Black Christmas (DVD)

Connect to Facebook/Twitter, recommend via email and much more.

---

As great as the Billy back story scenes are, the performances from the rest of the cast are as bad as one would expect. Rather than bog this down with names you've never heard of, I'll just cite the list of teen-centric television shows featuring these actresses that most have gone to great lengths to avoid: "7th Heaven," "Felicity," "Party of Five," "Dawson's Creek," the list goes on but suffice to say, I've skipped over most of those programs in the past in favor of whatever was showing on C-SPAN 2. As annoying as the actresses are, and believe me, they are, for a horror fan it just makes their eventual deaths that much easier to digest.

Video:
Presented in a 2.35:1 widescreen aspect ratio, "Black Christmas" looks great. The picture is crisp and clear as the contrast between the white snow and pitch-black night sets the mood perfectly. While the entire film´s lighting is superb, Billy's flashback scenes highlight the excellent production.

Audio:
The 5.1 Dolby audio track does a great job getting under your skin, especially once Billy begins crawling around in the house's walls. It might just have you checking any pinholes for watching eyes.

Extras:
Like a trip to grandmas' house for Christmas dinner, Dimension brought out all the fixings but in the end forgot to make desert. While the eight minutes of deleted scenes and twelve minutes of alternate endings are nice inclusions on the disc, they're ultimately just extended scenes that were better off trimmed. Of the ten total scenes, only the one featuring a great exterior crane shot that establishes the sorority characters is worth watching. The twenty-eight minute featurette "What Have You Done?: The Remaking of Black Christmas" starts out with a brilliantly designed title sequence and continues in a terrific candid interview with Bob Clark and moments with some obsessed fans of the original.

"May All Your Christmases Be Black: A Filmmaker's Journey," on the other hand, is a bizarre inclusion that almost dismisses the very film it's trying to promote. Moments spent with director Morgan and his wife as they discuss the hardships caused by the lackluster response to Morgan's "Willard" get pitiful. Eventually the director's sad-sack nature makes it hard to recommend viewing the entire twenty-six minute featurette. While including over an hour of behind-the-scenes footage, interviews, and deleted scenes is great, the lack of a director/producer commentary is unusual and odd, but given Morgan's demeanor probably for the best.

Film Value:
While "Black Christmas" won't change anyone's mind about the horror genre, it's got enough eyeball chomping and face ripping to please most established fans. Perhaps it's my standing as a "gore"met that caused me to enjoy the film far more than I had expected. With this entertaining "Unrated" version running almost ten minutes longer than the widely panned theatrical release, there is a strong possibility that this is a better version of the film. Most likely, my surprise enjoyment of the film rested in the chance to see "Dawn" (the eternally annoying Michelle Trachtenberg) from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" finally get her head split open. The movie is not as great as the deftly paced original, but 2006's "Black Christmas" easily joins the ranks of "Santa's Slay" and "Christmas Evil" as a fun holiday horror staple.

---

Connect to Facebook/Twitter, recommend via email and much more.

---