Black Christmas (2006) by Glen Morgan

Director: Glen Morgan

Year: 2006

Country: USA

Alternate Titles: N/A

Genre: Slasher

Plot:

Stuck in their sorority house, a group of sorority sisters as well as their House Mother try to make the best of the situation, but as the night goes on are continuously inundated with mysterious phone calls that alert them to being targeted by a sadistic killer and must get out of the situation alive.

Review:

It's surprising how entertaining this one is. Among the better features here is the joyous engaging atmosphere present throughout here that paints a highly effective immersion into the holiday season. The fact that the entire sorority is constantly covered in lights or strung-up garland, featuring plenty of twinkling lights, festive ornamentation, and wholesale use of trees or presents as constant theming makes everything features a fantastic time here as it carries on with its rather fun main setup. The remake uses the same technique towards the calls, where a cacophony of noise and heavy breathing is heard on the other end. The incessantness of them is what drives up the tension as they pop up out of nowhere and make for some of the best suspense tactics ever used. This has one nice update in that the killer uses the cell phone of the girl just killed to taunt the others which is a really nice trick that keeps the suspense going and makes for some really good scenes as they turn on each other trying to get to the bottom of the calls.

The action here is another spectacular plus, with plenty to enjoy about it and getting in some wonderful moments. From the opening assault on the guards that signals his escape from the asylum taking out the guards holding him there, to the interactions with his family that sent him there including the scene where the police drag away the killer to the mental institution after they find him eating cookies he's made from his Mother's corpse, all washed down with a glass of milk, is truly unsettling for the calmness displayed. The assault on the girls when they first find out about the killer is great and the confrontations are generally pretty solid, from being lured into rooms before a surprise attack pulls them away, the discovery of being spied on throughout the house before a mysterious lunge out of the darkness and a fine brawl under the house in the basement is fantastic. The main one, though, is the greatness of the battle up in the attic. This is a full-on exciting action sequence, getting in plenty of fun moments and a nice back-and-forth with both sides having the upper hand at some point. The pacing here is also top-notch, keeping it from getting boring without managing to get too concerned with the action to the exclusion of all else.

The other main point this one has is that it’s far more violent and gory than expected. This one here includes a lot more brutality in the kills than the original and they're a fine sight to see, adding an extra depth to the killer in that they're willing to go to such barbaric depths than required. It really shouldn't have been that graphic, but the fact that we get a candy cane stabbed in the neck, a pointed Christmas Tree ornament stabbed through the eye and out the back of the head, strangled with a strand of Christmas Tree lights, whacked in the head with a garden trowel, being set on fire, as well as having numerous victims getting their eyes gouged out, both actively done on-screen as well as being found that way is so greatly appreciated. There are even some in here that are killed off-screen but leave a giant blood-stain where they're killed. Then there's the ultra-brutal scene where one of the victims is dragged away from the scene, still alive, by the hollowed-out eye sockets. It's a spectacular sight and really puts over the brutality of the killer nicely. It's a fun ride and gets plenty right, making this one really enjoyable.

This one really doesn’t have a whole lot of flaws to it. The main issue here is the fact that this one decides to include the subplot about the killer’s backstory is one such example, as this one makes two big problems at once. The main one is that it really makes the killer much less threatening. It's fine to give a little bit about them in an attempt to make them seem a little human, yet this one gives out too much and in the end, too much knowledge manages to ruin the great job of making him seem like a really imposing threat. The other big problem is that they're shown as several lengthy flashbacks that pepper the first half of the film. The inclusion of these, placed in the positions where they are, hamper the flow of the present-day action to a great degree. It should've been given as just one big long one rather than the three-to-four that are present since it disrupts the momentum to switch over from the action to go back to the backstory when it could've been given as just one scene. The sheer fact that this particular film is being remade might be something for others to get after, but it's not as valid an excuse as the film's other big flaws.

Overview: ****/5

Getting over the fact that this is actually a remake, there's plenty in here to enjoy and make this one thoroughly entertaining. See this if you're in the mood for a marathon of festive-theme films, a fan of the remake craze, or of modernized slashers, while those who are simply outraged at the thought of this one being remade should steer clear anyway.