'Tis the Season to be Ripped Off

For the past ten minutes, my hands were hovering over the keyboard, as I pondered whether or not I should begin my initial post in this fragile state. You see, I am becoming increasingly aware of the compromised state of film, and in my praise of many (seemingly) great movies, I feel I have been playing the fool for many years.

Let us begin with Black Christmas. (D: Bob Clark, 1974) I have been lauding this cinematic carbon copy to the skies to various friends and acquaintances who now must think I am a moron. Black Christmas is the tale of the Pi Alpha Sig sorority house in the fictional (?) town of Bedford. It centers around two girls in particular, sorority sisters Barb (Margot Kidder) and Jess. (Olivia Hussey) As their friends are systematically killed off one by one by an obscene phone caller, Barb and Jess struggle to uncover the identity of the killer. Jess suspects it may be her boyfriend Peter. Most of the time Barb is too drunk to suspect anything.

But I am straying from what I really want to write about. I figured that the holiday season is as good a time as any to write about movies that are ripping off other movies, (considering what merchants are doing to their patrons all over the globe!) so I think that Black Christmas is a good place to get started. Black Christmas is the first thing that came to mind, because I recently held a screening of it with some friends, and then an odd series of events occurred that caused me to reevaluate my original opinion of Clark's signature work.

As it happens, Black Christmas is a viciously efficient exercise in terror, utilizing point of view shots from the killer's eyes, as well as holiday-season set thrills and chills, and several sequences that skillfully ratchet up the tension. But the fact of the matter is that Black Christmas is unoriginal.

Just days after I held the screening of Black Christmas for friends, I happened upon another, lesser-known film on cable, entitled "Halloween." (D: John Carpenter, 1978) My mouth hung open as I watched in disbelief, realizing that Black Christmas was a complete ripoff of Halloween. Both films are set during a holiday, both concern young girls getting killed off by a maniac, and as if this wasn't enough, they employ many of the same gimmicks, technically speaking. Halloween contained many of the same point of view shots from the killer's perspective, most specifically in the opening scene of each respective film. In Halloween, young Michael Myers (the killer) stalks his own house, culminating with the murder of his sister, Judith. In Black Christmas, the anonymous killer stalks the sorority house, but the scene ends with him deciding to roost in the attic.

My realization of Black Christmas' unoriginality took another hit when, on a commercial break during my viewing of Halloween, I see a preview for...wait for it...Black Christmas. (D:Glen Morgan, 2006)

My once high esteem for Black Christmas (1974) has been reduced to this: it is a reunion of actors who have made careers out of appearing in inferior ripoffs and prequels. Let me explain.

Olivia Hussey, who was in Romeo & Juliet (D: Franco Zeffereli, 1967), a dreadfully inferior remake of a film immortalized by Baz Luhrmann, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes, then decided to appear in Black Christmas which was a ripoff of Halloween and a prequel to Black Christmas (2006.) Margot Kidder shamelessly took on the role of Lois Lane in the prequel to Superman Returns. ("Superman" D: Richard Donner, 1978) Believe it or not, in that film the Man of Steel was portrayed by a paraplegic! And the suspected killer in Black Christmas is played by Keir Dullea who appeared in 2001: A Space Odyssey (D: Stanley Kubrick, 1968), which was another pale prequel to 2010: The Year We Make Contact. (D: Peter Hyams, 1984) Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention the presence of John Saxon. I originally admired his work as the steadfast police chief Lieutenant Kenneth Fuller, but as it happens, not only is he reprising the exact same kind of role he played in the vastly superior A Nightmare on Elm Street, (D: Wes Craven, 1984) but that movie is also a prequel to A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: The Dream Warriors, (D: Chuck Russell, 1987) in which he plays the exact same part of Lieutenant Donald Thompson!

While I have yet to see the 2006 version of Black Christmas, I can tell from the trailer how much better it is than the 1974 version. It is complete with killer lines like when the little girl notices a shadow coming from the attic and utters "Is that Santa's reindeer?" There are no lines as punchy as that in the 1974 version.

My advice to you: Be wary of films that you admire the first time around. Do not recommend them until you have done your research, because the odds are that it is really just a lame prequel to a newer movie with better CGI and more cool one liners.

IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING
Glen Morgan, director of Black Christmas (2006) wrote the original screenplay for Final Destination 3! If this is not exciting enough, Black Christmas will be released on Christmas Day! No, I am not pulling your leg. Black Christmas will be in theatres everywhere, December 25th, 2006.