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.
| 
'))
