First off I would like to point out that all these remakes of classic horror films are unnecessary and for the most part they all suck. Doing a remake is like a double edged sword. On one hand, if you follow the original movie scene for scene than it’s completely pointless. On the other hand if you deviate too far from the original than you’re not being loyal to the material. It’s hard to find the right balance and meet somewhere in the middle. Somehow Black Christmas ‘06 finds that balance, but remains unsatisfactory. I do not consider the original Black Christmas as a slasher movie, but that is what the remake is 110%. While the original’s approach was more subtle and suspenseful, the remake is in your face and over the top. At first I thought that the remake had missed the mark in it’s approach by being the polar opposite of the original. After thinking it over I realized that was best thing to do. Keep the basic elements of the original, but twist it in a whole different direction. The remake is basically the blood splattered version with the high body count. Black Christmas meets Friday The 13th. This film fleshes out a story for Billy and Agnus who in the original were just names mentioned in the phone calls. Their back story is somewhat original, interesting and almost completely ridiculous. As previously mentioned there are a lot more girls in this movie than before. The cast is full of people already familiar to horror fans. It stars Michelle Trachtenberg (Buffy The Vampire Slayer), Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Crystal Lowe (Final Destination 3), Kristen Kloke (Final Destination) and Andrea Martin who starred in the original as Phyllis. Lacey Chabert, Katie Cassidy and Oliver Hudson also star. Those looking for nothing more than a gory good time need look to further. Almost every kill delivers in that department, although it does get kind of repetitive with everyone dying from some kind of head trauma. It must be said that the rest of the movie has not much else to offer. The overall look of the film is good. It genuinely feels like a cold Christmas night. The music is also very effective. So if you are interested in a movie with Christmas cookies made out of human flesh, eyeball eating, icicles through the head, death by candy cane, and pretty girls (who pretty much remain clothed except for one brief moment) than this may be what you are looking for. It is inevitable that you will compare this to the original as you should do with any remake. In doing so you will be severely disappointed. However, if you are able to look at this movie on it’s own merit (which I usually find impossible to do with remakes of beloved classics) you might have a slightly better response to it. Frankly, in comparison to the original this movie, which is a perfect 10, the remake is a 2/10. On it’s own I would give Black Christmas ‘06 a 4/10.

Special Features: What Have You Done: The Remaking Of Black Christmas, May all your Christmases Be Black: A Filmmaker’s Journey, Deleted Scenes, 3 Alternate Endings.