Silent Night, Zombie Night opens with verbal sparring between police officers Frank Talbot (Jack Forcinito) and Nash Jackson (Andy Hopper). We don't know what they are arguing about, but it's enough to end both their partnership and their friendship. They then respond to a call where Nash is attacked by a zombie. While trying to save Nash, Frank shoots him. The apartment which Frank shares with his wife, Sarah (Nadine Stenovitch), is nearby, so he takes Nash there. While they tend to Nash's wounds, they note that the apartment is being surrounded by zombies. They have supplies to last a for some time, but Frank still goes out to patrol the neighborhood. When Nash awakens, and we see the trio together, it becomes obvious that there's an attraction between Nash and Sarah, and that Frank knows about it. As the situation deteriorates, the tension in the apartment grows, as the danger outside escalates.

I've never made any bones about the fact that I'm not the biggest fan of zombie movies. Now, I like zombies in and of themselves and I enjoy zombie horror action, but most zombie films feature little of that. Most movies in the genre, as exemplified by the Romero Dead movies and now The Walking Dead focus far more on the inhumanity of man against man. We get a handful of zombie attacks and then a full undead finale, intercut with scene after scene of people arguing. (Doesn't that sound like every zombie movie ever?)

Silent Night, Zombie Night contains all of these cliches as well, but it handles them very well. Writer/Director Sean Cain has made some wise decisions here, even if they were budget-driven. By centering most of the action on the three main characters, the remains hyper-focused and rarely strays during the first two acts. The story is very streamlined as well. We get no explanation for the zombie outbreak (although there is some exposition about there being two kinds of zombies), and the drama between the three main characters is simple -- Frank and Nash have been friends for years, and somewhere along the way, Nash became attracted to Sarah. The tension in the apartment is often more palatable than the zombie danger outside, and we quickly learn that Frank may be unstable. There are times when the zombie story becomes secondary and it really wouldn't have mattered what kind of tragedy quarantined the group.

These attributes make Silent Night, Zombie Night watchable and help it to rise above the typical zero-budget zombie fodder, but the movie is far from perfect. Even at just 83 minutes, it's clear that Cain felt that he needed to stretch and pad the story, so we get a group of new characters during the third act. This adds nothing to the movie, and actually takes the focus away from the main characters. These moments also steer the movie in the direction of many other zombie films, as action is thrown in to try and spice things up. Cain does a lot on what is clearly a limited budget, but there aren't many zombies, and this does diminish the suspense.

For a movie which plays more like a soap opera than a horror movie, Silent Night, Zombie Night certainly is a cheesy title. This was a mistake on someone's part, as the serious tone of this movie would appeal to those who usually avoid movies like this. The acting here is top-notch, most notably Forcinito, who reminded me of a young Robert Stack. Did Silent Night, Zombie Night rip off The Walking Dead (the comic, not the show, as it was made before the show debuted)? I don't know, but I know that zombie completists who wants a more mature take on the genre should check it out.

Silent Night, Zombie Night has more cauterizing than I've ever seen in a movie on Blu-ray Disc courtesy of Pacific Entertainment. The film has been letterboxed at 1.78:1 and the Disc contains an AVC 1080p HD transfer which runs at an average of 30 Mbps. The image is very sharp and clear, showing no distracting grain and no defects from the source material. I assume that the movie was shot on HD equipment, as the picture is very crisp. The colors look very good and the image is never overly dark or bright. There is some mild blurring at times, but otherwise, this looks good. The Disc carries a Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track which runs at 48 kHz and a constant 448 kbps. The track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. The effects don't have the power of an HD track, but the stereo and surround effects are nicely designed and we get a definite feel for sounds coming from the front and rear channels.

The Silent Night, Zombie Night Blu-ray Disc contains no extra features. (In fact, the main menu only has one button -- "Play".)