Remembering the '80s: SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT 3: BETTER WATCH OUT (1989)

The '80s were filled with straight to video sequels of horror films of which the Silent Night, Deadly Night franchise produced its fair share. This second sequel Part 3 Better Watch Out! Was the final story featuring the original "Santa Claus Killer" Ricky Caldwell (this time played by Bill Moseley) who has been kept alive through scientific experimentation. This Dr. Newbury (Richard Beymer) is using Caldwell and experimenting with ESP but doesn't realize that Caldwell has created a psychic link with a blind woman Laura Anderson (Samantha Scully) who is celebrating the holidays with her brother and girlfriend. Caldwell escapes from Dr. Newbury and people get killed and that's pretty much it for this film.

The '80s were notorious for slasher films that simply presented a killer that killed people for very little reason and that sums up the plot for this film. Written by Carlos Laszlo and directed by Monte Hellman, who directed the drive-in cult classic Two-Lane Backdrop, this film is a by the numbers slasher film on a very limited budget as neither the look of the film nor the kills are as elaborate or intricate as the previous two films. This film is only really for fans of the franchise. I can't even recommend it to fans of Moseley as he has very little to do other than walk around like a mindless zombie the whole film. It is interesting to note that the film has an early appearance from actress Laura Harring (from Mulholland Dr. and the remake of Willard, to name a few films on her horror resume).

I remember seeing this film when it was originally released and I actually remember liking it (this film along with its brethren made for great holiday viewing every year) but the film has aged horribly (and was probably not all that good when originally released).