Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out!

Name: Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out!
Released: 1989
Duration: 90 min

28/100Festive FactorWhy it scores 28 ↓

Not BBFC rated90 min
Horror

The third Silent Night, Deadly Night drops the killer Santa for a stranger, slower road movie, and Christmas…

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Explore this film 4 sections

The CineClaus Christmas score

Festive Factor

A different kind of Christmas.

Two paper elves inspect a snowy farmhouse miniature with one warm window and a wreath on the door. Footprints lead across its yard from a dark road. — A little magic in the making.

Five ingredients make the Festive Factor.
Open an ingredient to find out more.

Christmas in the storyChristmas is only the occasion.10/30

What we ask: Take Christmas out. Does the plot survive? Worth up to 30 of the 100 points.

A world dressed for ChristmasVisibly Christmas for the final act.5/20

What we ask: How much of the running time is visibly Christmas? Worth up to 20 of the 100 points.

The little seasonal details3 of the 10 kinds of Christmas icon we count turn up on screen.5/15

What we ask: How many kinds of Christmas icon turn up on screen: trees, lights, snow, carols and the rest? Worth up to 15 of the 100 points.

A Christmas heartHow far the ending rests on goodwill, family and belief: incidentally.5/20

What we ask: Does the ending depend on what Christmas means: goodwill, family, redemption, belief? Worth up to 20 of the 100 points.

A returning traditionNiche at Christmas (under 25,000).3/15

What we ask: Is it actually watched at Christmas in the UK? Worth up to 15 of the 100 points.

27/100

Cosiness Rating Rating

Cool in tone. Grim. An unsettled ending.

How we score →

What do these scores mean?

Festive Factor measures how Christmassy a film is. Five ingredients add up to 100: story (30), setting (20), seasonal details (15), emotional heart (20) and returning tradition (15).

Cosiness is a separate score for warmth of tone, sense of safety, visual comfort, a reassuring ending and how easily you can settle into it.

How the Festive Factor works →

The story

About Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out!

Six years after his last killing spree, Ricky lies in a coma, kept alive by a doctor who is using a blind young psychic, Laura, to reach into his mind through a sleep experiment. On Christmas Eve Laura sets off with her brother and his girlfriend to spend the holiday at their grandmother's house, but the experiment has woken Ricky, now with a glass dome over his brain, and he follows her psychic trail across the country, killing as he goes. A police lieutenant and the doctor race to reach the house before he does. The third film in the series, and a stranger, slower one than the first two.

The CineClaus verdict

The third Silent Night, Deadly Night drops the killer Santa for a stranger, slower road movie, and Christmas mostly comes along as the reason for the drive. Monte Hellman directs it like a man more interested in the quiet stretches than the kills, which makes for odd company between a dream Santa and a Christmas Eve supper that goes badly.

Bill Moseley's silent stalker is the reason to watch. Fans of the series rate it higher than most people will.

The family desk

Can the kids watch?

Not BBFC rated

Our take: not for children: a slasher with a steady body count, including a severed head, and no UK certificate on record.

Content advice & accessibility

Not BBFC rated: The BBFC has no classification for this film, so it has no UK certificate. Our age guidance above is editorial, not an official rating.