The real meaning of Christmas-fountains of gore.

The Movie: Black Christmas, directed by Glen Morgan
Recommendation: Me!
Reason: I'm interested in comparing and contrasting remakes with originals this year.

Slasher movies aren't exactly the height of the filmmaking art. I'll freely admit that. They're gory, the main characters are a specialized kind of stupid, the deaths are unbelievable and there just doesn't seem to be any sort of point. In an irregular cycle, the genre rises and falls in quality and popularity-the 80's saw a resurgence in slashers, which petered out after the Nightmare and Friday the 13th series' hit their third or fourth sequel. 1996 brought a revival when Wes Craven released his parody series, Scream. Back in the 'golden age' of slashers, the mid 70's, the original Black Christmas was released. It didn't make any friends, as it sort of dampened the holiday cheer.

Now, as we laud the era of the remake, that original blasphemous blight on everyone's favorite celebration of consumerism has been remade. The incestuous killer has a penchant for eyes and arterial spray, and the sorority he chooses to butcher is stupider than ever. His Final Girl isn't even really up to the task, as she's about as moronic as the rest of her friends, and only really survives the film by outrunning the rest of the herd. The usual wit and guile reserved for such a character is instead passed around from character to character, as though the sorority had to share a brain.

Not a lot to be said about the acting in the movie. It was boring and vaguely insulting. All of the lead actresses just looked bored, whether they were running, screaming or dying. My favorites got picked off, leaving their lackluster representative to face down with the killer in the final minutes. I know that slashers, and remakes, can be worse. I just wish some of them managed to be better.

-111/365 down, 254/365 to go