Black Christmas

[DryIce]

The original "Black Christmas" is a pioneering classic. Even by today's standards, it is one of the creepiest horror films ever made. No matter how good the remake is, nothing compares to the original. It predated "Halloween" by four years, and 1979's "When A Stranger Calls" was a shameless ripoff of it. It was really ahead of its time, setting the standard for the formulaic "slasher" movie years before that genre became popular, and doing it with infinitely more class and style and far less blood than its many inferior imitators.

 

[Spellbound]

Black Christmas is, in my opinion, one of the best and scariest horror movies ever made. I think this remake looks godawful.

To me, the biggest crime the remake commits is giving the killer a backstory.
One of the reasons the original is so effective is that the killer is not explained at all. He's just a psycho who decides to stalk the girls in a random sorority house.
And because he wasn't given a backstory, the film is very slickly paced and the characters are given room to develop.
The original was not about the killer, it was totally about his victims.

The remake looks like its gonna be just another slasher film with a villain that is over-explained to the point of the audience not fearing him at all.

 

[Joshua]

I found the original movie pretty boring. But I'm looking forward to see the remake at the movies this christmas. I like the trailer a lot.

 

[getoverit]

I never saw the first one and dont plan on it. But the new one looks really good!!!

 

[DryIce]

I stand corrected.

I was also under the impression, that there was a series of Black Christmas movies, I'll have to check my sources now.

You may be thinking of the "Silent Night, Deadly Night" franchise, about the killer Santa. There were three movies in that series, as well as a couple others about Santa slashers -- one called "Christmas Evil" and the other entitled "To All A Good Night."

To add to the confusion, the original "Black Christmas" was rereleased in subsequent years under two different titles, "Silent Night, Evil Night" and "Stranger in the House."

And to further strain your brain, there was a movie from the early 70's called "Silent Night, Bloody Night," about a psycho stalking the denizens of a small town over the holiday season who, as it turned out, were former mental patients that had savagely butchered the killer's daughter years ago, escaped from the nuthouse, and eventually settled down as inconspicuous citizens in the town.

And don't forget the opening episode of the "Tales From The Crypt" movie from the early 70's, in which a pre-"Dynasty" Joan Collins was stalked and ultimately strangled to death by a psycho Santa. That segment of the film was later redone for an episode of the HBO television series.

As you can see, I have encyclopedic knowledge of Christmas-themed horror movies. The original "Black Christmas" is, by far, the best of the bunch.

 

[LostVegas]

Im offended by the term Black Christmas...I prefer African American Holiday

 

[Dave_83]

Im offended by the term Black Christmas...I prefer African American Holiday

LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[justsimon]

I still haven't seen the original. Maybe I can find it at the video store...