Driven away by Connely as the body of a survivor (the film does not indicate whether this is Chris or Ricky) is rushed to the hospital by paramedics, Laura wishes the lieutenant a "Merry Christmas" before having a vision of Ricky breaking the fourth wall as he states "... And a Happy New Year". At a screening at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, Texas in July 2008, Hellman introduced the film, saying he thought it was his best work (though not his best film). His esteem for the work was partly due, he said, to the speed at which the entire project was put together. The original script was thrown out and rewritten in one week, starting in March. By the end of April, principal photography was done, editing was done in May (with Hellman taking time out to go to the Cannes Film Festival), and by July 1989 there was an answer print screened at a film festival. International Video Entertainment released the film on VHS, while Image Entertainment released it on laserdisc. Lions Gate Entertainment released the film along with its sequels, "" and "" as a three-disc set on December 1, 2009. They are presented in full screen format with no special features included. Lionsgate re-released the film to DVD on January 4, 2011 in a "4-Film Collection" set along with "My Best Friend Is a Vampire", "Repossessed" and "Slaughter High". "Silent Night, Deadly Night 3" received mostly negative reviews from critics upon its release. "TV Guide" awarded the film one out of five stars, writing, "Hellman has a flair for chaotic camera angles and handles the film's cinematic references quite nicely, but the whole thing lacks suspense, is slowly paced, and badly acted." Alan Jones of the "Radio Times" gave the film a similar rating of one out of five stars. Although Jones noted that it was a slight improvement from its predecessors, he criticized the film's lack of suspense, and inventive murders, calling the whole film "tedious". Fred Beldin from Allmovie wrote that the film, "stretches the original plot line so thin that it snaps, with logical lapses and continuity gaffes galore, but because of so much damage and stupidity, "Silent Night, Deadly Night 3: Better Watch Out!" emerges as the most entertaining entry in the series."