Forums of Filth

I was non-plussed when I heard this was getting an update but as "the day of days" approached the idea of sitting in a theater with my chick watching people getting hacked to bits in gruesome, though festive, fashion became more and more appealing.
It definitely delivered and as you've probably gleaned from the adverts this has little in common with the original. In fact I'd say it owes more to movies like "Christmas Evil" and "Silent Night, Deadly Night" with all the suspense and nuance of a sledgehammer to the face, or in this case, a candy cane to the throat. All in all this was a great big messy gorefest with a distinct '80's feel, which I found refreshing since most horror in the last few years has tried to be sooo '70's. Also, there's not a hint of Robin Williams to be found so it's got that going for it too. I'll dust of the star rating system and go with 4 out of 5 (as an x-mas flick. Deduct two or three stars if you're going to see it any other time of the year)

I concur.

I was ninety-percent convinced this was going to be dreadful, but I thought I'd give the Morgan/Wong team a fair shake after all the "Final Destination" entertainment they'd provided. Let's face it, this is THE "year of the remake," after all, and watching the new OMEN did absolutely NOTHING for me on DVD, so let's at least give a chance to another remake that at least dares to be "in name only" (ESPECIALLY after all the trouble they went to to recreate the "Silent Night, Deadly Night" conservative Christian brouhaha).

If I HAD been after a true remake of 1974's BLACK CHRISTMAS, this one would have been easy enough to flush. No parallels to John Saxon or Margot Kidder, and no excruciating mystery or lack of closure. Just another "Halloween"-esque backstory. And naturally, they go for the gore where the original used restraint.

Ah, but this backstory dares to be nice and SICK, the cast and filmmakers have enough under their belts to make things look and flow professionally, we've got ourselves a "Clark Sanitarium," and we have knowing nods to the plastic bag over the head, the Christmas tree lights, the glass unicorn and the creepy phone calls.

They do their best to avoid the "don't act like an idiot" thing (giving REASONS, whether you go for it or not, to place characters in harm's way), and they have it all over SEE NO EVIL as far as how to USE a villain who has an attraction to human eyes.

Okay, there's one point where they can't resist their "Final Destination" accident skills, and it seems out of place (though the audience certainly enjoyed it). They don't quit while they're ahead, and there's more than one "Oh, yeah, RIGHT" moment for a film that otherwise stays on the horror-movie side of logical and believable.

But overall, despite the advance word I heard about it, this BLACK CHRISTMAS essentially works, and I'm glad that I went out of my way to see it.

Think I'm being too kind? Remember--this is the year that almost convinced me to hand the whole thing in. And when it comes to remakes, we're looking at WHEN A STRANGER CALLS, THE OMEN and THE WICKER MAN this year alone. Feel better about BLACK CHRISTMAS yet?

Man I need to check this one out over the weekend. Never saw the original, but from Remo's review this sounds like something I'd enjoy. For the record I never saw the original versions of HOUSE OF WAX or HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL either, but I thought the remakes of those were pretty decent.

I enjoyed it. It was a good xmas present.

Haven't seen it, but I thought about going until a friend told me he WALKED OUT in the middle of it on Christmas night. Now I'm hesitant.

Shpongled wrote:Haven't seen it, but I thought about going until a friend told me he WALKED OUT in the middle of it on Christmas night. Now I'm hesitant.

Ditto. But if the Doc liked it... fuck, I just may have to see it now.

Angelica wrote:Ditto. But if the Doc liked it... fuck, I just may have to see it now.

Take my recommendation with a heaping helping of salt; now that we're two plus weeks removed from X-mas, I don't know how well this one will hold up.