Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY. APRIL 4. 2007
PAGE 6
Christmas gets a little darker with new unrated DVD
By Larry Peel
News Editor
lorry @ ioncinema .com
In 1974, the modern
concept of slasher films
had not yet been born.
Tobe Hooper’s classic
The Texas Chainsaw
Massacre was on the
way to breaking every
boundary the industry
had ever known, and
Halloween had yet to
escape the boundaries of
the classic monster tale,
but the true standard in
slasher flicks was set
to splatter the screen.
Black Christmas set the
mark for the flow of
slasher flicks that was
to follow.
Now 33 years later,
Glen Morgan brings
the gruesome tale back
to life in both an R-
Rated and Unrated
edition of his retelling
of the classic tale. Black
Christmas is a slasher
fans dream, a must have
collectors of the genre.
Morgan’s imaginative
reworking will leave you
screaming, squirming
and begging for more.
Black Christmas is a
creative, mind-twisting
“slay” ride that pays
homage to the greats
that sprouted from the
1974 original.
Black Christmas
gives us the typical
sorority-house massacre
concept as a group of
sorority sisters, snowed
in over the holiday
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♦Depending on who you ask.
break, tries desperately
to survive the night.
An ominous snowstorm
blows in, isolating
them. At the same time,
a killer—who in this
version escapes from i
a mental institution
to return to his
former family home
-breaks into the attic
and begins making
terrifying phone calls
to the girls (led by Kate
Cassidy, Michelle
Trachtenberg, and
Lacey Chabert) before
killing them off one
by one. SCTV veteran
Andrea Martin, who
portrayed a victim in
the original, returns
as Ms. Mac, the
housemother.
While the
1974 original left
the identity of the
killer a mystery, this
time around we are
introduced to Billy,
a sickly and tortured
soul who has escaped
from the local mental
institution to return to
his childhood home,
now the sorority
house.
The original
Black Christmas,
directed by Bob Clark
(who later went on to
direct another classic,
1984’s A Christmas
Story), became a cult
classic and enjoyed a
rebirth with the start
of the video era. His
stylistic approach,
innovative camera
angles and careful, but
minimalist use of gore,
became trademarks of
the more well known
classics to follow, the
likes of Texas Chainsaw
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Massacre, Halloween,
and When a Stranger
Calls all utilize creative
functions pioneered
by Clark in his film.
Morgan pays homage to
the director not only b\
utilizing the techniques
and trademarks Clark
set into motion, but
also with a discreet, but
recognizable prop piece.
Morgan also delves
deeper into his own
trademark character
study (Willard), not only
creating the monster left
out of the original, but
giving him a disturbing
back story that neatly
packages the gist of the
film.
Morgan's decision
not to do a cookie cutter
remake of a previous
film was a daring
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move for the struggling
director. Despite critical
acclaim, his last project
Willard failed to garner
audience attention and
became a box office
bomb. Passing on his
artistic notions. Black
Christmas is created
for the masses.
The gore and
violence is blended
appropriately and
timely, the insidious
placement and then
discarding of standard
horror ploys (the killer
calling from inside
the house, the mental
hospital escape, etc.)
allows the audience
to let down its guard,
to wonder where the
film is going, only
to be blasted with
twists that jerk them
from complacency
with whiplash speed.
Morgan understands
the horror genre, and
the artistic aspects,
well enough to create
a classic in its own
right.
The film’s release
in both rated and
unrated versions
allows for audience
variability as well.
true connoisseurs of
grisly gore will salivate
at the Unrated version,
while those who prefer
a strictly psychological
thriller will enjoy the
R-Rated version. Both
editions of the DVD
contain more than an
hour of incredible extras
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including two featurettes
What Have You Done?:
The Remaking of
Black Christinas, an
interesting behind
the-scenes look at the
production, and May All
Your Christmases Be
Black: A Filmmaker's
Journey, which is a
unique perspective into
the process, mindset,
and intent of Morgan and
his team. The featurettes
goes far beyond the
standard directorial
interview with Morgan
freely offering his
perspectives, hopes, and
frustrations with the
film and his career. The
DVD also contains three
intriguing alternate
endings and seven
deleted scenes.
Black Christmas
grants new life to
the old-school horror
flick, retells a classic
story with anew twist,
splattering the new
millennium with its best
taste of gore yet. Morgan
scores a blow straight to
the jugular as he honors
the past and paves the
road to the future with
visions of icicles and
eyeballs.
Film Rating:
3.5 stars
DVD Rating:
4 stars