Nerds That Geek Movie Review – ‘Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation’

Written by Scott Edwards

Everyone is looking for a good way to get promoted these days. If you are going above and beyond at your current job or trying to find a new way to get noticed in the workplace, that's the honest and best way to do it. But some people are extremely sneaky and are able to capitalize on someone’s downfall or lack of persistence. Not always having the insight to what employers are looking for so you can advance in the workplace is one of the hardest things for everyone to deal with, but if you see that opportunity present itself, you have to jump on it. 

Kim is looking for the inside track when it comes to moving up at her newspaper. Being a low-level employee and working on the classifieds along with the calendar, she is ready for something much more challenging. Seeing a strange story hit the wire at the office about a burning woman jumping from the top of the tallest building in the town, Kim is ready to take her shot at becoming an investigating reporter. Without permission from the editor, Kim takes to the street and is ready to make a name for herself. 

While trying to determine if anyone in the area knew the flaming victim, Kim meets a very nice women named Fima that runs the local book shop. Although Kim has her sights set on finding the reason why the deceased was only burned from the waist down, Fima is trying her hardest to befriend the young reporter. Giving Kim an old text about symbols and sacrifices, Fima is more than willing to answer any question that comes her way, but something strange is looming around the bookstore and the owner.

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Kim works every angle she knows when pursuing her investigation, but seems to be lost when just walking down the halls of the building, missing all of the symbols on the walls. Arriving home, she is met with an onslaught of bugs in her normally clean apartment with some of the symbols from the book being recreated right in front of her eyes. Without understanding what is really happening, she tries to turn to her boyfriend for reassurance that she is doing the right thing, but he seems to be focused on one thing only in their relationship and that is not going to help Kim.

Silent Night, Deadly Night 4 takes a different spin as you are introduced into a local coven of witches that are focused on bringing Kim into the light. Led by Fima who has been missing her daughter for many years, she sees that Kim appears to be a woman with strong morals and an imagination that can be swayed to seeing the right ways of living. Along with her coven, Fima works every friendship angle possible to turn Kim against the norm and bring her into the realm. When Kim tries to back out of the rituals being performed upon her, Fima uses her strong witchcraft powers against her causing all kinds of problems for the young woman.

Talk about taking a page out of the series and just writing a new one, Silent Night, Deadly Night 4 has no feel of the first three in the series. Only referencing one of the previous films in passing, this is really a stand-alone Christmas horror flick. Witches trying to strengthen their coven with a new addition, along with a young woman’s faith being challenged like no other will keep you shaking your heads. Not a slasher movie, but more of psychological thriller that leaves you wondering what really happened and what was only happening in Kim’s mind. Watch at your own risk as this movie diverges from the original Santa Killer story line and adds its own mark to the series. Happy Holidays and Stay Scared!

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