Color, 1973, 89m.
Directed by Theodore Gershuny
Starring George Shannon, Mary Woronov, Lynn Lowry, Monique van Vooren, Maureen Byrnes, Ondine, Jennifer Welles
Vinegar Syndrome (Blu-ray & DVD) (US R0 HD/NTSC)
atmospheric horror film Silent Night, Bloody Night. He intended the film to be a sexy cinematic love letter to his wife, but she was caught a little off guard when it turned out to be a fairly extreme thriller packed with steamy lesbian love scenes. Originally titled Love/Deaths, the script was actually the handiwork of future Troma founder Lloyd Kaufman, whose dad appears in the film as a lawyer with a kinky secretary (played by soon to be adult star Jennifer Welles). Also brought on board as an associate producer was a young Oliver Stone, a school buddy of Kaufman's, and cast as the other female lead was a young Lynn Lowry, who only had two credits under her belt (I Drink Your Blood and Kaufman's The Battle of Love's Return) but would so go on to cult classics like The Crazies, Shivers, and Score. 
though this one in turn anticipated Larry Cohen’s remarkably similar Special Effects (which ditched the lesbian angle, perhaps not wisely). Much of the film’s cult reputation rests on the extended unclad presences of Woronov (years before attaining immortality as Miss Togar in Rock ‘n’ Roll High School) and Lowry. The direction by Gershuny is hit and miss, offering some striking sequences - e.g., everything in Max’s apartment and Alta’s soft focus, Borowczyk-style adult film-within-a-film (with the director himself doffing his duds to roll around with Lowry). However, the bizarre subplot involving Max’s family never comes close to integrating into the rest of the film, and Shannon is often left adrift when not vanishing entirely for long stretches at a time. A special nod goes out as well to the evocative, pop-flavored music score (including a great theme song) which also makes memorable use of the Jaynetts’ “Sally Go ‘Round the Roses” on two occasions. 
tosses in video interviews with Lowry and Woronov, both conducted while lounging on a couch with Kaufman. Lowry explains how she got the role and was initially reluctant to perform so many nude scenes; she also had no lesbian experiences to draw on whatsoever, ironic considering she went even further shortly thereafter with Score. Meanwhile Woronov explains to Kaufman that, despite his claims, she never dabbled in girl-girl action (“I hate tits! I’m a dickhead”) and explains her close relationship with the director. Kaufman also supplies a video introduction to the film in which he explains the rejected original title and offers a brief bit of production background. Troma’s theatrical reissue trailer is also included 
(cut shortly after Lowry’s appearance in 1982’s Cat People), while the rest of the extras are the usual filler including a music video “featuring lesbians,” two typical Troma shorts (“The Art of Self-Pleasuring” and “Radiation March”), and the usual sundry bits of self-promotion. 