Movie Review - Black Christmas

Movie Review - Black Christmas : his gay fright-fest was a pleasant surprise from what i used to be originally expecting. this can be another horror remake (from the folks behind ‘Final Destination’ – nice film), however un-like such a lot of others; it did manage to return up trumps; like ‘The American state saw Massacre.’ this can be a remake of Bob Clarke’s 1974 classic slasher show, ‘Black Christmas’; that truly came four years before John Carpenter’s ‘Halloween’. Some fans assertion that it absolutely was the first slasher flick.

From the surface, this feels like simply another of your basic ‘there’s a psychotic person hacking up a bunch of pretty women, UN agency square measure running up the steps rather than out of the door,’ and to an explicit extent that’s correct, it’s the approach this can be sent that is fascinating and attractive to look at.

The story: deranged killer, Billy Lenz, escapes his medicine ward and is decided to create it to his childhood home, wherever he was abused, by Christmas. Problem is, it’s years later and also the house is currently a society house. It’s Dec 24 and a UN agency’s who of teen/horror lady stars square measure there to welcome him, together with asterid dicot genus (Michelle Trachtenberg , ‘Buffy the lamia slayer’ fame), Heather (Mary Elizabeth Winstead, ‘Final Destination 3’), Danu (Lacey Chabert, ‘Mean Girls’) and Kelli (Katie Cassidy, ‘When a intruder calls’ remake.)

This movie is actually pretty good, it has a constant feeling of being watched that runs right through it and adds a sparkle to the scares, and the tension 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 most of them horror stars, the audience doesn’t guess which one is going to make it to the rolling credits. The story-line builds well, and there is a mounting tension, as the killer first phones the girls, and then starts to do away with them.

A similar 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 Christmas theme bleeds in nicely with the plot, and it comes across in places (especially, 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 very violent scenes, and the music by Shirley Walker is great; capturing horror and Christmas all in one twisted melody. Also, the use of red and green lighting throughout (owed to Christmas) is very 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 doesn’t cut it. I can’t imagine many of these girls’ staying in the house with a crazed serial killer, just because they can’t find their ‘sorority sister,’ believable in 2007 – sad, but true. There is, unfortunately, the obligatory shower scene, but it’s used for scares, 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, for example, Kelli, played by Katie Cassidy is great; plus if you hated ‘Dawn’ in ‘Buffy the vampire slayer’ – you are gonna love this movie. by Black Christmas movie review.