Black Christmas (film series)
Black Christmas is a Canadian-American horror film series that comprises three standalone slasher films, as well as a novelization. The original film has gained a large cult following and is credited as being one of the first slasher films, inspiring many others, including the critically acclaimed hit Halloween (1978). The series centers around a serial killer that stalks and murders a group of sorority sisters. The 1974 film follows the character of Jess Bradford as she and her sorority sisters begin receiving threatening phone calls from an unknown stalker. The 2006 film explores the background and motivation for the killer and his family. The 2019 film completely abandons the first two films' killer storyline, instead focusing on a new set of characters and killers.
| Black Christmas | |
|---|---|
| Created by | A. Roy Moore |
| Original work | Black Christmas (1974) |
| Films and television | |
| Film(s) | List of films |
Billy, Jess, and Mrs. MacHenry are the only characters to appear in more than one film.
Films
| Film | U.S. release date |
Director | Writer(s) | Producer(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black Christmas | October 11, 1974 | Bob Clark | A. Roy Moore | Bob Clark |
| Black X-Mas | December 25, 2006 | Glen Morgan | Marty Adelstein, Dawn Parouse, Victor Solnick, Steve Hoban, James Wong, and Glen Morgan | |
| Black Christmas | December 13, 2019 | Sophia Takal | April Wolf and Sophia Takal | Jason Blum, Ben Cosgrove, and Adam Hendricks |
Black Christmas (1974)
The first in the series was the 1974 Canadian slasher film, Black Christmas (1974), which was directed by Bob Clark, and based on a screenplay by A. Roy Moore.[1] Upon its release, the film was both a critical and a financial success, and has since gained cult status. The plot follows Jess Bradford, a college student who begins receiving threatening phone calls, as the women in her sorority house begin to disappear.[2]
Black X-Mas (2006)
The critically panned 2006 remake was written and directed by Glen Morgan. The story delved heavily into the mythology of Billy, whose identity and motives were only vaguely hinted at in the original film.[3] Both Morgan and producer James Wong revealed that the film suffered studio interference with Dimension executives Bob and Harvey Weinstein pushing for numerous re-writes and re-shoots to invoke more violence, which contrasted with Morgan's original vision for the film, and caused an inconsistency in tone.[4][5] Despite negative reviews and the Christmas release date causing controversy, the film was a commercial success.[6]
Black Christmas (2019)
Shortly after the release of the 2006 remake, a direct sequel to the 1974 film was in development, which would have focused solely on Olivia Hussey's character. However, the film was scrapped following the death of Clark, who was killed by a drunk driver, on April 4, 2007.[7]
In June 2019, Sophia Takal signed on to direct another remake, having previously worked with Jason Blum on his Into The Dark series for Hulu,[8] while Imogen Poots, Aleyse Shannon, Brittany O'Grady, Lily Donoghue, and Caleb Eberhardt signed on in starring roles.[9][10] That same month, Cary Elwes also joined the cast.[11]
Principal cast and characters
List indicator(s)
This section shows characters who will appear or have appeared in more than two films in the series.
- An empty, dark grey cell indicates the character was not in the film, or that the character's official presence has not yet been confirmed.
- V indicates a voice-only role.
- Y indicates a younger version of the character.
| Character | Films | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Black Christmas | Black X-Mas | Black Christmas | |
| 1974 | 2006 | 2019 | |
| William "Billy" Edward Lenz The Moaner |
Bob Clark | Robert Mann | |
| Nick MancusoV | Cainan WiebeY | ||
| Agnes Lenz | Mentioned | Dean Friss | |
| Jess Bradford | Olivia Hussey | Brittany O'Grady | |
| Mrs. Barbara "Mac" MacHenry | Marian Waldman | Andrea Martin | |
| Peter Smythe | Keir Dullea | ||
| Barbara "Barb" Coard | Margot Kidder | ||
| Clare Harrison | Lynne Griffin | ||
| Phyllis "Phyl" Carlson | Andrea Martin | ||
| Chris Hayden | Art Hindle | ||
| Lt. Kenneth Fuller | John Saxon | ||
| Sgt. Nash | Doug McGrath | ||
| Constance Lenz | Karin Konoval | ||
| Kelli Presley | Katie Cassidy | ||
| Melissa Kitt | Michelle Trachtenberg | ||
| Heather Fitzgerald | Mary Elizabeth Winstead | ||
| Dana Mathis | Lacey Chabert | ||
| Leigh Colvin | Kristen Cloke | ||
| Lauren Hannon | Crystal Lowe | ||
| Clair Crosby | Leela Savasta | ||
| Megan Helms | Jessica Harmon | ||
| Eve Agnew | Kathleen Kole | ||
| Kyle Autry | Oliver Hudson | ||
| Riley Stone | Imogen Poots | ||
| Kris Waterson | Aleyse Shannon | ||
| Marty Coolidge | Lily Donoghue | ||
| Professor Gelson | Cary Elwes | ||
Additional crew and production details
| Film | Crew/Detail | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Composer(s) | Cinematographer | Editor | Production companies |
Distributing companies |
Running time | MPAA rating | |
| Black Christmas | Carl Zittrer | Reginald H. Morris | Stan Cole | Film Funding Ltd. of Canada, Vision IV, Canadian Film Development Corporation (CFDC), Famous Players Film Company, August Films |
Ambassador Film Distributors, Warner Bros. Pictures |
1hr 38mins | R |
| Black X-Mas | Shirley Walker | Robert McLachlan | Chris Willingham | Dimension Films, 2929 Productions, Adelstein-Parouse Productions, Hard Eight Pictures, Hoban Segal Productions, Victor Solnicki Productions, Movie Central Network, Corus Entertainment, Province of British Columbia Production Services Tax Credit, Copperhart Entertainment, Milestone Entertainment |
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | 1hr 31mins | |
| Black Christmas | Will Blair & Brooke Blair | Mark Schwartzbard | Jeff Betancourt | Universal Pictures, Blumhouse Productions, Divide/Conquer Productions |
Universal Pictures | 1hr 32mins | PG-13 |
Reception
Box office and financial performance
| Film | Box office gross | Box office ranking | Budget | Worldwide Total income |
Ref. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North America | Other territories | Worldwide | All time North America |
All time worldwide | ||||
| Black Christmas | not available | not available | $4,053,000 | not available | not available | $620,000 | $4,053,000 | [12][13] |
| Black X-Mas | $16,273,581 | $5,237,270 | $21,510,851 | #4,073 | #5,489 | $9,000,000 | $21,510,851 | [14][15] |
| Black Christmas | $10,429,730 | $8,100,000 | $18,529,730 | #3,746 | #5,162 | $5,000,000 | $18,529,730 | [16][17] |
| Totals | $26,703,311 | $13,337,270 | $44,093,581 | $14,620,000 | $44,093,581 | |||
Critical and public response
| Film | Rotten Tomatoes | Metacritic |
|---|---|---|
| Black Christmas | 71% (34 reviews)[18] | 65/100 (9 reviews)[19] |
| Black X-Mas | 16% (64 reviews)[20] | 22/100 (17 reviews)[21] |
| Black Christmas | 38% (109 reviews)[22] | 49/100 (25 reviews)[23] |
Literature
A novelization of the 1974 film written by Lee Hays was published in 1976 by Popular Library.[24]
References
- DuFort-Leavy, Lyne; Duffin, Dan (May 2005). "Bob Clark interview - BLACK CHRISTMAS, A CHRISTMAS STORY, CHILDREN SHOULDN'T P". IconsofFright.com. Icons of Fright. Retrieved March 25, 2019.
- Squires, John (November 11, 2016). "How 'Halloween' Was Basically an Unofficial 'Black Christmas' Sequel". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved December 20, 2019.
- Squires, John (December 5, 2016). "The Story Behind the Missing Scenes in the 'Black Christmas' Remake". Bloody-Disgusting. Archived from the original on December 22, 2016. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
- Vander Kaay & Fernandez-Vander Kaay 2014, pp. 168–70.
- "10 Movie Trailers That Lied to You". Yahoo Movies UK. February 12, 2016. Archived from the original on August 3, 2017. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
- Gurnow, Michael (December 15, 2006). "Why I Can't Discuss Glen Morgan's New Film, Because Liberty Counsel Says It's Rude: Race, Religious Tolerance, Ethics, and Aesthetics and the 21st Century Holiday Horror Film". The Horror Review. Archived from the original on April 17, 2008. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
- "'BLACK CHRISTMAS 2' After 27 Years' Really'". Ain't It Cool News. November 26, 2001. Retrieved December 20, 2019.
- Rife, Katie (June 13, 2019). "Blumhouse announces Black Christmas remake directed by Sophia Takal". The A.V. Club. G/O Media. Retrieved August 9, 2019.
- Kroll, Justin (June 13, 2019). "Blumhouse Remaking Cult Hit 'Black Christmas' With Imogen Poots Set to Star". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
- Squires, John (June 13, 2019). "Poster: Blumhouse is Remaking 'Black Christmas' and It's Coming to Theaters THIS December!". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
- Evangelista, Chris (June 20, 2019). "Blumhouse 'Black Christmas' Remake Cast Adds Cary Elwes". /Film. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
- Black Christmas (1974) review
- "Black Christmas (1974) - Financial Information".
- "Black Christmas (2006)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved December 20, 2019.
- "Black Christmas (2006) - Financial Information".
- "Black Christmas (2019)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
- "Black Christmas (2019)". The Numbers. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
- "Black Christmas (1974)". Rotten Tomatoes.
- "Black Christmas". Metacritic.
- "Black Christmas (2006)". Rotten Tomatoes.
- "Black Christmas". Metacritic.
- "Black Christmas (2019)". Rotten Tomatoes.
- "Black Christmas". Metacritic.
- Hays, Lee (1976). 'Black Christmas'. Popular Library.
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