Black Christmas (2006)

Director:

Glen Morgan

Writers (WGA):

Glen Morgan (screenplay)
Roy Moore (1974 screenplay)

Release Date:

25 December 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

This holiday season, the slay ride begins.

Plot:

An escaped maniac returns to his childhood home on Christmas Eve, which is now a sorority house, and begins to murder the sorority sisters one by one. A remake of the 1974 horror movie, Black Christmas (1974).

Plot Keywords:

Blood Bath | Telephone | Female Nudity | Slasher | Mother Son Incest

Cast

Katie Cassidy	...	Kelli Presley
Michelle Trachtenberg	...	Melissa
Kristen Cloke	...	Leigh Colvin
Mary Elizabeth Winstead	...	Heather Fitzgerald
Lacey Chabert	...	Dana
Andrea Martin	...	Barbara 'Ms. Mac' MacHenry
Crystal Lowe	...	Lauren Hannon
Oliver Hudson	...	Kyle Autry
Karin Konoval	...	Billy's Mother
Dean Friss	...	Agnes - 16 & 22 Years
Robert Mann	...	Billy Lenz - 20 & 35 Years
Jessica Harmon	...	Megan Helms
Leela Savasta	...	Clair Crosby
Kathleen Kole	...	Eve Agnew
Cainan Wiebe	...	Billy Lenz - 5 & 12 Years

Also Known As:

Black X-Mas (USA) (promotional abbreviation)
Noël noir (Canada: French title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong horror violence and gore, sexuality, nudity and language.

Runtime:

84 min | 94 min (unrated version)

Country:

Canada | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Germany:18 (unrated version) | Finland:K-18 | Italy:VM14 | Singapore:R21 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Ontario) | UK:15 | Ireland:16 | Australia:R (2007) | Canada:18A (British Columbia/Manitoba) | Portugal:M/18 | USA:R (certificate #42313)

Filming Locations:

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Dimension Films

Trivia:

Glen Morgan approached Mary Elizabeth Winstead about the movie at 4 AM in the airport after finishing Final Destination 3 (2006) with her. After being hesitant at first after only just finishing a horror movie, she agreed to the role of "Heather" because she is a fan of the 1974 version.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Billy stabs his stepfather in the eye, the blade comes out of the back of his head with the eye facing pupil-out, although that could not happen if the blade went through his eye.

Quotes:

[Billy and his dad were sitting infront of the Christmas tree setting out cookies and milk for Santa Claus]
Mrs. Lenz: Santa's not coming for you. He was shot down by the Russians.
[Billy turns around giving his mother a nasty look while his father begins to whisper in his ear]
Mrs. Lenz: [whispering] Don't listen to her, Billy. There's a surprise upstairs waiting for you in your room. Go on up there.
[Billy quickly jumps up and runs up the stairs to his bedroom]

Movie Connections:

References "Punk'd" (2003)

Soundtrack:

Waltz of the Flowers

enjoy, but don't take seriously!

Earlier this year, I tore the re-make of When A Stranger Calls apart, and said at the time, that if Hollywood won't bother making new horror movies, but instead simply re-make old or foreign ones, then just stop. I stand by that.

However...

Black Christmas actually surprised me. First, it was actually a lot more brutal and violent than I was expecting, considering it's 15 rating (UK). The other, was the way it re-worked the original.

The original, which I haven't seen for awhile was as much a whodunit as anything else. Here we're spared that. We know pretty much from the start who is killing here.

What the makers have done, is simply turn the story into a stalk and slash movie, which as I said is quite brutal in areas. For me a movie of this type stands or falls not on the killer or how they kill, but on the potential victims in the story. If you care about them, then you feel bad they are killed. If you don't, then give me an axe, I'll do it myself!! Black Christmas does enough to make you care about each character, by making each one a little different, but yet, having enough in character to make you believe they could get along normally. So when the killing starts, you do care about them, and begin to wonder who, or how many will make it to the end alive.

The death scenes are well set up and done, which isn't surprising considering the makers also did Final Destination 1 & 3. If I have a problem with them is that the film is maybe a little over-edited so at times, you aren't sure if certain characters have been killed or not.

This movie has been getting a critical mauling in certain areas. But I found on watching it, that it's fun, enjoyable, with a black(!) sense of humour, some very nice looking actresses in it!, and for it's (admittedly short) running time very entertaining. And when I go to see a movie like this, that's what I want.

Enjoyable late-night fun.