[Editorial] 12 Ghouls of Christmas: 5 reasons you should give Black Christmas (2006) a rewatch this year

Contains spoilers for Black Christmas (2006) and Black Christmas (1974)

The first time I watched the 2006 remake of Black Christmas (sometimes called Black Xmas) I thought it was a straightforward, fun slasher. I was so surprised to hear other horror fans, even slasher fans, tear this film apart. It has a lot to offer, especially considering that it doesn’t try to be a shot-for-shot remake of the original 1974 classic. It does its own enjoyable thing. If it’s been a while and you don’t remember loving this film, here are five reasons to give it another shot this year: 

1) It is gory and gruesome!

If you’re here for the blood and guts, you will not be disappointed. In addition to the expected-in-a-slasher spattering of blood from beatings and stabbings, there is a shocking amount of eyeball gouging and eating. Almost every victim has something happen to their eyes, and the camera does not hide from the goopy eye-popping scenes. Depending on which version of the film you have access to, you might get to see one character dragged down a hallway by her eye sockets. The villain, Billy, makes Christmas cookies out of his mother’s back flesh, and dips them in milk before slowly chewing them. The reveal of the dead bodies piled up at the end delivers in all the best ways you would expect from a bloody slasher. The gore alone makes this worth watching. 

2) Loving nods to the original with a 2006 twist

One of the reasons the 1974 original version of Black Christmas is so spectacular is its innovative ideas. It’s one of the first, if not the first, film to surprise audiences with the twist “the calls are coming from inside the house!” That twist worked well with the phone technology of 1974, and it’s a terrifying thought that the killer is taunting you in your own home. But in 2006, that exact twist wouldn’t make sense, so the remake uses available technology to its advantage. Caller ID existed by 2006, and all the college women have cell phones. Each time Billy kills a victim, he calls the sorority house land line with the latest victim’s cell. As the remaining characters recognize this pattern, the horror dawns on them that their friends have not taken off for the holiday, but are being brutally murdered. The tension reaches its peak when survivors call one missing sister’s cell, and it rings from the floor above them. Ergo, the calls are coming from inside the house once again.

3) The star-studded cast and their performances

We’re talking Michelle Trachtenberg, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Lacey Chabert, Kristen Cloke, Yan-Kay Crystal Lowe, and of course Andrea Martin who played Phyl in the original. Lowe’s portrayal of the character Lauren is a reverent tribute to Margot Kidder, without trying to ape Kidder’s performance. Lowe plays a convincing 2006 version of “the fun, drunk ,but also kind of sad” friend. As was the style for slashers at the time, the characters look their best at every moment: glossy lips, shiny hair, and perfect nails. They are written to be “bitchy,” constantly taking small swipes at one another, but clearly they also really love and lean on each other as sorority sisters. Each actress nails her performance, and it's fun to see where these actresses were at the time. 

4) 15 years later, we can more clearly see its place in history

The year 2006 was a different time, especially for horror. We were well out of the post-Scream slasher craze, and there were not many original slashers being made (aside from the Final Destination franchise, which was on its third film in 2006) as we were heading into the remake boom. The remakes of this era - including The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003), The Hills Have Eyes (2006), and Rob Zombie’s Halloween (2007) were all meaner, more brutal, and more nihilistic than their original 1970’s inspirations. In 2006, Black Christmas was following that same template, and like it or not, it was popular at the time. In 2006 we were on our way to Saw III (2006) and Hostel 2 (2007), comfortably in the torture porn era. Audiences, particularly American audiences, were hungry for gore and violence, as well as nostalgia. It’s always hard to understand a moment in history when you’re living it, but on the 15 year anniversary of the Black Christmas remake, we can look back at this as a piece of horror history. Even if you don’t love the film, give it a rewatch for some horror context. 

5) It is aggressively Christmassy!

If you need help getting into the Christmas mood, this film has you covered. Almost every single shot has Christmas decorations, including red and green twinkling lights. The flashbacks to Billy’s past have a haunting, gritty, almost sick Christmas motif, and the present-day shots are just as glossy and bright as the actresses. Whatever else this movie is, it might be the most Christmassy horror film I’ve seen. If you tend to like slashers and holiday-themed horror, give this one a shot this Christmas.

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