Black Christmas

"Black Christmas" from 2006 feels a bit like someone wanted to do a remake of "Silent Night, Deadly Night" but was forced to settle for 1974's "Black Christmas." The story does have a few similarities to the original, but tonally, this is more akin to a generic holiday slasher and not the kind of "elevated horror" that I think the first movie represents. There's certainly no mystery set up here; instead, the backstory of the bloody sorority house is explored in every boring detail. Furthermore, none of the actresses here can match the charm of Olivia Hussey or Margot Kidder in the original. With Katie Cassidy, Michelle Trachtenberg, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead, there are a few more or less well-known names in the cast, but nobody is good here. Of course, it doesn't help that most of the characters don't act in a comprehensible way. A few of the kills, which at least offer a bit of gore from time to time, are the closest to being impressive. They also ensure that the movie is still barely worth seeing for slasher fans.

I enjoyed the present day portion's of the film but I feel the backstory is largly uneeded and we spend way too much time on it. It's alright for a modern horror remake but doesn't come close to the original in terms of plot or character's.