Black Christmas (remake 2006 ; 84 Brain Eater) : This is a great over the top slasher film and a remake of the 1974 Black Christmas. I usually never like a remake as much as the original one but in this case there are so many differences that I love it just as much. There are a few scenes that pay respect to the original but it has a different feel but in a good way. It was written and directed by Glen Morgan. It has a great story line with a good cast backing it up, it stars Katie Cassidy, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Lacey Chabert, Crystal Lowe, Michelle Trachtenberg, Oliver Hudson, Kristen Cloke, Andrea Martin (who was in the original Black Christmas), Jessica Harmon, Leela Savasta, Kathleen Kole, Dean Friss, and Robert Mann. This film was released in theaters Christmas Day in 2006 with lots of backlash from different religious groups. The budget was $9 Million and grossed over $21 million, they made more on DVD sale even with all of the bad reviews the film received and all of the religious backlash. Black Christmas was shot in 29 days in Canada. The score was the composed and conducted by Shirley Walker which was her last and she passes away before the film came out. There are so many different endings and scenes that didn't end up in the film and even the UK release differs from the US version. If your in the mood for some holiday cheese and gore this is definitely the film for you.
In the 70's, a boy Billy is born with yellow skin due to a lever disease and his dysfunctional mother rejects him. Years later he witnesses his mother and her lover killing his beloved father and burying him in the basement of their house. He is locked in the attic alone along with his childhood. When he is a teenager, he is sexually abused by his mother when she can't get pregnant and she ends up with a baby girl named Agnes. A few years later during Christmas, the deranged Billy escapes from his imprisonment, kills his mother and stepfather and blinds one of Agnes's eyes. He is declared insane and his sister is sent to an orphanage. In the present days, Billy escapes from the Clark Sanatorium to spend Christmas with his family. Meanwhile, his former house is the Delta Alpha Kappa sorority house in the campus of the Clement University, the housemother and the sisters are preparing the house for Christmas party on a cold stormy night. When three sisters vanish and the others receive weird phone calls they know something is wrong, but they find that they are trapped in the location because of the storm and Billy has come home.
Some fun facts:
*The scene in which Billy puts on a Santa Claus suit upon leaving the mental institute is a reference to the character Billy Chapman in the movie Silent Night, Deadly Night.
*During one scene the famous "leg lamp" from A Christmas Story can be seen in the background. This is a reference to Bob Clark, the director of the original Black Christmas in 1974 and A Christmas Story in 1983.
No comments:
Post a Comment