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Will you have a Merry Christmas or a BLACK CHRISTMAS? Test screening review here!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. Now, I really liked Glen Morgan and James Wong's work on WILLARD and the first FINAL DESTINATION movie... so don't think I have any agenda with these words... But I thought from the start and this review only confirms it... remaking BLACK CHRISTMAS is a bad idea. It's not that the below review is overly negative, just that it's kind of "okay." I love the original to death, but don't know if it'll translate to modern day filmmaking. There was a rawness about the original and it set so much of the formula of the next 3 decades of slasher films that a true remake will only look like another lame ripoff... God, I don't want this movie to suck, but at least it sounds like they've kept CGI out, which is a point for Mr. Morgan. Anyway, enough of my early morning ramblings. Usual test screening review warning... early cut, filmmakers still have time to tighten the film up and change the flick before release. Keep all that in mind! Here's the review!!!
yo,
just got back from a work print screening of Black Christmas by Glen Morgan, who seems to be having it nice making a living writing really shitty horror (Final Destination 1 and 3) and remaking 70's horror (this and Willard). Of course this is where in a typical geeky review of this movie you would find the suck-dickery of the original Black Christmas and how it truly was the magnum opus of Bob Clark and brought horror to that new level, y'know? but however unfortuanetley I have never seen the original and have only heard little bits and pieces of it here and there, mostly leaving me to draw the conclusion that its a horror movie worth checking out and probably a lot of good bloody fun. Now on to the probably inferior shitty remake.
The flashback scenes of the killer are pretty well done and are on a whole more entertaining then the rest of the plot. I was surprised at the grisly atmosphere they created with the killer's childhood home and how they just showed enough to make it slightly flinching. this surprised me because it seems to me that a lot of mainstream American horror today is just bloodless CGI gore that doesnt hold a candle to the days when movies like Texas Chainsaw looked like a fucking documentary spewing blood at the camera. However I can't think of one shot in Black Christmas that used CGI and most of the violence seemed to push barriers for something mainstream like this.
As for the other aspects of the movie, there wasn't really anything particularly special. the acting was mediocre but fit the standards for the slasher genre, the characters were dumb as usual and split up in situations where they shouldn't have. The killer was a little creepy but didn't look disturbed enough in my opinion. The music mainly consisted of christmas music used for creepy effect and worked for that use.
Anyways according to Imdb, Black Christmas should be hitting theatres in November and if you should go see it, dont go with hopes of something original but for something fun.
if you use this call me The Ninja Man Forever
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+ Expand All
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...offered the role of James Rhodes officially at SHH! Back on topic, I've never heard of Black Christmas, but why the hell not remake it? ^_^
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...It's nice to have a good violent film showing at christmas time. Warms the heart!
Oh, and damn you StarBlitzer for taking the 1st 3 spaces. That just greedy!! -
Another remake? Geez....
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Only blood on the walls. I guess you haven't seen that either
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...directed by Nigel Tuffnel.
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They gave the killer flashbacks? Way to absolutely decimate the whole creepy factor of the original. Part of the horror was not knowing who the hell this freak was. The shudder-inducing phone calls were enough back story; my imagination conjured up far worse scenarios than what any flashbacks will probably show. God.
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He said the original TCM spewed blood at the camera. The original TCM is not as bloody as people think it is. The majority of the violence is implied. I think the remake went there a bit more with showing gore. Anyhow, this is unfortunate. Black Christmas was a good movie that was ripped off my both Halloween and When A Stranger Calls. Sure Halloween took the idea and ran with it and hit a homerun, but Black Christmas was unique. And the ending was superb. The way you hear the killer still breathing is good shit. Too bad this remake will fuck it up. Why didn't Platinum Dunes do this remake. At least it would have been halfway decent. Also the girls they cast do not look college age. It looks like Mean Girls on a Slasher set. One more thing, Morgan and Wong were both OWNED by David R. Ellis. His FD2 was better than parts 1 and the really wack part 3.
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With modern technology it seems to me it would kill the suspense a bit. They should have made it set in 1975.
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Hehe, sorry...I've been coming in fourth lately, so I had to commemorate my firstness in style ^_^ I hope this movie lives up to the official rating of the Punisher movie: "Rated R for Pervasive, Brutal Violence" [/here's hoping!]
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Did I offend one of the powers that be?
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Good Tufnel ref Hipcheck. Nice one. Tough call on which is better - Black Xmas or Deathdream. Bob Clark is God.
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...and yeah, I hope it goes Punisher-style! Although that film was a let down. Punisher(comic)-style!
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the saddest of all blacks
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I have hope for the next one; it's supposed to be in NYC with an actually archnemesis (Jigsaw?). But this time I want to see the big ass skull on his shirt the whole movie like God intended.
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http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/jigsawpu.htm
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gonna be directed by that guy who directs Coca-Cola and McDonalds commercials. I think he did a Justin Timberlake video too, so obviously he's the next master of horror.
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Didnt the makers realize thats one reason why the roiginal was so creepy we didn't have flashbacks to the killers childhood.
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It's a shame Glen Morgan and James Wong are stuck doing these crappy horror films. When they ran the 2nd season of Millennium with Lance Henriksen and Terry O Quinn it was probably one of the best tv seasons of any tv show ever.
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I don't really remember much blood in the original TCM, to be honest I think Jaws was more bloody, I heard they were going for a PG rating for TCM, but got shafted into R. As far as the original Black Christmas goes it was an influencial film for its time, but I didn't think it was all that much of a horror film, more like a psychological thriller that took alot from Psycho.
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erect. Somebody please kill me.
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...love the downbeat endings of 70's movies (Soylent Green, Paralax View, Race with the Devil etc) - I bet this remake has an upbeat ending as does most of the crap served up by Hollyood nowadays
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