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Kelli Presley

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Kelli Presley
Black Christmas character
Katie Cassidy as Kelli Presley in Black Christmas
Created byGlen Morgan
Portrayed byKatie Cassidy
In-universe information
GenderFemale
OccupationCollege student
FamilyMr. Presley (father)
Mrs. Presley (mother)
NationalityAmerican

Kelli Presley is a fictional character in the Black Christmas franchise. The character, created by writer/director Glen Morgan and portrayed by actress Katie Cassidy, serves as the primary protagonist and final girl of the Black Christmas remake, acting as a replacement to Jess from the original film.[1]

In the film, Kelli is depicted as a member of the Delta Alpha Kappa sorority. Due to being an only child and not having a large family, she decides to spend Christmas with her sorority sisters. Unfortunately, their sorority house was once the childhood home of notorious murderer Billy Lenz. During Christmas, Kelli and her sisters begin getting obscene phone calls. Realizing that Billy has returned home, the girls attempt to survive the night as, due to a snowstorm, help is unable to reach them. Critical reception towards the character was polarizing. Some considered her to be a likable and sympathetic protagonist,[2] whereas others criticized her for being bland, generic and unoriginal as well as being inferior in comparison to Jess from the original Black Christmas.[3][4] Despite these criticisms, Cassidy herself was generally praised for her performance.[5][6]

Appearances

In Black Christmas, Kelli first appears with her boyfriend Kyle, telling him that she intends on spending Christmas with her sorority sisters. After having gotten back to Delta Alpha Kappa sorority house, while opening up presents, Kelli and her sisters are called by an unknown caller who, initially, uses Clair's phone and later Megan's. Worried about Megan, Kelli goes to her room only to find Kyle there. While attempting to find clues about her disappearence the power goes out, causing Megan's computer to switch on from standby mode, revealing a recording Kyle made of himself having sex with Megan. After kicking him out of, she meets Clair's elder half-sister Leigh who came to the house looking for her.

Following Dana's murder, the killer uses her cellphone to call the girls. Figuring out that something is wrong, they go outside to look for her. There, they discover Eve's decapitated head inside her car. Realizing there is a killer out there, Kelli calls 9-1-1, only to be told that due to the snowstorm, help would be unavailable for at least two hours. When their housemother Mrs. Mac and Heather decide to take the car and reach the police station on their own, Kelli, Leigh and Melissa all go to Lauren's room to see them through their window and make sure they leave safely. Noticing that the car has started but they're not leaving, Kelli and Leigh go to check on them through the basement where Leigh slips on Mrs. Mac's blood, who had gotten killed by a falling icicle. Going back to Lauren's room, after a quick confrontation between Leigh and Kyle, they realize that Lauren's also been killed and despite protest from Kyle, decide to go to the attic in case any of the girls are still alive.

While opening up the attic door, Kyle gets grabbed and killed. They find out that the killer is Billy Lenz's sister Agnes, who has also set up the corpses of the sorority sisters around a Christmas tree. After Leigh falls through the floor of the attic, Kelli is attacked by both Agnes and Billy. While fighting, the Christmas tree catches fire while she and Agnes fall down into one of the holes in the wall. Managing to escape with Leigh's help, they set the house on fire and reach the hospital. At the hospital, Agnes, who had survived the fire, kills Leigh but Kelli manages to kill her using a defibrillator. When Billy chases her to the stairs, Kelli manages to knock him over, impaling him on the finial of a Christmas tree and finally killing him. She is last seen staring at Billy's corpse.[7]

Alternate endings

Black Christmas has three alternate endings, the second of which was used as the actual ending for the UK theatrical release of the movie. In the UK ending, Billy dies on the operating table from his wounds, thus when Kelli kills Agnes, the scene ends there with her parents picking her up from the hospital. The third ending is similar, having Billy die and Kelli's parents picking her up, however his body disappears and the last shot shows someone moving through the vents, indicating that either Agnes or Billy are still alive. The first ending, which follows the original script, ends with both Kelli and Leigh surviving and Kelli getting a call from someone using Kyle's cellphone.[8]

Casting and creation

Cassidy, who was cast in early 2006,[9] revealed in an interview for When a Stranger Calls (2006) that one of the reasons she became interested in the role of Kelli was because she wanted to play a leading role in a movie and loved the script. In the same interview she also described Kelli as "the girl next door" and stated that "she's probably there on a scholarship or something".[10] In an interview with IGN, Cassidy further revealed that what attracted her to the role of Kelli is that the character "[grows] up" during the course of the film and has an active role instead of being a damsel in distress.[11]

Reception

While the character of Kelli received polarizing reviews, Katie Cassidy's performance received generally positive reviews.

Kelli received mostly mixed reviews from critics, with the perception being that she fails to stand out much from the rest of the characters in the movie, with Variety describing the character as generic.[12] Horror website Dread Central, when comparing the two movies, described Kelli as "an awful character [who] exists in stark contrast to the very likable and level-headed Jess of the original."[13] Despite this, Screen Rant, in their list of the best final girls, when talking about Jess from the original movie, praised Kelli for being able to defeat both antagonists by herself.[14][15] Katie Cassidy's performance however received a more positive response from critics.[16] Bloody Disgusting praised Cassidy, along with her co-stars, for bringing a spin to the "sorority girl" persona.[17] Similarly, while The Film File stated that despite from the sorority girls "few of them [are] likable or developed enough for the viewer to care about their fates", with Kelli having few personality traits, Cassidy does show a promising spark.[18]

See also

References

  1. ^ Crawford, Stax; Crawford, Stephanie (5 June 2007). "Black Christmas (2006) (Unrated)". IGN. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  2. ^ Serafini, Matt (8 May 2015). "The Remake: 2006's Black Christmas". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  3. ^ Adams, Jason (19 December 2012). "Awfully Good: Black Christmas (2006)". JoBlo. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  4. ^ Liaguno, Vince (25 December 2007). "Movie Review: Black Christmas (2006)". Slasher Speak. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  5. ^ Thomson, Desson (26 December 2006). "'Black Christmas' Butchers the Slasher Genre". The Washington Post. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  6. ^ "Black X-Mas (2006)". Horror Movie Reviews. 28 December 2006. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  7. ^ Morgan, Glen (Writer/Director) (2006). Black Christmas (DVD). United States: Dimension Films.
  8. ^ Morrissey, Maynard (8 December 2016). "BLACK CHRISTMAS (2006): Alternate / Deleted Scenes + Additional Footage". HorrorMovieDiary. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  9. ^ Dodd, Stacy (20 February 2006). "Katie Cassidy". Variety. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  10. ^ Wilso, Staci Layne. ""When A Stranger Calls": Interview with Katie Cassidy". Horror.com. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  11. ^ "Katie Cassidy & Oliver Hudson". IGN. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
  12. ^ Leydon, Joe. "Review: 'Black Christmas'". Variety. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  13. ^ Morgaard, Matt. "15 Comments Better: Black Christmas (1974) or Black Christmas (2006)?". Dread Central. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  14. ^ Bleznak, Becca. "15 Horror Movie Heroines You Need To Know About". Screen Rant. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  15. ^ Robinson, Jessica (June 7, 2012). Life Lessons from Slasher Films. Scarecrow Press. p. 18. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
  16. ^ Hinderliter, Austin. "Film Review: Black Christmas (2006)". HorrorNews. Retrieved 19 December 2016.
  17. ^ Hicks, Jess. "In Defense Of Holiday Edition: 'Black Christmas' (Remake)". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  18. ^ Putman, Dustin. "Black Christmas (2006)". The Film File. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
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