🎄 Silent Night, Deadly Night 4: Initiation (1990)

“The one where Christmas is a suggestion, bugs are everywhere, and nothing makes sense.”

Lets start by showing y’all the trailers shall we?

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🎬 Non-Spoiler Plot Overview

If you’re expecting a slasher about a killer Santa, you’re gonna be VERY confused.
Part 4 basically yeets the entire franchise out the window and says:

> “What if Silent Night, Deadly Night… but also body horror, witch covens, and giant cockroaches?”



The film follows a journalist named Kim who gets pulled into a creepy all-female cult obsessed with transformation, empowerment through fire, and… bugs. Lots and lots of bugs. Christmas is barely even mentioned. This movie could’ve taken place on Arbor Day and nothing would change.

It’s weird, it’s sweaty, it’s gross, and it feels like a horror fever dream someone wrote after taking cold medicine.


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🧍‍♀️ Character Rundown

Kim (Neith Hunter) – Our lead. She spends the whole movie confused, terrified, possessed, sweating, screaming, or covered in slime. The poor woman NEVER gets a break.

Fima (Maud Adams) – Cult leader and discount “we have Alien at home” Sigourney Weaver energy. She stares at Kim like she wants to induct her into a MLM for witchcraft.

Ricky (Clint Howard) – YES, that Clint Howard. He plays the creepiest gremlin-man possible. Every time he shows up the movie gets 70% grosser.

Janice, Katherine, the rest of the cult – All insane. All devoted. All unhinged.


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⏱ Pacing / Flow

This movie moves like a dream you want to wake up from but can’t.
Half slow-burn occult thriller… half sudden “HOLY GOD WHY IS THAT BUG SO BIG” moments.
It’s not boring, but it’s deeply confusing in the best/worst way.


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👍 Pros

Genuinely unsettling body-horror.

Clint Howard going full goblin-mode.

It’s so bizarre you can’t look away.

Practical effects that are gross but impressive.

Has the “I can’t believe this exists” energy that makes cult films memorable.



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👎 Cons

Christmas has NOTHING to do with anything (which is weird for a “Silent Night, Deadly Night” movie).

The story is held together with tape and vibes.

Kim never gets a moment to process anything — the pacing just assaults her.

The lore makes no sense.

Extremely uncomfortable scenes involving bugs and possession — not for bug haters.



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⭐ Rating: 5/10

Not good. Not terrible. Just… a wild, slimy, insane Christmas-themed fever dream.
It’s better than Part 3, worse than Part 2, and absolutely unforgettable just because of how weird it is.


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⚠️ Spoiler Warning!

Turn back now… because I’m about to explain the cockroach cult Christmas movie in full detail.


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🩸 Spoilers (FULLY Expanded, No Bullet Points)

The movie opens with a woman spontaneously catching fire and falling off a building. This is the moment Kim decides: “Yeah, I’m gonna investigate THAT.” She meets Fima, a woman who immediately radiates “I run a witch coven in my basement” energy. Fima gives her a book about ancient rituals, stares at her like she’s already chosen to possess her, and invites her to a “women’s group.”

Kim shows up and instantly regrets it. Everyone’s weirdly intense and keeps looking at her like she’s the main course. They feed her strange food, talk in cult language, and basically gaslight her into thinking this is normal brunch behavior.

Then the movie drops all subtlety and goes full fever dream. Kim gets drugged and has a hallucination where she’s crawling with giant bugs, Ricky is wrapping her in a cocoon, and Fima says she needs to “transform.” She wakes up screaming, sweaty, and marked with symbols. From here on out, Kim is basically possessed. She acts erratic, sees bugs crawling everywhere, and can’t escape the cult’s influence no matter where she goes.

As the possession worsens, Fima reveals the truth — the cult worships Lilith and believes that to “become whole,” Kim must undergo a symbolic death and rebirth through fire and insects. Ricky chases her around like a crazy feral creature, and Kim fights her way through visions, roaches, and violent rituals to break free.

The final showdown is bonkers. Kim gets dragged into a ritual chamber, the cult tries to force her initiation, and she ultimately rebels by turning the fire against them. Ricky gets burned alive screaming. Fima dies in the flames too, but gives Kim one last insane smile like she’s proud of her. Kim escapes, traumatized and covered in ash, but alive.

The movie ends with zero explanation for anything she just went through.

Silent Night, Deadly Night 4 fades out… leaving you wondering why this is even part of the franchise.