Black Christmas (2006)

Movie Details:

Cast & Characters:

• Katie Cassidy as Kelli Presley
• Michelle Trachtenberg as Melissa Kitt
• Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Heather Fitzgerald
• Lacey Chabert as Dana Mathis
• Kristen Cloke as Leigh Colvin
• Andrea Martin as Barbara MacHenry
• Crystal Lowe as Lauren Hannon
• Oliver Hudson as Kyle Autry
• Karin Konoval as Constance Lenz
• Dean Friss as Agnes Lenz
  • Christina Crivici as young Agnes
• Robert Mann as Billy Lenz
  • Cainan Wiebe as young Billy
• Jessica Harmon as Megan Helms
• Leela Savasta as Clair Crosby
• Kathleen Kole as Eve Agnew
• Howard Siegel as Beauregard Rice (credited as “lover/stepfather”)
• Peter Wilds as Frank Lenz
• Jill Teed as a news reporter
• Anne Marie DeLuise as Kelli’s mother

Storyline:

In the 70’s, the boy Billy is born with yellow skin due to a liver disease and his dysfunctional mother rejects him. Later he witnesses his mother and her lover killing his beloved father and burying him in the basement of their house, and he is locked in the attic alone along his childhood. When he is a teenager, he is sexually abused by his mother and she has a baby girl called Agnes. During Christmas, the deranged Billy escapes from his imprisonment, kills his mother and stepfather and blinds one eye of Agnes. He is declared insane and his sister is sent to an orphanage. In the present days, Billy escapes from the Clark Sanatorium to spend Christmas with his family. Meanwhile, his former house is the Delta Alpha Kappa sorority house in the campus of the Clement University, and the housemother and the sisters Kelli Presley, Dana, Lauren Hannon, Megan, Heather, Megan Helms, Melissa and Eve Agnew are preparing the house for Christmas party in a stormy night while Clair Crosby is in her room writing a card to bury the hatchet with her sister. When three sisters vanish, the others receive weird phone calls and believe something is wrong, but they find that they are trapped in the location.

About Black Christmas Movie:

Black Christmas (also known as Black X-Mas) is a slasher film written and directed by Glen Morgan. It serves as a loose remake and reimagining of the 1974 film of the same name. The film stars Katie Cassidy, Michelle Trachtenberg, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Oliver Hudson, Lacey Chabert, Kristen Cloke, Crystal Lowe, and Andrea Martin.

Plot Summary

Set during the days leading up to Christmas, the film follows a group of sorority sisters at the Alpha Kappa Gamma sorority house. As a winter storm descends upon their campus, they begin to receive threatening phone calls from an unknown assailant. The tension escalates when it becomes clear that a deranged killer is stalking them.

The backstory reveals that the killer, Billy Lenz, had a traumatic childhood marked by abuse and neglect from his mother. After being locked away in a mental institution for years, he escapes on Christmas Eve and returns to his childhood home, now occupied by the sorority sisters. As the night unfolds, members of the sorority are picked off one by one in gruesome fashion.

The film features various brutal killings, including one sister being attacked with a pen and another meeting her end via an icicle. The narrative builds towards a climax where Kelli (Winstead) and Leigh (Cassidy) confront Billy and his sister Agnes in a fight for survival.

Production Details

Black Christmas was produced by Morgan and James Wong through their production company Hard Eight Pictures, along with several other production companies. Filming took place in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 2005. The film faced multiple disputes between Morgan and Dimension Films executives regarding its tone and conclusion.

Reception

Upon its release on December 25, 2006, Black Christmas received negative reviews from critics who criticized its screenplay and excessive violence. Despite this backlash, the film grossed approximately $21.5 million worldwide against a budget of $9 million and earned an additional $30.1 million in home sales.

Legacy

This film marks the final score composed by Shirley Walker before her death in November 2006 and is also notable as the last film associated with Bob Clark before his passing in April 2007. A second remake of Black Christmas, produced by Blumhouse Productions and distributed by Universal Pictures, was released in 2019.

Overall, Black Christmas (2006) attempts to blend holiday themes with horror elements but has not achieved the same critical acclaim or cultural impact as its predecessor from 1974.

Budget & Box Office Collection: