The Killer Santa is a minor antagonist in Silent Night, Deadly Night. He is a criminal dressed in a Santa Claus suit.
He is the one responsible for killing Billy and Ricky's parents in 1971 on Christmas Eve. Despite his small screen appearance, he leaves a huge impact on the events of the film and its sequels.
Biography[]
The Killer Santa is an unnamed criminal dressed in a Santa Claus suit.
On Christmas Eve 1971, he goes into a general store and the store's clerk Mr. Levitt is annoyed, saying he cannot get enough of news about Santa on the radio and now has to deal with him coming into his store. The man asks Mr. Levitt if he does not like Santa. He places some cigarettes on the counter as Mr. Levitt bags it, saying the Christmas sentiment is good for business, but not for him as he thinks of it to be phony. He asks the man dressed as Santa what charity he is with. Suddenly, he pulls out a gun on Mr. Levitt. Mr. Levitt asks the man what he is pulling the gun on him for, to which he responds that he is holding him up. He tells Mr. Levitt to put the money in the bag. Mr. Levitt appears to be doing so, but is actually reaching for a gun under the counter. While doing this, he says it is not phony sentiment, but genuine greed. Right as he gets the gun, the man dressed as Santa shoots Mr. Levitt in the chest, knocking him into a shelf of chips. He gets the money and Mr. Levitt tries to shoot at the criminal. Unfortunately, he sees Mr. Levitt is still alive and about to shoot him, so he shoots him again, knocking him down. He shoots him one last time in the head, killing him. He then quickly runs out of the store and is angered to see he only got $31. He gets in his car and quickly drives off.
That same night, the Chapman family is heading home after seeing Grandpa Chapman at a mental facility. The family has the unfortunate chance to run into the man. Ellie notices him and asks Jim about it, wondering what anybody would be doing stuck out in the middle of the night. They notice him flailing his arms to get their attention and it appears his car was broken down on the road. Jim says the man must be on his way to a party and asks Ellie if she thinks they should wake up Billy. Billy has already woken up and is scared to see the man dressed as Santa because of the story his grandfather had told him about Santa. Jim tells Billy it looks like he gets to see him tonight after all, but Billy says he does not want to see him. He pleads for his father not to stop for him, but his father pulls over anyway.
The man walks up to the car and Jim asks the man if he need a ride and he replied he did not and that he was low on luck and immediately pulled out his hand gun, intending to steal the family's sports wagon. Billy's mother freaks out and screams for Jim to escape as Billy quickly gets down. Jim immediately tried to drive in reverse and escape the man. But the man unfortunately managed to shoot and kill Jim, making the car fall in a ditch on the side of the road.
Ricky immediately starts crying. Quickly, Billy got out of the car and ran into nearby bushes to hide. The killer Santa opened the door, letting Jim's body fall out onto the road. The killer Santa then pulled Ellie out of the car and pinned her to the ground, intending to rape her as he rips her blouse open. Ellie hit him across the face, making him change his mind and angrily hit her back. He then brought out a switchblade and slit her throat. After this, he tried to search for Billy, but changed his mind and quickly fled the scene, leaving Billy and Ricky alive.
The Killer Santa would leave a huge impact on Billy and Ricky and make them have insanity and become killer Santa Claus themselves.
It is unknown what happened to him after the killings. It is likely that he was eventually caught and arrested for his crimes.
Victims[]
- Mr. Levitt - Shot twice in the chest and once in the head with a handgun
- Jim Chapman - Shot in the shoulder and head with a handgun
- Ellie Chapman - Throat slit with a switchblade
Trivia[]
- The Killer Santa makes a strange cameo in Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 through archive footage. When Ricky goes to the cinema to see a movie with Jennifer, he discovers the movie is about a man going around killing people dressed like Santa. The film is then shown to actually be Silent Night, Deadly Night, depicting the Killer Santa shooting the clerk and running away with the money.
- Many people have demanded the Killer Santa get punished. People have also requested either the role be recast or his punishment be revealed off-screen. Either way, they have stated that the Killer Santa character getting punished is all that matters, regardless of who plays him.