The intriguing opening with a flaming body falling from a rooftop sets-up this fourth entry in the series that apart from being set around Christmas time has no relation to the three previous "killer Santa" movies.

Tabloid news reporter Neith Hunter finds herself being dragged into all sorts of occult goings on (including plenty of hallucinations about roaches, lots of dastardly goings-on by a Wiccan cult of ladies led by Maud Adams, etc.) when she decides to investigate the apparent suicide death that opens the film and she has to battle for her sanity and soul.

With a familiar cast and cute lead actress this is a decent attempt to take the series in a new direction though you think that it'd almost be better off being a stand-alone movie.

Despite the sloppy finale this isn't a bad follow-up and is filled with plenty of bizarre rituals, some unsettling images (such as Hunter's bug spit-up) and some decent suspense during an apartment assault by homeless man (and the Wiccan cult's tool) Clint Howard.

Watchable stuff with a script by Woody Keith that seems obsessed with bugs (mostly roaches) and has a few moments of thinly veiled feminism.

Followed by Silent Night, Deadly Night 5:The Toy Maker.

Directed By: Brian Yuzna.
Written By: Woody Keith.

Starring: Neith Hunter, Maud Adams, Tommy Hinkley, Allyce Beasley, Clint Howard.