Black Christmas 2006

I begin by noting the difficulty in re-making what has become a cult classic in horror circles. The original title, released in 1974, set the scene for the unidentified stalker films that followed, such as the infamous "Halloween." With that said, the enjoyment of the remake is also difficult.

Part of the magnificence of the original manifested in not knowing the identity of the killer-- much less his/her motivations. In 2006, we know the killer, "Billy." The remake puts more emphasis on his backstory than did the original, which isn't too bad aside from the fact that the remake hides the Billy of the present story. It's like getting the childhood tales of a person we're never going to meet. In the end, it's a little deflating of expectations. Wanting to see a mass murderer, we're delivered a child.

As to the characters, i.e. the sorority girls, they appeared as multiple incarnations of the same person, except the heroine of the story (you can identify her because she's the only blonde). I guess big sisters sponsor based on the lack of acting skills of the rushees, because that's all these characters seem to have in common. Anyway, when they started the requisite terminations, I was slightly confused. Because everyone looked the same, I couldn't really tell who was still breathing, and I really didn't care.

The good part of the film? Well, it tried to remain true to the outline provided by the original, although the embellishments in this case undermined the stalker/slasher intent to create suspense. There were no big-name actresses used (none should ever become big names based on their performances here). And the gore factor increased. The bad part? Well, the abortion sub-plot was abandoned. Bad choice. At least that way we came to know the heroine in the original. The phone calls were coherent and not at all spooky, fear-invoking, or disturbing in the remake. Finally, the story of Billy's origins undermined the development of the characters we needed to feel for in the present story. That made me cheer for Billy.

It at least passed the time, and I enjoyed comparing the remake to the original while viewing, so I give this about a 4 outta 10. If I hadn't seen the original, I may have bumped it to a 5 or 6. But if you really want to see how the film should have been made, watch Bob Clark's 1974 original. Rest in Peace, Bob.