Black Christmas – Special Edition (Somerville/Critical Mass)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: C+     Film: B+

 

 

When we first looked at Bob Clark’s classic Black Christmas (1974), it was a DVD you had to special order and has since been picked up as a remake that is imminent.  The link to that review is:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/1836/Black+Christmas+(25th+Anniversary+Ed.)

 

 

A huge influence on John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978, also reviewed elsewhere on this site and also being remade, but by Rob Zombie?!?!?!), an upgraded version from the Somerville label has arrived with an anamorphically enhanced 1.85 X 1 image that is on par with the old 1.33 X 1 version, a 5.1 remix that is a huge disappointment and expanded extras that include two newly-discovered original scenes with a new vocal soundtrack, "The 12 Days of Black Christmas" featurette, interview segments with Olivia Hussey and Margot Kidder and a midnight screening Q&A with John Saxon, Bob Clark, and Carl Zittrer.

 

Fortunately, the Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is really good here and even better than the previously reviewed version, so this is the best version of the original to get until someone comes up with an HD edition.  If the remake is a hit, that might be sooner than we think.

 

For more information about the film and what is next with its rediscovery, you can go to www.ItsMeBilly.com and also see what the reaction to the remake is.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo