Black Christmas (2006 film)

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Black Christmas
Theatrical release poster
Directed byGlen Morgan
Screenplay byGlen Morgan
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyRobert McLachlan
Edited byChris Willingham
Music byShirley Walker
Production
companies
Distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date
  • December 25, 2006 (2006-12-25)
Running time
84 minutes[1]
92 minutes (Unrated cut)
Countries
  • Canada
  • United States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$9 million[2]
Box office$21.5 million[3]

Black Christmas (abbreviated as Black X-Mas) is a 2006 slasher film written and directed by Glen Morgan and starring Katie Cassidy, Michelle Trachtenberg, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Oliver Hudson, Lacey Chabert, Kristen Cloke, and Andrea Martin. The film takes place several days before Christmas, and tells the story of a group of sorority sisters who are stalked and murdered by the house's former inhabitants during a winter storm. It is a loose remake of the 1974 film of the same name. The film was produced by Morgan and James Wong through their production company Hard Eight Pictures, along with 2929 Productions and Dimension Films, while Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer distributed the film.

In December 2006, upon anticipation of its premiere, the film garnered some criticism from religious groups due to its graphic content in a holiday setting, as well as the distributor's decision to release the film on Christmas Day in the United States.[4] The film opened in the United Kingdom on December 15, 2006, and, despite backlash from some religious organizations, opened in US theaters on Christmas Day to gross $21.5 million total. The film received generally negative reviews from critics upon release.

Plot

William Edward "Billy" Lenz, a boy born with severe jaundice due to a liver disease, is constantly abused by his hateful mother. After murdering Billy's father and burying his body in the underground crawlspace with the help of her boyfriend, Mrs. Lenz locks Billy in the attic to prevent him from talking. Years later, she attempts to conceive a new baby but realizes that her new man is impotent. She goes up to the attic and rapes 12-year-old Billy. Nine months later, a daughter named Agnes is born and treated like a princess by Mrs. Lenz. When Agnes is eight and Christmas comes around, Billy escapes from the attic and disfigures Agnes by gouging out her eye and taunts his mother, saying "she's my family now." Billy then gruesomely kills his mother and her lover. He is caught by the police eating cookies made out of his mother's flesh, and is sent to a mental asylum.

15 years later, on Christmas Eve, Billy, now 27, escapes from his cell and heads off to his former home, now a sorority house. At the Delta Alpha Kappa, Clair (Leela Savasta) is killed in her bedroom. Meanwhile, Megan (Jessica Harmon) begins to hear noises and goes up to the attic to investigate. Upon finding Clair's body in a rocking chair, Megan is attacked and killed. In the living room, the other sorority girls receive a call from a rambling man, who ends the call threatening to kill them.

Clair's half-sister Leigh (Kristen Cloke) soon arrives searching for her. When the lights suddenly go out, Dana (Lacey Chabert) goes to check the powers under the house, but encounters the figure and is killed with a gardening tool. The girls in the house receive a call from Dana, and hear a scream. They leave the house to find her, only for Kelli (Katie Cassidy) and Melissa (Michelle Trachtenberg) to discover blood splatters under the house, while Heather (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and Leigh find Eve (Kathleen Kole) decapitated in her car.

Heather and housemother Mrs. Mac (Andrea Martin) immediately flee, but Heather is subsequently killed while inside the car, and Mrs. Mac is stabbed through the head by a falling icicle. When Kelli and Leigh descend to the garage to investigate, Melissa is attacked and killed. Kelli and Leigh then find Lauren (Crystal Lowe) with her eyes gouged out in bed. Kelli's boyfriend Kyle (Oliver Hudson) then arrives, claiming he is not the killer. The three climb to the attic, where Kyle is dragged and stabbed in the head. The killer is revealed to be Agnes, now an adult. Billy also makes his way into the attic and both killers close in on Kelli and Leigh, starting a fire. Kelli and Leigh manage to escape and leave Billy and Agnes to burn in the fire.

Later, Kelli and Leigh recover at the hospital. While Kelli goes for an X-ray, Agnes appears in the hospital unharmed and kills Leigh by snapping her neck. When Kelli returns to her room, Agnes enters through the ceiling and attacks her as well but Kelli uses the defibrillator and kills Agnes; however, Billy immediately enters also through the ceiling and chases after Kelli. They end up in the stair-rail, where Kelli ends up pushing Billy off the stair-rail where he is impaled on the tip of a Christmas tree, finally killing him, and Kelli is left to look in shock.

Alternate ending

An alternate theatrical ending was released in different countries, including the United Kingdom. As Kelli and Leigh recover at the hospital, doctors fail to save Billy's life, who received severe burns from the fire. Leigh attends to identify Agnes' body while Kelli goes for an x-ray. However, when Clair's body is found in the body bag, Leigh rushes back to Kelli's room where Agnes kills her by snapping her neck. When Kelli returns, Agnes enters through the ceiling and attacks her but Kelli uses the defibrillator and kills Agnes. Kelli is later picked up by her parents, who are all seen exiting the hospital.

Cast

Release

The film was released on Monday, December 25 (Christmas Day), 2006 in the United States and grossed $3,723,364 on its opening weekend.

Box office

The film went on to gross a total of $16,273,581 domestically and $21,510,851 worldwide.[3] With its $16 million in domestic box office, Black Christmas is the lowest-grossing film among the recent slasher remakes, which consist of When a Stranger Calls (2006), Halloween (2007), Prom Night (2008), My Bloody Valentine 3D (2009), and A Nightmare On Elm Street (2010), led by Friday the 13th (2009) with $65 million.

Home media

The film was released on DVD and HD-DVD on April 15, 2007 by Genius Products. Two versions of the film were released: the R-rated theatrical cut, and the "unrated" cut, which featured extended and deleted scenes. Special features include two documentaries "What Have You Done? The Remaking of Black Christmas" and "May All Your Christmases Be Black" along with deleted scenes and 3 alternate endings (one of which is the UK ending used in it's theatrical release). Although the film has yet to be released on Blu-ray in the U.S. it has received one in Canada and Germany. The film had a short-print run in Canada and only contains the theatrical cut while the German release has both cuts of the film and is region-free.

The UK DVD release of the film contains an alternate death scene for Melissa Kitt along with the aforementioned alternate ending from the plot synopsis.

The film has made more money from its DVD sales than it did at the box office with a total DVD gross of $29,436,341.[5]

Controversy

The film drew backlash from Christian groups because of the studio's decision to release the film on Christmas Day. Several groups, including Liberty Counsel and Operation "Just Say Merry Christmas", called the film "offensive, ill-founded and insensitive".[6] L.A. Weekly columnist Nikki Finke also questioned the filmmakers' decision to release the film on Christmas.[7] Dimension Films defended the timing, saying, "There is a long tradition of releasing horror movies during the holiday season as counter-programing to the more regular yuletide fare."[8] Film historian Michael Gurnow, of The Horror Review, countered Liberty Counsel's complaint, writing, "such crimes occur throughout the year, including Christmas (as recently as a year prior--in McLean and Great Falls, Virginia to be exact)."[9]

Critical reception

The film holds a 14% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, labeled "rotten" based on 55 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads: "A gratuitous remake of the 1974 slasher, Black Christmas pumps out the gore and blood with zero creativity, humor, or visual flair."[10] On Metacritic, the film was given an average rating of 22, based on 17 reviews.[11]

Sam Adams of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "Like an ugly tie or a pair of slipper socks, Black Christmas is destined to be forgotten the instant it's unwrapped, gathering dust until the season rolls around again".[12] Jim Ridley of The Village Voice inputs, "The product itself isn't so much afterthought as afterbirth – a bloody mess to be dumped discreetly."[13] When compared to the original, Desson Thomson of the Washington Post calls it "a drab, unimaginative remake. [...] The remake neither pays perceptive tribute to the original nor updates it in anything but hackneyed form."[14] Joe Leydon of Variety goes on to say, "[...] there can be no argument regarding the scant merits of its slapdash, soporifically routine remake, suitable only for the least discriminating of gore hounds."[15] Jason Anderson of The Globe and Mail wrote, "Lazy, perfunctory and free of tension, the new version will satisfy neither the admirers of the original nor anyone looking for a gory respite from seasonal good cheer".[16]

Marc Savlov of The Austin Chronicle, however, said, "This film is an evocative, effective entry into the holiday blood-spray subgenre in its own right. And if it doesn't make your skin crawl ... you probably ate too much Christmas dinner."[17] Thompson also praised the acting of several of the lead performers, in particular Katie Cassidy playing Kelli, Michelle Trachtenberg playing Melissa, Mary Elizabeth Winstead playing Heather, Lacey Chabert playing Dana, and Crystal Lowe playing Lauren.[14] Winstead was later nominated for a Scream Award for her portrayal of Heather Lee-Fitzgerald.

Horror review website Bloody Disgusting gave the film three out of five stars and wrote that the film should not be compared to the original. The site concluded that the film is "a pretty good modern slasher".[18] The Radio Times also gave the film a positive review, giving the film three stars out of five and calling the film a "cheeky but no less brutal remake."[19]

Accolades

Year Award Category Recipient(s) Result
2007 Scream Awards Scream Queen Mary Elizabeth Winstead Nominated

See also

References

  1. ^ "BLACK CHRISTMAS (15)". Pathé Distribution. British Board of Film Classification. November 21, 2006. Retrieved September 14, 2013.
  2. ^ "Black Christmas". The Numbers. Retrieved October 2, 2014.
  3. ^ a b "Black Christmas (2006)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 31, 2011.
  4. ^ "Christian groups fume over Black Christmas". Boston Herald. December 19, 2006. Retrieved November 8, 2009.
  5. ^ http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2006/BLKCH-DVD.php
  6. ^ "Christian Groups Fume Over Christmas Horror Film". Retrieved December 18, 2006.
  7. ^ "Faith-Based Horror Film for Christmas?". Retrieved December 18, 2006.
  8. ^ "Black Christmas not merry for religious groups". CBC News. December 15, 2006. Retrieved December 19, 2006.
  9. ^ "Horror Bob Presents: The Horror Review - Why I Can't Discuss Glen Morgan's New Film, Because Liberty Counsel Says It's Rude: Race, Religious Tolerance, Ethics, and Aesthetics and the 21st Century Holiday Horror Film. By Michael Gurnow (2006)". The Horror Review. December 15, 2006. Archived from the original on April 17, 2008. Retrieved December 30, 2010. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ "Black Christmas - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved August 31, 2011.
  11. ^ "Black Christmas Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic". Metacritic.com. Retrieved August 31, 2011.
  12. ^ "Los Angeles Times Movie Review". July 11, 2000.
  13. ^ "New York Movies - 'Black Christmas'". July 11, 2000.
  14. ^ a b Thomson, Desson (December 26, 2006). "'Black Christmas' Butchers the Slasher Genre". The Washington Post.
  15. ^ Leydon, Joe (December 26, 2006). "Black Christmas Movie Review". Variety.
  16. ^ "This page is available to GlobePlus subscribers". Toronto: Theglobeandmail.com. Retrieved December 30, 2010.
  17. ^ "Austin Chronicle reviews". July 11, 2000.
  18. ^ "Bloody Disgusting Horror - "Black Christmas (remake)" Movie Info, Review, Headlines, Gallery". Bloody-disgusting.com. December 25, 2006. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
  19. ^ "Black Christmas film review". Radio Times. Retrieved December 30, 2010.[dead link]

External links

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