delivers the goods in this chilling entry into the SN,DN series. A creepy story, gruesome FX, and an over-the-top performance by Clint Howard (Ice Cream Man) are just a few of the highlights. Also look for a cameo by Reggie Bannister of Phantasm fame. Still waiting for Yuzna's "the Progeny"!

At least for this entry in this seasonal horror series things are taken in an awfully wild new direction. Gone is the tastelessness and dark humour of the first movie, the camp quality of the silly second movie, and the surreal nature of the third. For entry # 4, screenwriter Woody Keith and director Brian Yuzna go for utter strangeness - as well as the gross-out - in their story. An ambitious, stubborn wannabe reporter, Kim (pretty Neith Hunter) determines that she'll solve the mystery of a young woman's bizarre suicide - which may have involved spontaneous human combustion, treating her boyfriend Hank (Tommy Hinkley) like crap in the process. And therein lies one of the problems with "Initiation": its protagonist is so surly, with such a big chip on her shoulder, that she's very hard to follow as a main character, and while attractive, Hunter isn't much of an actress, so it's up to the story and supporting characters to keep things interesting. Among all the trappings are a barrage of insects, maggots, and the ghoulishly fun "surrealistic" makeup effects of the great Screaming Mad George, who'd done such memorable work on "Society", Yuzna's directing debut. To top it all off, the supporting cast includes one of the big screen's all time great creators of oddness and creepiness, Mr. Clint Howard, who's a hoot every time he pops up on screen. In something of a nod to past entries, he plays a man named Ricky. The amusing selection of actors also includes Allyce Beasley of 'Moonlighting' fame as Kim's friend Janice, lovely Bond girl Maud Adams as the alluring and enigmatic Fima, Ben Slack, the psychiatrist in "Society", as Hank's prejudiced dad, Yuzna's own son Conan as Hank's kid brother Lonnie, and "Phantasm" series star Reggie Bannister in a highly entertaining turn as Kim and Hank's boss at the newspaper. Things get off to a pretty good start with those stylized opening credits, and Richard Band's music is another plus. What's truly ridiculous is how the makers of these movies seem always obliged to include any sort of archive footage, as scenes from SNDN 3, "Better Watch Out" play out on a TV screen. Also, the story here has little to do with the holiday; it merely happens to take place at Christmastime. It's entertainingly bonkers stuff, that admittedly one could view as being anti-feminist. But if all of this still intrigues the potential viewer, and they're happy to not see a single killer Santa in sight, they might want to check this out. Six out of 10.

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.

Unrelated to the first three movies in this series, this has a confused and confusing story about a newspaper reporter stumbling onto some kind of feminist group in L.A. and they want her to join them to replace one of their number's dead daughter.

This made for cable TV movie is completely unrelated to the first three movies or the next one in this series, it throws everything but the kitchen sink into it's bizarre, nonsensical story: everything from spontaneous combustion to bugs, giant cockroaches and feminists, Adam's legendary first wife Lilith, Clint Howard and more bugs, disgusting special effects and still more bugs, but none of it makes much sense so you don't really care what happens to anyone in the movie. This was followed by still another unrelated, god awful sequel.

1/2 a star out of ****

A very different approach to this film than the first three. In the first three it was Billy and Ricky the Santa Claus killers, but in part 4 it is a very stranger story line. There are a few disgusting scenes like when a women gives birth to a bug. It's more of a creature feature type of movie and if you want a change from slasher flicks give this one a go. Ricky was in the film played by Clint howard but he was definately not what I remembered him being like (NAUGHTY, PUNISH). I would have much rathered the plot continuing from the previous three but this is a good change. It's something different for the Christmas Holidays. I would recommend the first three over this one.

Trying to investigate an apparent suicide, a reporter is drawn into a strange cult-like collection of women looking to host their demonic leader and tries to find a way of keeping a dangerous prophecy from coming true.

This was a slightly-more enjoyable sequel effort that still has some problems with it. One of its better qualities is the fact that there's a lot more here than just a simple demonic cult offering as there's a wholly enjoyable backstory to what's going on here. The initial story about the suicide attempt and the strange situations that surround it are quite engaging, which is nicely matched by the later storyline of her investigation slowly leading her further and further into their powers which enable plenty of exciting times through some highly effective and shocking scenes. As these are based on the distorted and demented hallucinations that are part of the Insectoid fantasies she develops throughout the second half, these help get the film going along quite nicely while also managing to follow along the secondary revelations in here. The whole deal with the insects leads into the film's greatest strength throughout here in the demented atmosphere present here that tends to run rampant quite readily due to these elements, though it never does manage to overcome its few small problems due to that. The main issue here revolves around the finale which is quite a bit overdone and really lacking in any kind of coherent logic, rationality or even scary moments as the abduction and resulting sacrificial ceremony doesn't play out as expected and just falls incredibly flat due to playing out exactly as it's expected to do without fail. Hardly any of it makes any impact much like the fact that the film is so dependent on the weird and otherworldly visuals that it never makes sense on how to properly use them. This one tends to run around thinking that it needs to simply throw weird and slimy special effects around hoping that will cause the audience to squirm when it does nothing of the sort and instead simply continues an overlong tradition of random scene of slimy bugs after another which isn't scary in the slightest. By making it to that scenario, it forces the film into a state of relaxed attitudes and uninspired sequences that are hard to get into and what ultimately holds this one down.

Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Brief Nudity, a sex scene and children-in-jeopardy.

Part one was a good 7/10 Part two sucked mostly because half the film was flashback of the first. The actor who played Ricky STUNK. 4/10 Part three was even worse. The only thing it had going for it was a dude with an 80 hairband hairdo. 3/10 Part four, this one in question is THE WORST movie I have ever seen. When Clint Howard is the saving grace of a movie, you know something is wrong. It had NOTHING to do with the first three other than it was around xmas time. I can't even think of another movie that had worse acting, and I watch a lot of movies. The lead actress yelling through the movie was very annoying. Even showing a little flesh didn't gain this movie any points. I really HATED this movie. The ONLY reason I finished it was because I had already invented 30 minutes into it. WORST MOVIE EVER! 1/10 I'm going to watch the final installment, part 5 right now. I hope to God it goes back to the original formula, even though it'll probably suck like 2 and 3.

Yours truly has a dumb but very punctual tradition to watch at least one holiday-themed horror movie during the Christmas period. After all these years, however, I'm running out of options and pretty much the only Christmas horror movies that I haven't seen yet are the more obscure sequels in the "Silent Night, Deadly Night" franchise. I couldn't get my filthy claws on part III, so I went straight to Brian Yuzna's fourth installment which has absolutely nothing to do with the original 1984 classic and actually hardly even qualifies as a Christmas movie. Apart from a couple of decorated trees left and right and one lousy strangulation with a cord of colorful lights, this "Initiation" has as much to see with Christmas as "Die Hard" has to see with the 4th of July… So, instead of a slasher with a psychopathic Santa Clause, we have a gooey splatter flick with a coven of female witches aiming to resurrect a demon by the name of Lilith. The over-ambitious Los Angeles journalist Kim is individually – and against the will of her superiors – investigating the bizarre suicide of a girl who jumped from a rooftop whilst on fire. She receives a lot of help from the kind and motherly occult book store owner Fima, but before she properly realizes what's happening, Kim is hallucinating about satanic symbols in her spaghetti and vomiting out cockroaches in her cockroach-infested little apartment. "SN,DN: Initiation" actually feels somewhat as if co- creator and director Brian Yuzna couldn't stuff all his crazy figments in his previous film "Society" and thus especially thought up another senseless plot. This way, he could also prolong his collaboration with the awesome special effects wizard Screaming Mad George and stuff the script – like a Christmas turkey – with perversities, filth and bugs. The film is definitely watchable, but a bit too random and imbecilic. Classy woman and two-time James Bond starlet ("The Man with the Golden Gun", "Octopussy") depicts one of the lead witches and surprisingly enough seems to enjoy herself as well. Cult actor Clint Howard appears as the men-hating witches' marginal errand boy. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to look for an actual Christmas horror movie!

Much like Halloween III: Season of the Witch is looked down upon by many fans for having nothing to do with a mad Halloween slasher, this film is reviled for not having a mad Santa killer. Forget all that. This is a brilliant body horror/occult/sex/nightmare film.

The star, Neith Hunter, is very good as a gorgeous woman who runs the classifieds section of a paper amazingly well even though she just started (she is done with all her work a week ahead of time and is bored with nothing else to do) and yearns to be an investigative reporter. Her boyfriend, boss and coworkers are sexist and condescending. She explicitly is told by pretty much all of them that she can't be a reporter but decides to ignore them. She chooses to investigate the death of a woman who fell off a building while on fire, which we saw at the beginning of the film. After meeting some local characters, she goes to a nearby bookstore run by women to ask questions. After talking a bit, the owner gives her a book on fertility rituals and invites her to a gathering.

You guessed it, the women are witches. Soon they start a series of rituals that mess with reality, which is where this film shines. Some people call it random nonsense, but it's clearly not. There's a grand design to everything that happens. There are bugs everywhere. They start out small, but soon we've got foot-long maggot beasts running around and getting up close and personal. Some things are inexplicably backwards or in a spiral formation. Weird things start going her way that are a little too perfect. There are faces popping up in doors and trees, like experiencing pareidolia but even worse. People are not what they seem to be. I really have to give the filmmakers credit for pulling this all off. This is one of the better presentations of a hallucinatory drug trip in film.

Besides Hunter, we have memorable performances by Allyce Beasley (Moonlighting) and Clint Howard (Ice Cream Man, Evilspeak and all sorts of memorable weirdos). I was surprised to see Jeanne Bates (co-star of 1943's The Phantom, among others) and Marjean Holden (female lead of the last two seasons of TV's BeastMaster) as part of the coven. Maude Adams (Octopussy) is a little stiff as Fima, the witches' leader, but she's supposed to be aloof and obsessed, so maybe that was on purpose.

OK, yes, it has a few issues, but this is a very good Brian Yuzna film that probably would have been thought of as a cult classic if it were not tacked onto such a lackluster film series. It makes me want to see part 5, which is also by Yuzna. If you like weird films, give this one a chance.

There are a bunch of things wrong with this film on so many levels. The main one being that this time not only is there no killer santa, the whole film might as well have nothing to do with the franchise, which is evident in that it has a completely different title on the UK Imdb that doesn't link it to the series at all!

There is nothing about this script that has anything to do with the franchise and its not even trying to do a Christmas anthology theme like Halloween did, it just doesn't care. There is sort of a tease that one of the characters is the villain from 2 and 3, but it doesn't really make sense of so.

Overall this is not only not connected but also just a bad movie. I'm not sure if it hares men or hates women, but one thing is for sure, it hates the viewer!

Judging from the reviews I've seen, most people seem to really hate Silent Night, Deadly Night 4. Why? I'm not sure. The movie I watched was an interesting creature feature. Maybe people don't like it because it's not a slasher like the first three? Maybe it doesn't mention Christmas enough (it is the one entry in the franchise that seems to have included the holiday as an afterthought), but it's an intriguing story, the pacing is decent, and the acting isn't half bad either. I'd say it's the Season of the Witch of the Silent Night, Deadly Night franchise. It's not a bad film per se, but it's not what people were expecting.

If you're looking for a slasher flick, pass on by, but if you're interested in a gooey creature feature/cult movie with some pretty nasty special effects, check it out.

Silent Night Deadly Night 4 (1990) is a movie I recently caught for free off Tubi. The storyline focuses on a reporter investigating a woman who appears to have committed suicide by jumping off a building and lands right in front of her. She runs into a homeless man and a strange resident of the woman's building who are connected to the victim in some strange way. This movie is directed by Brian Yuzna (The Dentist and Bride of the Re-Animator) and stars Clint Howard (The Waterboy), Maud Adams (Octopussy), Hugh Fink (This is 40), Neith Hunter (Near Dark) and Tommy Hinkley (Leatherheads). The storyline for this picture is absolutely terrible and for some reason mixes possession and cults with the Silent Night, Deadly Night storyline, it made zero sense. There was nothing that felt like Christmas in this and nothing that tied the story well to the previous films. This was dreadful and I honestly don't recommend seeing it. I'd score it a 2/10.

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.