Black Christmas Movie Review

This festive fright-fest was a nice 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; such as ‘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 Chippie's 'Halloween'. Some fans lay claim that it was the first slasher flick. 

From the outside, this looks like just 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’s correct, it’s the way this is conveyed which is fascinating and enticing to look at. 

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’s years on and the house is now a Sorority house. It is 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 really good, it's got a constant feeling of being watched that runs right thru it and adds a sparkle to the shocks, and the tension is kept high. The actresses, though spouting some awful lines at times, also say some good ones. The acting is good, and because the majority of the leading ladies are stars, and a lot of them horror stars, the audience doesn’t 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 analogous story to the first 'Halloween', with a killer coming home for the vacations, there are also many similar P.O.V shots of the killer, watching the girls across 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 Yuletide all in one twisted melody. 

Also, the application red and green lighting throughout [ owed to Christmas ] is awfully 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 will not imagine lots of these girls' staying in the house with a demented serial killer, because they can't find their ‘sorority sister,’ believable in 2007 unhappy, but true.

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

For more movie reviews and the latest movie trailers, visit cinemarv.com and while you are at it, you might also want to have a look at greatest horror movies.