PopHorror Let's Get Scared
He sees you when you’re sleeping… and he ain’t no Santa Claus. It’s been fifteen years since we were introduced to Billy and the girls at Delta Alpha Kappa sorority. If someone made me choose between the 1974’s original and the 2006 remake, I’d choose the original. However, Glen Morgan’s version is a close second.
Black Christmas (2006) scared me when I first saw it. I was quite young, and I was terrified by the fact Billy suffered from jaundice. I didn’t understand what it was or that people actually suffered from it. Needless to say, I silently panicked when I found out it was real. Also can we just take a minute and mention that it was fifteen years later when Billy came home and now the film itself is turning 15!
Synopsis:
The Christmas season turns deadly for a group of sorority sisters (Katie Cassidy, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Lacey Chabert, Michelle Trachtenberg) who are stranded at their campus house during a snowstorm, unaware that vicious killer Billy is coming home. Also staring Kristen Cloke, Andrea Martin, and Oliver Hudson.
10 Fun Facts About Black Christmas (2006)
1) Glen Morgan approached Mary Elizabeth Winstead about the movie at 4 AM in the airport after finishing Final Destination 3 (2006) with her. After being hesitant at first after only just finishing a horror movie, she agreed to the role of Heather because she is a fan of the 1974 version.
2) Andrea Martin, who played Phyllis in Black Christmas (1974), said in an interview that she hadn’t thought about Black Christmas for 32 years, and it “came out of the blue” when Glen Morgan offered her the role as the house mother in the movie.
3) Michelle Trachtenberg became interested in serial killers during production and would often do research on them while on breaks.
4) During one scene, the famous leg lamp from A Christmas Story (1983) can be seen in the background. This may be a reference to Bob Clark, the director of the original Black Christmas.
5) All the girls did their own stunts.
6) The film was shot in Canada in just 29 days. Just like to point out that the 1974 original film is also a Canadian film. My fellow Canadians, I offer you a high five!
7) The fake snow that was used in the film would unfortunately get sticky and very gluey whenever it rained during filming. As a Canadian, I can tell you it’s very cold in the winter—at least where I’m from—so I understand why they didn’t use real snow.
8) Glen Morgan based the character of Billy Lenz on the life of Ed Kemper, a real-life serial killer who, as a child, had been locked in the basement of his home by his mother, whom he later murdered in revenge.
9) Out of all the actresses in the film, Lacey Chabert is the only one that was not previously involved with the horror genre.
10) As the majority of the film takes place during a blackout inside a sorority house, the cinematographers and lighting department were forced to find inventive ways to achieve appropriate lighting on the actors, which included cutting holes in the walls.
Happy holidays, PopHorror fans!
