8 Horror Movies So Awful They Were Pulled From The Cinema

Silent Night, Deadly Night clawed its way to horror infamy on the back of the video nasty mania in the UK, and a broader, more general lurch towards traditional conservatism in the Reagan era in the US. But, regardless of these facts, the film only has itself to blame when it comes to a poor critical and theatrical performance that saw it being pulled ahead of its time.

As with all good Christmas stories, Silent Night, Deadly Night begins with an orphan raised by nuns – Billy (Robert Brian Wilson) – whose parents were sexually assaulted and murdered by a man in a Santa suit. Fast forward ten years, and Billy goes on a blood-thirsty, Christmas Eve rampage that sees him don the hat and beard and lay waste to the neighbourhood.

Opening to a chorus of protests from the national PTA in the States, Silent Night's distributor TriStar attempted to piggyback the controversy to sell more tickets, a strategy which backfired rather severely. The film wasn't strong enough to break free from its controversy, which was purportedly making children frightened of Santa, though what children were doing watching an R-rated horror flick is anyone's guess. Horror fans and critics alike decried its lack of substance or craft, and TriStar pulled it from cinemas less than a month after release.