I absolutely hated the 2006 remake of “Black Christmas” when I saw it at the theater. I thought it was one of the worst films I’ve ever seen, and I was extremely disappointed by the many changes to the original story. For some reason something always nagged at me to watch it again. Last year I decided to buy the DVD, and give the movie another chance. Something clicked with me as I re-watched it, and I probably watched it a total of five times last Christmas season. I’ve already watched it twice this Christmas season, and it’s possible I may watch it again. The film does have a lot of atmosphere, and I’ve found many other good points while watching. I’m no longer disappointed, disgusted, or angered by the changes to the story. The only thing that hasn’t changed is my reaction to the incest scene, and that’s probably the worst thing I can say about this version.
I couldn’t agree more. I thought it was terrible but then it stuck with me and once I watched it the second time it completely won me over. You nailed it, the film does have a certain atmosphere that really keeps you engaged. Too many directors now are ex-music video directors that only know how to make things flashy.
You should check out the first draft of the screenplay (it’s out there on the net) and give it a read. It has a much more serious tone and was a good bit different from how the movie ended up.
Yikes! Any Crispin Glover movie would make for an odd date movie. Willard was such an odd and underappreciated movie. I’m probably going to do an episode on that one day.
Hey you do know Supernatural! I wondered since you left out that the main “bitch” of Shredder was the Reaper (Tessa) that always comes for Dean in the show.
(hmm… you Phaleous seem to have a lot of similar tastes and knowledge, should do a crossover sometime)
Oh yeah, SPN was one of the better shows out there. Kind of makes one wonder if Firefly would have survived being on WB/CW back in the day better than on Fox.
Not sure I can condone watching past season 5. I’m going through 7 to see if it redeems 6. As you can see on my blog (click name), I review a lot of their stuff.
Whenever I see Michelle Trachtenberg all I can think of is Dawn Summers from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I miss that show so much Joss Weadon is such a good TV creator. The Black Christmas remake is one of my favorite horror remakes I don’t get how people can hate it so much. I’m glad I wasn’t the only one tricked by Eve’s death because throughout the whole film I thought she was Agnes.
I didn’t watch this one, but now I’m curious. Maybe the issue is when the movie is so different from the original that it might have done better with a different title. I hated Rob Zombie’s Halloween, because it simply wasn’t Halloween. I felt that it should have had a different name, because it was such a vastly different type of movie. Carpenter’s original is a suspense classic, and Zombie’s film is a grand guignol music video. Yes, they are both about monstrous beings killing people on Halloween, with characters of the same name, but there is a true sense of the supernatural in the original (Why does Loomis, played by Donald Pleasance, spend so much time talking about the incredible sense of evil, and inhumanity that is walking around in the shell of Michael Myers? Because he really isn’t human.), while so much of the new film is taken up with how Michael became a hulking monstrosity. It should have been titled Child Abuse Makes Serial Killers.
I think this is the first time I noticed a fake trailer. When I saw the movie I was confused as to what happened to certain scenes in the trailer. But since then many movies have started to do this. Especially the Paranormal Activity films. I think every one of them included scenes in the trailer not found within the actual movie.
I enjoyed this remake when I saw it. I admit, I did not enjoy the original Black Christmas and I cannot understand why it has such a following. It meanders aimlessly, the police are even more useless than is common for horror films and the ending doesn’t resolve anything.
1.did you know bob clark also made baby genius
2.have you watched the old vs new the karate kid?it not you should
3.a chrismas story diden have a remake but a sequel and guese what it sucked
Kinda. What happened was I didn’t start upping these to youtube until episode 37. At the time, youtube had a 15 minute time restriction. When I did this it was over the limit and I didn’t want to re-edit. Later after they took away the time limit I meant to upload there and never did. (just forgot) Now its been so long and I’ve picked up a few more things about the movie, I wanted to re-do it as an exploring episode and then put it on youtube. Might do it this year.
My first year or so I was getting zero feedback, so I really had no idea if things were working or not. Plus, I was still learning what I was doing and trying to get the pacing right. It seemed ok at the time but as time went on I found out the right pacing. I used to do it too leisurely. Anyway, I’ve learned a lot since then.
follow:
I absolutely hated the 2006 remake of “Black Christmas” when I saw it at the theater. I thought it was one of the worst films I’ve ever seen, and I was extremely disappointed by the many changes to the original story. For some reason something always nagged at me to watch it again. Last year I decided to buy the DVD, and give the movie another chance. Something clicked with me as I re-watched it, and I probably watched it a total of five times last Christmas season. I’ve already watched it twice this Christmas season, and it’s possible I may watch it again. The film does have a lot of atmosphere, and I’ve found many other good points while watching. I’m no longer disappointed, disgusted, or angered by the changes to the story. The only thing that hasn’t changed is my reaction to the incest scene, and that’s probably the worst thing I can say about this version.
I couldn’t agree more. I thought it was terrible but then it stuck with me and once I watched it the second time it completely won me over. You nailed it, the film does have a certain atmosphere that really keeps you engaged. Too many directors now are ex-music video directors that only know how to make things flashy.
You should check out the first draft of the screenplay (it’s out there on the net) and give it a read. It has a much more serious tone and was a good bit different from how the movie ended up.
The Willard remake was awesome. An odd choice on my part for a date movie, but we had a great time. Glover was perfect for that role.
Yikes! Any Crispin Glover movie would make for an odd date movie. Willard was such an odd and underappreciated movie. I’m probably going to do an episode on that one day.
Even more disturbingly, I also saw the Charlie’s Angels movies on dates too. And Beowulf.
I’m sensing a disturbing trend here…
Hey you do know Supernatural! I wondered since you left out that the main “bitch” of Shredder was the Reaper (Tessa) that always comes for Dean in the show.
(hmm… you Phaleous seem to have a lot of similar tastes and knowledge, should do a crossover sometime)
Supernatural is such a great show. I’m a little behind (they’ve been building up on my Tivo) but I plan on catching up soon.
I meant to mention she McKeon was the Reaper but I just plain forgot when I was writing out the episode.
Well… that’s ok. XD
Oh yeah, SPN was one of the better shows out there. Kind of makes one wonder if Firefly would have survived being on WB/CW back in the day better than on Fox.
Not sure I can condone watching past season 5. I’m going through 7 to see if it redeems 6. As you can see on my blog (click name), I review a lot of their stuff.
Firefly probably would have had at least a second season if it was on WB/CW.
Cool. I’ll check it out.
Whenever I see Michelle Trachtenberg all I can think of is Dawn Summers from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I miss that show so much Joss Weadon is such a good TV creator. The Black Christmas remake is one of my favorite horror remakes I don’t get how people can hate it so much. I’m glad I wasn’t the only one tricked by Eve’s death because throughout the whole film I thought she was Agnes.
Crispin Glover in Simon Says. Its a pretty good backwoods slasher. Check it out.
I didn’t watch this one, but now I’m curious. Maybe the issue is when the movie is so different from the original that it might have done better with a different title. I hated Rob Zombie’s Halloween, because it simply wasn’t Halloween. I felt that it should have had a different name, because it was such a vastly different type of movie. Carpenter’s original is a suspense classic, and Zombie’s film is a grand guignol music video. Yes, they are both about monstrous beings killing people on Halloween, with characters of the same name, but there is a true sense of the supernatural in the original (Why does Loomis, played by Donald Pleasance, spend so much time talking about the incredible sense of evil, and inhumanity that is walking around in the shell of Michael Myers? Because he really isn’t human.), while so much of the new film is taken up with how Michael became a hulking monstrosity. It should have been titled Child Abuse Makes Serial Killers.
I think this is the first time I noticed a fake trailer. When I saw the movie I was confused as to what happened to certain scenes in the trailer. But since then many movies have started to do this. Especially the Paranormal Activity films. I think every one of them included scenes in the trailer not found within the actual movie.
I can’t believe they continuously lie to the audience. Although on one hand, it is a way of selling the film without spoiling it!
I enjoyed this remake when I saw it. I admit, I did not enjoy the original Black Christmas and I cannot understand why it has such a following. It meanders aimlessly, the police are even more useless than is common for horror films and the ending doesn’t resolve anything.
1.did you know bob clark also made baby genius
2.have you watched the old vs new the karate kid?it not you should
3.a chrismas story diden have a remake but a sequel and guese what it sucked
1 – yes, a shame that is what a lot of people know him for
2 – no thank you
3 – yeah, that one wasn’t good
I think I may have lost some brain cells reading that.
Huh, didn’t see this one on YouTube. Copyright issues, I suppose?
Kinda. What happened was I didn’t start upping these to youtube until episode 37. At the time, youtube had a 15 minute time restriction. When I did this it was over the limit and I didn’t want to re-edit. Later after they took away the time limit I meant to upload there and never did. (just forgot) Now its been so long and I’ve picked up a few more things about the movie, I wanted to re-do it as an exploring episode and then put it on youtube. Might do it this year.
I just realized something: In your earlier reviews, there are a lot of REALLY awkward pauses in between lines.
My first year or so I was getting zero feedback, so I really had no idea if things were working or not. Plus, I was still learning what I was doing and trying to get the pacing right. It seemed ok at the time but as time went on I found out the right pacing. I used to do it too leisurely. Anyway, I’ve learned a lot since then.