Overview of Black Christmas Movie

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Overview of Black Christmas Movie

Thursday, May 14th, 2009 Subscribe To Our Feed

This festive fright-fest was a pleasant surprise from what I was originally expecting. This is another horror remake [ from the folks behind ‘Final Destination’ – great film ], but un-like so many others ; it did manage to come up trumps ; like ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.’ This is a remake of Bob Clarke’s 1974 classic slasher movie, ‘Black Christmas’; which essentially came 4 years before John Wood worker’s ‘Halloween’. Some fans lay claim that it was the original slasher flick.

From the outside, this looks like yet another of your basic ‘there’s a psycho hacking up some pretty girls, who are running up the steps rather than out of the door,’ and to a certain extent that is correct, it is the way this is conveyed which is fascinating and enticing to watch.

The story: crazed killer, Billy Lenz, escapes his psychiatric ward and is determined to make it to his childhood home, where he was abused, by Christmas. Problem is, it is years after and the home is now a Sorority house. It’s Yuletide Eve and a who’s who of teenager / horror girl stars are there to welcome him, including Melissa [ Michelle Trachtenberg, 'Buffy the vampire slayer’ fame ], Heather [ Mary Elizabeth Winstead, 'Final Destination 3' ], Dana [ Lacey Chabert, 'Mean Girls' ] and Kelli [ Katie Cassidy, ‘When a stranger calls’ remake. ] This movie is essentially good, it’s got a consistent sense of being watched that runs right thru it and adds a flicker to the scares, and the stress is kept high. The actresses, although spouting some awful lines at times, also say some good ones. The acting is good, and because most of the leading ladies are stars, and many of them horror stars, the spectators does not guess which one is about to make it to the rolling credits.

The story-line builds well, and there’s a mounting tension, as the killer first phones the girls, and then starts to lose them. An identical storyline to the original ‘Halloween’, with a killer coming home for the holidays, there are also many similar P.O.V shots of the killer, watching the girls throughout the house. The Xmas theme bleeds in nicely with the plot, and it comes across in places [ particularly, the flash-backs to Billy Lenz's childhood ] like something, director, Tim Burton, would dream up. The film gets darker and darker as we move through it, with some awfully violent scenes, and the music by Shirley Walker is great; capturing horror and Xmas all in one twisted tune.

Also, the employment red and green lighting throughout [ owed to Xmas ] is really cool, and creates a great atmosphere. Due to it being set in a Sorority house, and this no longer being 1974, some of the dialogue just does not cut it. I won’t imagine lots of these girls’ staying in the house with a crazed serial killer, because they cannot find their ’sorority sister,’ plausible in 2007 unhappy, but true.

There is, sadly, the compulsory shower scene, but it is used for shocks, not thrills, and so works. Right from the start you can tell, this isn’t your usual run of the mill slasher, it actually has a back story, and we do find ourselves caring for some of the characters, as an instance, Kelli, played by Katie Cassidy is great ; and if you hated ‘Dawn’ in ‘Buffy the vampire slayer’ – you are gonna love this movie.

If you find this article useful, you should also check out cinemarv.com to watch movie trailers and read about the top movies of all time, also visit old horror movies.

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