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Review #348 of 365
Movie Review of Black Christmas (2006) [R] 100 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $3.25
Where Viewed: United Artists Denver Pavilions Stadium 15, Denver, CO
When 1st Seen: 26 December 2006
Time: 11:00 p.m.
Film's Official Website
DVD Release Date: unscheduled
Directed by: Glen Morgan (Willard)
Screenplay by: Glen Morgan (Final Destination 3) based on 1974 screenplay by Roy Moore (The Last Chase)
Featured Cast (Where You Might Remember Him/Her From):
Katie Cassidy (Click) • Michelle Trachtenberg (Mysterious Skin) • Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Bobby) • Lacey Chabert (Choose Your Own Adventure: The Abominable Snowman) • Kristen Cloke (Final Destination) • Andrea Martin (How to Eat Fried Worms) • Crystal Lowe (Snakes on a Plane) • Oliver Hudson ("The Mountain") • Robert Mann (debut) • Jessica Harmon (John Tucker Must Die) • Leela Savasta ("Smallville") • Kathleen Kole (debut)
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word or less review of this film]
There exists a significant force of reason within the public that insists that remakes of films are a bad idea to start with. While I do not oppose them in principle, I most certainly do wonder what possesses a person to want to remake a movie that wasn't well respected or like in the first place. Twenty years from now, can we look forward to a remake of Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector? Well, all logic aside, this winter holiday season, Christmas Day in fact, audiences were presented with Black Christmas, a remake of a 1974 horror slasher film about a deranged killer whom, as a child named Billy, had been badly abused and locked in the attic by his mother. In his young adulthood, Billy escapes and murders his mother and her lover. After being sentenced to life in a mental institution for the criminally insane, Billy manages an escape on Christmas Eve and returns to his old home to find it retrofitted into a sorority house and inhabited with a house mother and a boat load of sorority girls who had no idea they have been occupying the former home of a homicidal maniac. He enters the house through secret passages and crawl spaces he utilized as a kid, and begins, methodically killing them one by one. And, of course, as they start turning up missing, the sorority sisters decide it would better to stay and search for the missing girls rather than to leave and get to safety—of course, we wouldn't have a slasher film plotted any other way.
"…hopefully, this will be the very last for Black Christmas."
Unfortunately, this gruesome, though stylistic, slasher film pays homage to the past without much new. One by one the girls get killed. The boyfriend of one tries to save them and is killed too. They don't flee even when there is clear evidence they should. And, basically, the only unique thing about the film is the various implements he uses from a licked to sharp point candy cane to Christmas tree ornaments. And, while I am loath to spoil the plot, I will say that Billy meets his own end in the usual way: falling several stories on to a spike. Scary music, more than the usual number of coeds to kill, a decent cast, some awful but funny one-liners, make this film a teeny bit better than some of the other slasheresque films of the year. Honestly, though, the film is not frightening. Rather it is sort of redundant and cheesy. It would make a good late night horror film to watch at sorority slumber party, but beyond that, it has little redeeming value. One good thing, I suppose, is that the writer / director, Glen Morgan, left no obvious way to resurrect a sequel, so hopefully, this will be the very last for Black Christmas.
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Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]
Other Projects Featuring Black Christmas (2006)
Cast Members
Katie Cassidy
• Michelle Trachtenberg • Mary Elizabeth WinsteadLacey Chabert
• Kristen Cloke • Andrea MartinCrystal Lowe
• Oliver Hudson • Karin KonovalDean Friss
• Robert Mann • Jessica HarmonLeela Savasta
• Kathleen KoleWriter / Director
Glen Morgan
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Black Christmas (2006) Review-lite [150-word cap]
All logic against remakes aside, this winter holiday season, Christmas Day in fact, audiences were presented with Black Christmas, a remake of a 1974 horror slasher film about a deranged killer named Billy whom escapes after being sentenced to life in a mental institution for the criminally insane on Christmas Eve and returns to his boyhood home now a retrofitted sorority house. Entering through crawl spaces he utilized as a kid, he methodically kills them one by one. Unfortunately, this gruesome, though stylistic, slasher film pays homage to the past without much new. Scary music, more than the usual number of coeds to kill, a decent cast, some awful but funny one-liners, make this film a bit better than some of the other slasheresque films of the year. It would make a good late night horror film to watch at sorority slumber party, beyond that, it has little redeeming value.
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