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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.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: HORROR Rating: R UPC: 796019801089 Manufacturer No: 80108Amazon.com: Needless and unnecessary are two words that have little meaning in Hollywood, especially when you're talking sequels or remakes. Case in point: Black Christmas, the revisionist version of the 1974 horror thriller largely thought to be the proto-slasher movie (this was four years before the first Halloween installment). The original, from director Bob Clark, is still considered a masterpiece of tension, understatement, innovative camera perspective, economic efficiency (a polite way of saying "ultra-low budget"), and killing off pretty young girls in grisly ways without any cumbersome exposition regarding the psychopath's motives. This, by the way, from the same Bob Clark who would soon bring us the beloved Porky's franchise as well as Black Christmas's polar opposite, the sweetly nostalgic classic A Christmas Story. Anyway, as needless and unnecessary as this remake is, it certainly delivers the goods on 21st-century slasher conventions as the sorority sisters of Alpha Kappa are picked off during Christmas break in ever more gruesome fashion. There's nothing wrong with all of this, particularly for fans of impalements, crushed skulls, ripped-out eyeballs, and some good old-fashioned Christmas cookie cannibalism. Writer-director Glen Morgan, who earned his own credibility as co-creator of the Final Destination series and the interesting 2003 remake of Willard adds a few clever visual homages to the original along with the amped-up extreme gore. Clark's device (was he the first to use it?) of creepy, mouth-breathing phone calls from killer to victim remains intact and creepy. He also resurrects Andrea Martin, one of the then-unknown actor victims who, now famous, plays the prim housemother. Another addition, which may not be so welcome to purists of the genre, is a load of exposition and backstory for the killer. Disturbing as these flashback set pieces are, they're also somewhat distracting to the foreboding tone. But you get what you pay for, and lots of people are going to pay dearly to dream of the shocking frights another Black Christmas will bring. --Ted Fry
Customer Reviews:
- great movie: this movie was funny not scary it was like jack frost but with no killer snow man. this was a great movie.
- Not Scary, But Funny!: this movie sucked, but id get it just to watch it and laugh at the bad acting///
- pretty solid horror remake: i never saw the original but this is a good movie. great looking cast and good gore. the ending wasnt the greatest but overall worth a rental if your in the mood for a slasher type movie
- Holiday Horror: I'm not here to compare the original to the remake, so I want to go on to explain why I think this movie is pretty good. Is there gore? Yes. Is there action? Yes. Are the actors good? Yes. Does the movie do a good job at portraying the cheery and eerie holiday feeling? Yes. I certainly enjoyed it. It didn't take FOREVER to get into things and show some gore. The movie was well done, and the bodies pile up quickly like they should in a slasher movie. It's worth it to add this movie to your collection if you're a true slasher movie fan. I enjoy holiday based movies and gore, so this was the best of both worlds for me.
- We live in revisionist times..: This is, despite what some think, simply a revisionist version of the original and better 1974 release. More gore to keep the video game generation in their seats....but no more substance than the original. The 1974 release was an innovation in the genre, this is just another slasher movie.
Simply one more in a long line of questionable remakes....fortunately not as bad as the Wicker Man remake, but certainly no prize winner.
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