25 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS EVIL : DAY 25 : BLACK CHRISTMAS (2006)

I thought bookending this whole thing with Black Christmas movies would be a nice touch as it certainly would be considered the most popular movie in the festive horror. Bob Clarks original is worthy of standing shoulder to shoulder with great classics like Psycho and Halloween. Yet in 2006 when Hollywood came looking to remake the film, the results were less than satisfactory for many fans. 

Set in sorority house on Christmas eve as the original is, we delve much further into the back story of the attic bound stalker now known as Billy. On Christmas Eve the cell bound Billy makes his break for freedom, determined to home for Christmas. As the girls begin to disappear one by one they realise that Billy may have come home for the holidays.

When the film first came out it was met with anger from fans of the original, but the film has certainly aged well over its short lifspan. Especially in an age of remakes that go on title alone, Black X-Mas as it was eventually released steers very close to its original source material and only really jumps the shark towards its finale when it tries to add its own element to tie the carnage together. As modern slasher go however it is certainly a great movie, not on par with more recent films like Silent Night or Saint, but close. it also has some nice appearances from plenty of people you'll now recognise as much bigger actors.

Happy Horror Holidays everyone.

MJ