Season’s Greetings!
After this episode of the Video Store Podcast some of you may be wondering about my sanity. (I know my mother does.) Listen, I love Christmas films — I really do! I grew up on all those Rankin-Bass specials and classic Christmas movies… but after watching a dozen Hallmark specials in a row, don’t you wish that at least once a fight would break out and someone would carve more than the turkey? No? Oh, dear. Maybe my mother was right. On this episode I share four horror-themed Christmas classics.
First up is 1974’s Black Christmas, a film that, along with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (also released in 1974). In the film a sorority house is bombarded with obscene phone calls that quickly turn violent. What the sorority sisters don’t realize is that the calls are coming from inside the house. The killer is hiding in the attic, as are some of his victims. This might not have been the best film to lead off with because it is a straight up horror film. It is considered to be one of the first slasher films, and the first “holiday” slasher film. It’s easy to see how later films like Halloween and Friday the 13th were influenced by it. While the film does take place over the holiday break, don’t hold out for a Christmas miracle when it comes to the ending.
Next up is 1984’s Silent Night, Deadly Night. You know how they say sometimes a film’s reputation precedes it? The release of this film was highly protested, not so much because of its content but because of the film’s artwork which featured an arm (dressed in a Santa suit) reaching out of a chimney and holding an ax. The film was so highly contested that Gene Siskel once read the names of the producers of the film and shamed them on television. Despite only running in theaters for a single week, it managed to bring in $2.5 million and did even better in rental stores. It was so successful that we eventually got four sequels to the film. Silent Night, Deadly Night is definitely a horror film but with a few light moments thrown in.
My third film this week is 1997’s Jack Frost, not to be consued with the 1998 film by the same name starring Michael Keaton. In this holiday treat, a transport vehicle carring a convicted serial killer combines with a van full of genetic testing chemicals (that’s never good) and as a result the killer, named Jack Frost, finds himself melted and merged with the layer of snow he landed on. Essentially the plot of this film is the same as Child’s Play, instead of the killer ending up in a doll, here he becomes a snowman. This is more of a black comedy than a straight up horror film and according to Rotten Tomatoes it wasn’t a very good one, but those people need to drink more spiked eggnog before watching classics like this.
The last film on my list is 1984’s Gremlins. If you haven’t seen it in a while you might have forgotten that Gremlins takes place around Christmas. (Billy’s Mogwai was a Christmas gift, remember?) With names like Steven Spielberg, Joe Dante, Chris Columbus, Phoebe Cates, Keye Luke, Howie Mandell, and even Corey Feldman, this film was destined to be a classic. This is a film that I often catch scenes of while flipping channels, but really should be watched from beginning to end to fully enjoy.
This year I noticed Home Depot had their Christmas holiday decorations out on display in late October. I heard “Wonderful Christmastime” dozens of times on the radio before Thanksgiving. It seems like we get bombarded with Christmas films, television episodes, TV specials and music for two solid months each year. I like Christmas, I really do, but every now and then a film featuring a guy in a Santa outfit wielding an ax is a nice break from it all.
Enjoy and seasons greetings from me and the other employees here at the video store.
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