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
