Black Christmas (2006)

 Black Christmas opened Christmas day 2006. Like any other horror movie that is Christmas themed, there was a bit of controversy from religious extremists in regards to both the content of the movie and its Christmas day release date. Unfortunately, the controversy did very little to attract additional viewers to come see it out of curiosity and the movie enjoyed only moderate success.
   The story begins with a boy named Billy Lenz who is constantly abused by his mother. Billy is very jaundiced which causes his mother to dislike him. However, Billy's father adores him. Mrs. Lenz is a pretty awful person, she hates her child and is cheating on her husband. She murders Billy's father and buries his body in the houses crawlspace with the help of her boyfriend. Billy sees this which causes her to lock Billy in the attic so he won't tell anyone what's happened. Years later, she attempts to conceive a new baby but realizes that her new man is impotent. She goes up to the attic and rapes 12-year-old Billy. Nine months later, a daughter named Agnes is born and she is treated like a princess by Mrs. Lenz, which makes Billy angry since she has never treated him this way. A few years later on Christmas Billy escapes from the attic and disfigures Agnes by gouging out her eye. Billy then kills his mother and her lover. He is caught by the police eating pieces of his mother's flesh which he has cut into Christmas shapes with cookie cutters and baked in the oven! Billy is then sent to a mental asylum. Cut to Fifteen years later, on Christmas Eve, Billy escapes from his cell and heads off to his former home, now a sorority house and begins killing off the girls who live there.
  I normally dislike remakes, but I must say I enjoy this movie much more than the original 1974 version. Don't get me wrong, the original is a classic movie, but it's more of a suspenseful thriller rather than a full on horror movie. I actually enjoy Billy's backstory and the fast pacing of this movie. There's a lot of dark humor in it and the kills are done very well. I would say if you're in the mood for something gory and Christmassy this Halloween season, you can't go wrong with this one.

Santa's Slay

 

Since it's October I've decided to do a couple of blogs about some of the Christmas horror movies I enjoy. The first one up is Santa's Slay.
  Written and directed by first timer David Steiman in 2005. The movie stars wrestler Bill Goldberg as Santa himself along with Emilie de Ravin (Claire from the tv series Lost) and Douglas Smith (young John Conner - Terminator Genisys). There are also cameos from celebrities such as Rebecca Gayheart , Chris Kattan , Fran Drescher and James Caan.
  The movie centers around Douglas Smith's character Nicholas Yuleson and his grandpa. Nick's ol' grampy is the keeper of the "The Book of Klaus" which tells the true origin of Santa Claus. Apparently, Santa was the result of a virgin birth produced by Satan (just as Jesus was the result of a virgin birth produced by God- meaning that Santa is somewhat of an Antichrist). Christmas was "The Day of Slaying" for Santa until, in 1005 AD, an angel defeated Santa in a curling match and sentenced Santa to deliver presents on Christmas for 1000 years. This means that Santa is free to kill again in 2005, which is when the movie was released.
  I have to say, what a creative idea for a movie! Who would have linked Santa to Satan in such a way and then forced the antichrist like character to serve children? The movie is not scary and even people who aren't fans of horror should enjoy this one. If I had to label it, I would say it's more of a black comedy.
  Being a Michigan native I enjoyed that the movie was set in the town of Hell (yes it's a real town here!) and also featured music by local punk group The Gore Gore Girls. The special effects are done well and include a large Bison like creature that serves as Santa's hell dear. If you are in the mood for something both Christmas and spooky this season, give this one a try!