Black Christmas Year: 2006 Director: Glen Morgan Written by: Glen Morgan Threat: Psychopaths Weapon of Choice: Candy Cane Based upon: film - Roy Moore Color/B&W/3D: Colour Language: English Country of Origin: USA IMDb page:

Other movies in this series:
None

The tyranist's thoughts
I love the original Black Christmas and, in an unusual twist for me, that love only made me want to see the remake even more. Normally I can't abide remakes. I see them. I owe it to all of you to do my best to know what is going on in horror, but it is pretty unusual for me to really want to see one, especially if I liked the original at all. And for those I love, it almost never happens.
We are in the midst of a very sad state of affairs, though, and while it pains me to see so many remakes of horror movies that aren't even as old as I am (I'm not that old, you impertinent git), every once in a while they manage to either recapture something of the original or even, very rarely, to improve upon it. In this case, it seemed to me that Black Christmas so heavily influenced slasher flicks to come later, that it became the great template upon which all other slashers are built. So how could I possibly blame them for literally taking it as a template and making a moderned up version. It is sad that something only just over 30 years old has to be made current, but that is a testament to the pace at which progress burns these days.
So there's a sorority house on what must be the most lonely Greek row in the world. A few of the sisters have decided to stick around for Christmas, most of them figuring that they can get drunk with their friends just as easily as they can at home, and hey, Christmas is for losers with functional families anyway. Unfortunately for them, this is the night that Billy Lenz is coming home. Literally. He grew up there. In the sorority house. And did I mention he doesn't like Christmas and is a psychopath? Well, he is.
The girls are all eminently likeable, as is their house mother (played by one of the original Black Christmas girls, Andrea Martin). The dynamic seems very real for the situation, and even though the girls are all super hot, it is very easy to like them and find one the identify with. Or at least to find one that you'd like to sleep with so that you may feel a little protective toward her. I can't claim that all of my thoughts were pure. I was tempted to start listing off the actresses for you, but I think that would take to long, and you can look them up for yourself on the IMDb if you really want to know.
The villain here was really well done as well. We get a little more background on the psychopath than normal, but even then, they never really tried to make him sympathetic and for that I am grateful. In true slasher fashion, the deaths start to come fast and heavy once the movie gets rolling. There were some pretty creative attacks and some decent defenses, but from the time it started, it never really stopped.
It's a shame that this didn't do better. Granted, not everyone wants to run out on Christmas day and see a gore-fest, but in the week following, I would have assumed lots of people with lots of time on their hands might have checked this one out. Rish and I were there, and we had to drive for an hour to find a theatre that was showing it. Where were you? Now you'll just have to see it on DVD.
But please see it on DVD. If you like the slasher genre at all, you need to see this one. It is built on the work they laid down in the original and is a very worthy remake. Even if you didn't see the original, see this one. And then see the original. Or the other way around, I don't care. But you can't call yourself a slasher fan without at least giving them a chance.
Posted: March 29, 2007

Rish Outfield's reviews
Bob Clark's original Black Christmas is truly a classic in the Slasher subgenre. Many will tell you that it was the FIRST Slasher (though there were a few before it), or the first AMERICAN Slasher (though it was made in Canada), or the first Slasher HIT that so influenced the droves that came after (but that was Halloween and you know it). But it is a great movie, and I suggest you see it (whether instead of this one or along with is up to you).
There was a bit of controversy surrounding BX 2006's release. It was released on Christmas Day, which bothered many conservative religious folks (who wouldn't have been caught dead going to a Slasher film in the first place, and didn't bat an eyelash when Godfather 3 or The Faculty or Jackie Brown came out on Christmas Day), and either as a result, or because it wasn't deemed potentially-profitable, the film opened to a very limited release. The 2006 Black Christmas looked good, though, I'll tell you that.
When I lived in Los Angeles, I could go out and see movies I wouldn't have been able to see anywhere in America (or Bolvia, for that matter), and movies played at Art Houses for quite a while before going to the second-runs. Now that I am away from there, if I want to see something that isn't your usual weekend would-be blockbuster, I typically have to see a movie on its opening week if I want to catch it before it's gone. If it even gets a release here in the first place.
So tyranist and I were worried about Black Christmas. The closest theatre showing it (and there were two, if I recall) was fifty miles away (and sixty-two miles from tyranist's palatial, if haunted, estate). I worked all of Christmas weekend and got sick during the week that followed. But we both wanted to see it, and were afraid to miss the film, so I did something I hardly ever do: I called in sick at work and caught a matinee of the flick on the last day of tyranist's Christmas week vacation.
Listen to me go on and on. I sound like that Aint It Cool News guy.
Michelle Trachenberg is likeable. That Mary Elizabeth Winstead girl is too. The main actress (Katie Cassidy) is the same girl I went all weak-kneed over in Click, but she did nothing for me in this one.
Recently, Tyranist put this on his Best of 2006 list. Not his Best HORROR of 2006, but ten best movies period. That was interesting. I didn't dislike the movie, I just didn't think it was anything special. And dang, that makes me sad. 'Cause really, how many old fashion Slasher movies come out--in the THEATRES no less--anymore? Maybe part of my problem was that it was a remake, and that the original was so incredibly great. If this film had been the exact same flick, except called Chanukkah Bloodbath or Dismemberment Easter or Valentine's Day of the Dead, I probably would have liked it more. Does that make sense?
Posted: April 10, 2007

Total Skulls: 33

Sequel
Sequel setup
Rips off earlier film
Horror film showing on TV/in theater in movie
Future celebrity appears
Former celebrity appears
Bad title
Bad premise
Bad acting
Bad dialogue
Bad execution
MTV Editing
OTS
Girl unnecessarily gets naked
Wanton sex
Death associated with sex
Unfulfilled promise of nudity
Characters forget about threat
Secluded location
Power is cut
Phone lines are cut
Someone investigates a strange noise
Someone runs up stairs instead of going out front door
Camera is the killer
Victims cower in front of a window/door
Victim locks self in with killer
Victim running from killer inexplicably falls
Toilet stall scene
Shower/bath scene
Car stalls or won't start
Cat jumps out
Fake scare
Laughable scare
Stupid discovery of corpse
Dream sequence
Hallucination/Vision
No one believes only witness
Crazy, drunk, old man knows the truth
Warning goes unheeded
Music detracts from scene
Death in first five minutes
x years before/later
Flashback sequence
Dark and stormy night
Killer doesn't stay dead
Killer wears a mask
Killer is in closet
Killer is in car with victim
Villain is more sympathetic than heroes
Unscary villain/monster
Beheading
Blood fountain
Blood spatters - camera, wall, etc.
Poor death effect
Excessive gore
No one dies at all
Virgin survives
Geek/Nerd survives
Little kid lamely survives
Dog/Pet miraculously survives
Unresolved subplots
"It was all a dream" ending
Unbelievably happy ending
Unbelievably crappy ending
What the hell?