Silent Night Deadly Night 4: Initiation

Perhaps going in the anthology direction with the "Silent Night, Deadly Night" franchise wasn't such a bad idea. However, as a unifying element, a Christmas focus should have been placed at the center. Apart from the time frame for the plot, "Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation" has nothing to do with Christmas. Instead, it's about some kind of feminist "coven." There are some solid moments here and there, but the trashy story, poor acting, and clumsily written dialogue drag the whole thing down. Almost every character is completely unlikeable, and the main character Kim (Neith Hunter) in particular irritated me from the first scene. In the end, I didn't really enjoy the movie, even though it still reaches an acceptable 90s direct-to-video level, mainly due to the strong practical effects.

Brian Yuzna took this franchise into a completely different direction. It's not much of a Christmas film, clearly not a slasher film, and has nothing to do with Silent Night, Deadly Night series at all but it's insane on so many levels and overall an absolute delight. It's so bizarre and gross as you'd expect from his films, filled with his signature wacky body horror, dream-like imagery, demon bugs, and slimy practical effects. If you're a fan of his films I'm sure you'll dig this one.