Black Christmas (2006) DVD
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Product Details Actors: Michelle Trachtenberg, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Lacey Chabert, Katie Cassidy, Kristen Cloke |
Product Description
Though it was only a mild success upon its release in 1974, the original BLACK CHRISTMAS (directed by Bob Clark, who would go on to direct A CHRISTMAS STORY in 1984) has become a cult favorite among horror buffs since the dawn of the home-video era. An early example of the "body count" genre, the film also predates WHEN A STRANGER CALLS (1979) in its use of a killer making threatening phone calls that originate within his potential victims' own house. In this remake, writer/director Glen Morgan takes the basics of Roy Moore's screenplay for the original to create an elaborate and almost comically disturbing back story for Billy, the killer who previously remained a mystery. A handful of sorority girls remain at the house after the school shuts down for Christmas break. An ominous snowstorm blows in, isolating them. At the same time, a killer--who in this version escapes from a mental institution to return to his former family home--breaks into the attic and begins making terrifying phone calls to the girls (led by Kate Cassidy, Michelle Trachtenberg, and Lacey Chabert) before killing them off one by one. SCTV veteran Andrea Martin, who portrayed a victim in the original, returns as Ms. Mac, the house mother.
Stylistically, Moore's remake avoids casting the film in the ironic post-SCREAM or streamlined, gore-free Japanese-horror-inspired fright films of the late 1990s and early 2000s. Instead he makes BLACK CHRISTMAS in the style of a wet and red '80s slasher film. The plentiful blood and guts will please fans of that era, as will tributes to the HALLOWEEN films. This, along with a soundtrack that eschews holiday standards in favor of modern pop music, plus a dim lighting scheme that relies heavily on colored Christmas bulbs, combine to create an atmosphere of holiday dread in this fun update of what has become a horror classic.
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Black Christmas (2006) Movie Review
The 2006 horror movie Black Christmas is distributed by Dimension Films. Some of its stars include Katie Cassidy as Kelli Presley, Michelle Trachtenberg as Melissa, Kristen Cloke as Leigh Colvin, Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Heather Fitzgerald, and Lacey Chabert as Dana. The writers are Glen Morgan (Final Destination) and Roy Moore (Black Christmas 1974). The director is Glen Morgan.
Billy Lenz was a boy born with a rare skin condition that made it yellow. His parents do not love each other. His mom murders his dad and, after seeing her and her lover burying the body, Billy is locked in the attic for years. After unsuccessfully trying to have another child with her lover, Billy's mom enters the attic and seduces him. Nine months later, a little girl named Agnes is born. Several years later on Christmas Eve, Billy escapes the attic and murders his mother and her lover. He also disfigures Agnes by removing one of her eyeballs. The troubled boy also makes Christmas cookies out of his mother's flesh just before he is caught. He's committed to a mental asylum. Now in 2006, he escapes and returns to his childhood home which has since been turned into a sorority house. One by one, he kills off all the sorority girls until only a few remain. But they cannot leave because of the snow storm outside. They are trapped inside a serial killer's home waiting to be butchered.
Aside from the killer having yellow skin, there is absolutely nothing unique about this movie. It simply follows a classic slasher movie formula, specifically Halloween. A killer murders his family, gets caught and committed, and years later escapes to return to his childhood home. Billy Lenz kills his family, as slasher master Michael Myers did, and spends some time in a mental institution. He breaks out, again like Myers, and returns home. The average movie viewer can usually tell beforehand whether a movie is going to be any good based on how many attractive people star in it, specifically women. If there are quite a few, as is the case in Black Christmas, then that viewer may save a few extra bucks and not see the film because it's not worth the time and money.
As with most Christmas horror films, specifically those released on or near Christmas Day, there was some backlash from religious groups about the setting and time of the release. The gratuitous gore in the film did not help matters either. Movie creators must be careful when writing a slasher film such as this around a religious holiday as strongly hailed as Christmas. Another example, besides Black Christmas, is the movie Silent Night, Deadly Night. In this film, a man dressed as Santa goes around killing all the naughty people. In protest of this movie, people made signs that said "Santa doesn't slay". This case is much more extreme than Black Christmas. The story portrays extreme violence. Silent Night, Deadly Night is currently out of print and can only be found on the internet.
To wrap, if you're looking for an original kind of film, Black Christmas is not what you're looking for. But if you are a die-hard fan of an old-fashioned slasher movie, then it may be worth your time and money.
Kevin T. Dillehay has written nearly a hundred movie reviews from all genres. He provides a unique perspective on the movies you see all the time but may not stop and think about in depth. You are invited to check out his work at http://www.moviefilmreview.com/author/kmonk10.
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