Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		2.0

Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 10, 2022

Note: This film is available as part of Lionsgate's Silent Night, Deadly Night Collection.

There's been a lot of bandwidth utilized lately to deride so-called "cancel culture", but if anyone thinks this is somehow a new phenomenon, look no further than what happened after the first Silent Night, Deadly Night was released back in 1984. As some of the commentaries in this new aggregation featuring the third, fourth and fifth films in the series get into, the backlash was so extreme that the film had to be pulled from theaters, and it found its most significant presence in the exciting "new" technology of VHS. In that regard, all three of these "films" were straight to video releases, and as such they often are less than fulsomely budgeted and might not have the tippy tippy top of marquee value stars in their casts.

If the first Silent Night, Deadly Night was decried for being supposedly "anti-Christmas", it's hard to think of what any number of different groups might think this film is "anti", so to speak. I'll only say as someone who has long had a certain fondness for so-called "occult traditions", particularly those in the realm of Jewish Mysticism, this film attempts to weave an arguably questionable subtext involving Lilith ( not Frasier Crane's wife) into a tale that sees an innocent woman named Kim Levitt (Neith Hunter) who, while working as an intrepid journalist investigating a mysterious case of apparent spontaneous (human) combustion, finds herself in a frankly Rosemary's Baby-esque scenario when she meets local bookstore owner Fima (Maud Adams).

The problem with Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Inititation is that it is both more overt but at the same much less comprehensible than other more elegantly plotted films involving cults and quasi-sacrificial lambs like the Ira Levin classic or even "folk horror" outings like The Wicker Man. For anyone who thought there was a pretty glaring gap in continuity vis a vis the depiction of Ricky Caldwell in Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out! when compared to the first two films, get set for another major revamp, with Clint Howard playing a character named Ricky Baker who may or may not be the same "old soul" in shiny (?) new Christmas paper.

Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films' Vestron Video Collector's Series imprint with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.33:1. As is typically the case with these Vestron Video releases, there's next to no technical information imparted about the transfer other than a generic "digitally restored" banner on the back cover. While this presentation definitely exhibits some of the same deficits as the other two in this set, I'd rate this transfer as at least marginally a bit more consistent looking than Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out!, which may be due in part to the fact that this film is probably the most brightly lit of the three in this set. A lot of the outdoor material pops quite appealingly, and detail levels can be squeamishly good on things like the slimy bugs that Ricky seems especially fond of. As with the two other films in this set, low light scenes can suffer from a lack of general detail. This has an arguably slightly more filtered appearance than the first film in this set.

Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation features a fine sounding DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track, and this film, unlike its predecessor, has an at least somewhat more complex sound design to support, especially once Kim attracts the attention of a quasi-coven. Richard Band contributes a fun score which also sounds fine throughout the presentation. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly with no problems whatsoever. Optional English and Spanish subtitles are available.

Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary with Director Brian Yuzna is moderated by Michael Felsher.


• Our Man Ricky (HD; 13:30) is an interview with Clint Howard.


• Ritualistic Behavior (HD; 13:41) is an interview with screenwriter Woody Keith.


• Twisted Visions (HD; 17:31) is an interview with "Surrealistic Design & Effects Artist" Screaming Mad George.


• For a Live Audience: Silent Night, Deadly Night 4 (HD; 8:33) is an interview with executive producer Richard Gladstein.


• Trailer (HD; 00:56)


• Still Gallery (HD; 5:20)

Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Clint Howard gets to chew the scenery ( and a maggot filled hamburger!) in this film, which may be enough of a calling card for some. Technical merits are generally solid and the supplements appealing, for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.