The Silent Night, Deadly Night reboot is here, and it takes the iconic Santa Claus-dressed killer Billy Chapman for a fresh new spin on his story—and it might easily be a new Christmas watch tradition for many horror fans.
The film ends tragically with Rohan Campbell's Billy Chapman, who is already wounded from The Snatcher, getting shot and killed by David Tomlinson's Max Benedict. Ruby Modine's Pamela gets vengeance for Billy, but as she holds his hand in his final moments, power transfers into her. Now, Pamela has Billy as a voice in her head.
The Direct's Russ Milheim spoke to Rohan Campbell about the movie's ending, to which the star explained what kind of sequel he wants to see next.
Campbell declared how "that's the movie [he] want[s]," further explaining that he wants to know "what it would be like to have to kill 25 people a month with your partner inside your head." It doesn't matter what mood you're in, they're always there—and "that's the movie [he's] dying to see."
The Direct spoke with Silent Night, Deadly Night director Mike P. Nelson and star Ruby Modine (Pamela) at NYCC, where they spoke about the ending of the movie and what it might mean for a sequel.
Nelson teased that "The ideas that we started to come up with on the streets of New York were absolutely insane."
More of Rohan Campbell's interview can be found below. Silent Night, Deadly Night is now playing in theaters.
The Silent Night, Deadly Night Reboot Sequel Rohan Campbell Wants to See
"That's the Movie I am Dying to See."
- The Direct: "Now you're a voice in her head. And I am curious, hypothetically, going forward, do you think that is like, still a romance between those two? What does that dynamic look like then? Is that a romance? Or does that just evolve into something entirely different?"
Rohan Campbell: That's the movie I want. I want to know what it would be like to have to kill 25 people a month with your partner inside your head, and none of your thoughts are private, and they're always around you, whether you're in a bad mood, a good mood, or whatever. That's the movie I am dying to see.
Back at NYCC this past December, Silent Night, Deadly Night director Mike P. Nelson teased that the ideas he and star Ruby Modine were throwing around for a hypothetical sequel "were absolutely insane:"
Mike P. Nelson: There is a door that can be opened to go further. And I mean especially the fact that you have these two people who fall in love, and now he's in her head. [Me and Ruby Modine] were walking over [to here and going] over the ideas. The ideas that we started to come up with on the streets of New York were absolutely insane. And it brought this sort of like, you know what, that actually could be really, really great. I do, yeah, there's like, an angle that I'd love to take with Pam, you know, of her taking over, taking the reins.
Rohan Campbell Explains Silent Night, Deadly Night's Viral Nazi Massacre Scene
"There's No Way They're Going to Let Us Do This."
- The Direct: "When it goes "Kill Nazis," and then you just slaughter the entire crowd, it was just, it was a really, really fun sequence. And so I just wanted to talk to you about filming that scene. And then also, was there any talk about how that scene might play and land with audiences? Or were you just like, they're gonna love it."
Rohan Campbell: Here's the thing, you read these scripts early on, and a lot of stuff gets cut, man, a lot of stuff doesn't make it, or, you know, there's problems with finding the time to do it, or budget. And I read that sequence, and I literally said to myself, I love this so much. There's no way they're going to let us do this. And then we did it. They let us do it. Yeah, that was a weird one.
I showed up in Winnipeg, and it was like that. We shot in Winnipeg, Canada, and I showed up, and they took me to stunt rehearsal, and one of the first things I did with production was learn every step to that whole sequence all the way through, and then they gave me about three weeks to sort of practice it in a hotel room with an axe that didn't have a head on it. I still remember walking into the hotel and getting really weird looks from them. They were like, 'That's interesting.'
And then, yeah, I remember we showed up on set. It was like a barn in the middle of a field. And Mike was like, 'Okay, let's walk to set.' And we opened the door. We were like, 'Oh, this is weird. This is freaking crazy. We're actually doing this.' And there were swastikas everywhere, and the table lamps were swastikas. And that Lady's speech just brings me to tears of laughter. And she's so insane.
And, yeah, that 'Kill Nazis' title card, man. I mean. So much credit to [Director] Mike [P. Nelson] for like, these movies, this franchise, they have to take tonal swings, and it has to be a little crazy. And he just found the perfect spot to do that. But yeah, shooting was crazy. It was like two and a half days of just me and 100 people in a barn, an axe, and a whole lot of blood.
Reinventing Billy and Pam's Dynamic in the Film's Final Act
Billy Is "Just so Joyful" That He Gets to Unload His Story
- The Direct: "There's a moment when Billy tells Pamela everything, and I was just watching it, and you guys have a fun dynamic throughout this film, but in that moment, it's kind of like, you guys get to reinvent that dynamic. So what was it like rediscovering what that relationship and that dynamic is between those two people, now that all the secrets are out?"
Rohan Campbell: It happens at such a fun time in the movie, where it starts to move so fast. That speech is so quick, and she has to get on board in that moment or not. So, I think the most fun part of that scene is like watching her sort of have to come to terms with that, and then watching Billy just so joyful that he gets to tell someone that he's not on his own anymore, that he can share. He's having the best time telling her all this out of this car, what's happening right now...
It's so fun to just sort of be with them for the rest of that movie, to go save the day, so to speak.... But that sort of twist that Mike wrote at the end. It's a quick section of the movie when they have that conversation, to what happens, and it's so fun to be with them in that dynamic where they're on board with each other, who they really are.
The full interview with The Direct's Russ Milheim and Silent Night, Deadly Night star Rohan Campbell can be found below:
