Short films for me are hit or miss. “Silent Night” was somehow caught in the middle of the two. I was left with too many questions and very little resolve — which I understand can be a very positive aspect in certain films — but in this case, dealing with a film under three minutes long, my interest was never held.
From a stylistic perspective, this short was definitely intriguing. The conceptualized details were interesting and morbid, which for a horror buff such as myself, is awesome. Santa Claus being held in the light of victim to a zombie-like child is eerie and fun.
One of the questions I had was this, why was Santa creeping into the little girl’s room? Shouldn’t he have been tending to the Christmas tree? And once the girl has morphed and taken Santa hostage, we cut to a very dark and death-filled scene filled with other Santas, who I assume we’re also victims of this child. Which leads me to believe that the filmmaker was not pretending as though Santa is more than a legend, he is conveying the fact that Santa is in fact a man in a costume.
Bearing that in mind, my next conclusion would be that perhaps these dead Santas might be stepfathers to this little girl and she disposed of them as she saw fit. That was the impression I got but the film leaves much to be interpreted by each viewer.
All in all, “Silent Night” fell flat for me. The music wasn’t enough to back the film, the story was somewhat unclear, and I just didn’t connect with any of the characters. I didn’t hate the film — it wasn’t bad and it’s only three minutes long — so there isn’t much to straight out complain about.
In these types of situations, I still recommend people to watch the film since it is a short. Plus, I am sure there are many out there who would not share my perspective and may, in fact, really enjoy it. On the Jess-O-Meter, “Silent Night” gets a “‘not a feature that’s stirring …”
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