Its Going to be a BLACK Christmas [ March 30, 2005 ]
Source: Chris & Movies Online.ca
With remakes of classic movies on the rise, I personally have been waiting for one low budget, Canadian Horror classic to have its turn being remade into a new masterpiece. Finally, Black Christmas is in the spotlight. The 1974 Canadian Horror, shined light down on the bleak horror scene in the 70's and paved the way for future slasher films for the times to come.
Inspiring such gory film as The Friday the 13th series, as well as the Halloween series, Black Christmas is a classic of its own, and its about time someone stepped up to the plate. For those of you who haven't seen the original, Black Christmas is about a pyschotic maniac terrorizing a sorority house before the Christmas break. The killer makes himself at home, residing in the attic of the Sorority. Like a cat and mouse game, he terrorizes the helpless college students with eerie phone calls using mutiple voices that just sends chills up your spine and leaves you wide eyed, and clutching the person beside you.
The original, was directed by Bob Clark, also known for another Christmas Movie, titled, A Christmas Story. The original cast consisted of a young canadian cast; Margot Kidder, Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea, and Margot Kidder. There's no official word on who will star in the cult classic, but it is known that Toronto-based Copperheart Enterainment have signed on filmmaking duo's Glen Morgan and James Wong to write the screenplay.
The two are best known for their work on the once hit series, The X-files, and the Final Destination series. Glen Morgan has accepted the offer to Direct the film, and it is said that they are well underway shooting. There's no official release date, but they are aiming for Christmas 2006. Looks like for this horror buff, Christmas can't come any faster.
Source: Chris & Movies Online.ca
With remakes of classic movies on the rise, I personally have been waiting for one low budget, Canadian Horror classic to have its turn being remade into a new masterpiece. Finally, Black Christmas is in the spotlight. The 1974 Canadian Horror, shined light down on the bleak horror scene in the 70's and paved the way for future slasher films for the times to come.
Inspiring such gory film as The Friday the 13th series, as well as the Halloween series, Black Christmas is a classic of its own, and its about time someone stepped up to the plate. For those of you who haven't seen the original, Black Christmas is about a pyschotic maniac terrorizing a sorority house before the Christmas break. The killer makes himself at home, residing in the attic of the Sorority. Like a cat and mouse game, he terrorizes the helpless college students with eerie phone calls using mutiple voices that just sends chills up your spine and leaves you wide eyed, and clutching the person beside you.
The original, was directed by Bob Clark, also known for another Christmas Movie, titled, A Christmas Story. The original cast consisted of a young canadian cast; Margot Kidder, Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea, and Margot Kidder. There's no official word on who will star in the cult classic, but it is known that Toronto-based Copperheart Enterainment have signed on filmmaking duo's Glen Morgan and James Wong to write the screenplay.
The two are best known for their work on the once hit series, The X-files, and the Final Destination series. Glen Morgan has accepted the offer to Direct the film, and it is said that they are well underway shooting. There's no official release date, but they are aiming for Christmas 2006. Looks like for this horror buff, Christmas can't come any faster.
In the Future: The Cast of Black Christmas [ March 15, 2005 ]
Source: Heather Newgen & Coming Soon.net
The cast of Black Christmas may be busy now shooting the upcoming remake, but that's not all they've been busy doing. The young stars of the film have been working on other projects as well, but have still found time to be dedicated to the creepy classic horror film.
Katie Cassidy, who plays the sweet and innocent sorority sister in "Christmas," can be seen next in Click, with Adam Sandler, which hits theatres on June 23.
The premise is about a family who Sandler doesn't really make time for because he's so focused on his work. He finds a remote control which can rewind, fast forward, mute, or slow motion his life. Complications start to arise however when the remote overrules parts of his life. Later on he realizes his kids have grown up and he has no idea who they really are. Cassidy plays his daughter and thinks this is one of the greatest Adam Sandler films yet.
"I actually play 27 which I don't know if I look like a 27-year-old, but that's OK… I think it's going to be really good. I think maybe one of his best which I'm excited to say I was in it. It was cool and fun working with him. I play Kate Beckinsale's daughter and she was great. It was so crazy. I had scenes with Kate Beckinsale, Adam Sandler, Sean Astin and Christopher Walken. I was like what I am doing here? All of them are brilliant."
Oliver Hudson who plays Kyle, the suspicious boyfriend in the film, will be in the upcoming NBC miniseries 10.5: Apocalypse.
"It's about the end of the world. They actually did a '10.5' last year that was a wildly successful miniseries for NBC so they decided to do the sequel to it. It's literally based on the Apocalypses."
From Ice Princess to Black Christmas, Michelle Trachtenberg is proving what a versatile actress she is. In "Christmas," she is an obnoxious and sarcastic sorority girl who provides comedy relief and has a darker side to her than the rest.
You can look for her in Beautiful Ohio with William Hurt and Rita Wilson. Chad Lowe directed the film which will hit the festival circuit soon. And then "just for fun" she says she did a guest appearance for an episode of House, which she is "obsessed" with, she laughed. "I love Hugh Laurie."
Black Christmas will hit theaters later this year.
Source: Heather Newgen & Coming Soon.net
The cast of Black Christmas may be busy now shooting the upcoming remake, but that's not all they've been busy doing. The young stars of the film have been working on other projects as well, but have still found time to be dedicated to the creepy classic horror film.
Katie Cassidy, who plays the sweet and innocent sorority sister in "Christmas," can be seen next in Click, with Adam Sandler, which hits theatres on June 23.
The premise is about a family who Sandler doesn't really make time for because he's so focused on his work. He finds a remote control which can rewind, fast forward, mute, or slow motion his life. Complications start to arise however when the remote overrules parts of his life. Later on he realizes his kids have grown up and he has no idea who they really are. Cassidy plays his daughter and thinks this is one of the greatest Adam Sandler films yet.
"I actually play 27 which I don't know if I look like a 27-year-old, but that's OK… I think it's going to be really good. I think maybe one of his best which I'm excited to say I was in it. It was cool and fun working with him. I play Kate Beckinsale's daughter and she was great. It was so crazy. I had scenes with Kate Beckinsale, Adam Sandler, Sean Astin and Christopher Walken. I was like what I am doing here? All of them are brilliant."
Oliver Hudson who plays Kyle, the suspicious boyfriend in the film, will be in the upcoming NBC miniseries 10.5: Apocalypse.
"It's about the end of the world. They actually did a '10.5' last year that was a wildly successful miniseries for NBC so they decided to do the sequel to it. It's literally based on the Apocalypses."
From Ice Princess to Black Christmas, Michelle Trachtenberg is proving what a versatile actress she is. In "Christmas," she is an obnoxious and sarcastic sorority girl who provides comedy relief and has a darker side to her than the rest.
You can look for her in Beautiful Ohio with William Hurt and Rita Wilson. Chad Lowe directed the film which will hit the festival circuit soon. And then "just for fun" she says she did a guest appearance for an episode of House, which she is "obsessed" with, she laughed. "I love Hugh Laurie."
Black Christmas will hit theaters later this year.
Black Christmas Set Visit! [ March 15, 2005 ]
Source: Heather Newgen & Coming Soon.net
Black Christmas, the story of four sorority sisters being harassed with anonymous and terrifying calls and then killed off one by one during Christmas break, is currently being remade and shot in Vancouver, British Columbia. The new film, with a cast of promising young actresses such as Michelle Trachtenberg, Katie Cassidy and Mary Elizabeth Winstead, has new twists that will be just as frightening.
ComingSoon.net was invited to hang out on the set and see the remake of the 1974 film in action.
While on location, I was given free reign to look around and was not denied access to any part of the set. The cast and crew were very approachable and fortunately the day I was there the entire cast was on set, including Andrea Martin who was in the original. Martin played Phyllis, one of the sorority girls being stalked in the first Black Christmas and now she plays the house mother of the sorority house that is being terrorized.
"I haven't thought about the film in 32 years," Martin told ComingSoon.net. [The remake] "Really did come out of the blue."
Director Glen Morgan confessed, "I wanted either Andrea or Margot Kidder because it pays respect to the first movie."
There are some major differences in the new version and Martin explained, "The premise is certainly still the same. Young girls and a house mother living in a sorority house on a Christmas evening. One of the girls' boyfriend is highly suspicious. People being killed up in the attic. The special effects are probably much more gory and the attitude of the girls are much more sophisticated."
According to Martin, the key alteration in the remake is the glimpse you have of who you think the killer is and the back story that will be told about the murderer and how he grew up.
Trachtenberg added, "in terms of a modern movie we have a lot of camera angles that are pretty bad ass and the original 'Black Christmas' was mostly handheld and kind of shaky and we don't depend on that as much. We depend on more suspense and intrigue. We sort of play into people's fear as opposed to shock value."
The scene I watched them shoot over and over again was with all of the girls. Kelli (Cassidy) and Heather (Winstead) run into Kelli's boyfriend Kyle (Oliver Hudson) in the hallway of the house. Kelli is upset because Kyle is in Megan's room who is another sorority sister. But, the girls in the house haven't figured out yet that Megan is really missing. They just haven't seen in her in awhile.
Crystal Lowe who plays Lauren, the drunken sorority girl, explains the scene more.
"We've heard this scream and we don't know what's going on. There's been some creepy calls and we're trying to figure out what's going on right now… We're not just looking for Megan. We don't know where she's been. It's not like a hunt for her. We're just like what's up with Megan. Where the hell is she? It's kinda like that."
I was still a little confused as to what was happening so Hudson, the only male lead, was cool enough to tell me what was going on.
"I'm trying to get to Megan because we had a torrid affair months ago… I'm sneaking into the room to try and tell her something. Megan something before she finds out. And I'm caught by my current girlfriend kind of snooping around in the dark and Megan's room and she's curious as to why. I'll talk my way out of it," he said smiling.
Now I get it, but I don't know about Kyle talking his way out of anything because Kelli is upset thinking she has just been cheated on. When she confronts her boyfriend she doesn't really believe what he has to say.
"He was like, 'well your house mom wouldn't let me in' and bla bla bla. Liar! Not really buying it," Cassidy laughed.
Morgan admitted he wasn't the one who actually chose Hudson for the role.
"Guys came in and read for it, and my fourteen-year-old daughter was like 'That guy! That guy!'"
But, that wasn't the case for Winstead, who Morgan just worked with on Final Destination 3.
"We were in the airport about 4:00 in the morning and I said 'there's this thing,' and I told her about it. She was a little hesitant to do another horror movie, which I understood. I just love her, and it's great to have her."
Winstead told me she was such an admirer of the original and appreciated how dark the film was.
"I loved it. I thought it was extremely creepy and disturbing. Just the voice of Billy. The phone calls are enough. You don't need any blood or anything. It's just that. That hits you in your gut when you hear that."
There is no release date yet for Black Christmas, but I was told they are shooting for around the holidays.
Source: Heather Newgen & Coming Soon.net
Black Christmas, the story of four sorority sisters being harassed with anonymous and terrifying calls and then killed off one by one during Christmas break, is currently being remade and shot in Vancouver, British Columbia. The new film, with a cast of promising young actresses such as Michelle Trachtenberg, Katie Cassidy and Mary Elizabeth Winstead, has new twists that will be just as frightening.
ComingSoon.net was invited to hang out on the set and see the remake of the 1974 film in action.
While on location, I was given free reign to look around and was not denied access to any part of the set. The cast and crew were very approachable and fortunately the day I was there the entire cast was on set, including Andrea Martin who was in the original. Martin played Phyllis, one of the sorority girls being stalked in the first Black Christmas and now she plays the house mother of the sorority house that is being terrorized.
"I haven't thought about the film in 32 years," Martin told ComingSoon.net. [The remake] "Really did come out of the blue."
Director Glen Morgan confessed, "I wanted either Andrea or Margot Kidder because it pays respect to the first movie."
There are some major differences in the new version and Martin explained, "The premise is certainly still the same. Young girls and a house mother living in a sorority house on a Christmas evening. One of the girls' boyfriend is highly suspicious. People being killed up in the attic. The special effects are probably much more gory and the attitude of the girls are much more sophisticated."
According to Martin, the key alteration in the remake is the glimpse you have of who you think the killer is and the back story that will be told about the murderer and how he grew up.
Trachtenberg added, "in terms of a modern movie we have a lot of camera angles that are pretty bad ass and the original 'Black Christmas' was mostly handheld and kind of shaky and we don't depend on that as much. We depend on more suspense and intrigue. We sort of play into people's fear as opposed to shock value."
The scene I watched them shoot over and over again was with all of the girls. Kelli (Cassidy) and Heather (Winstead) run into Kelli's boyfriend Kyle (Oliver Hudson) in the hallway of the house. Kelli is upset because Kyle is in Megan's room who is another sorority sister. But, the girls in the house haven't figured out yet that Megan is really missing. They just haven't seen in her in awhile.
Crystal Lowe who plays Lauren, the drunken sorority girl, explains the scene more.
"We've heard this scream and we don't know what's going on. There's been some creepy calls and we're trying to figure out what's going on right now… We're not just looking for Megan. We don't know where she's been. It's not like a hunt for her. We're just like what's up with Megan. Where the hell is she? It's kinda like that."
I was still a little confused as to what was happening so Hudson, the only male lead, was cool enough to tell me what was going on.
"I'm trying to get to Megan because we had a torrid affair months ago… I'm sneaking into the room to try and tell her something. Megan something before she finds out. And I'm caught by my current girlfriend kind of snooping around in the dark and Megan's room and she's curious as to why. I'll talk my way out of it," he said smiling.
Now I get it, but I don't know about Kyle talking his way out of anything because Kelli is upset thinking she has just been cheated on. When she confronts her boyfriend she doesn't really believe what he has to say.
"He was like, 'well your house mom wouldn't let me in' and bla bla bla. Liar! Not really buying it," Cassidy laughed.
Morgan admitted he wasn't the one who actually chose Hudson for the role.
"Guys came in and read for it, and my fourteen-year-old daughter was like 'That guy! That guy!'"
But, that wasn't the case for Winstead, who Morgan just worked with on Final Destination 3.
"We were in the airport about 4:00 in the morning and I said 'there's this thing,' and I told her about it. She was a little hesitant to do another horror movie, which I understood. I just love her, and it's great to have her."
Winstead told me she was such an admirer of the original and appreciated how dark the film was.
"I loved it. I thought it was extremely creepy and disturbing. Just the voice of Billy. The phone calls are enough. You don't need any blood or anything. It's just that. That hits you in your gut when you hear that."
There is no release date yet for Black Christmas, but I was told they are shooting for around the holidays.
First pics and report: BLACK CHRISTMAS [ March 08, 2005 ]
Source: Dayna Van Buskirk & Fangoria.com
Filming is well underway on Dimension's remake of BLACK CHRISTMAS (due presumably for holiday-season 2006 release), the latest fright outing from filmmakers Glen Morgan and James Wong (the first and third FINAL DESTINATIONs and WILLARD). With principal photography in Vancouver just about half-complete, Bob Clark, director of the 1974 original, recently visited the set, taking a break from preproduction on the remake of his very first horror film, 1972's CHILDREN SHOULDN'T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS, which he'll once again direct.
Glen Morgan wrote and directs the updated CHRISTMAS, with Wong serving as producer; initially, they were presented with a very different screenplay. "We did a first draft with a Canadian set of writers," Clark tells Fango. "Glen felt that they strayed too far from the original. He wanted to pull it back to the house more."
"That script was very different from the original BLACK CHRISTMAS, and this version," Wong says. "We read it and said, ‘This is not what we want to do.' But BLACK CHRISTMAS is a great movie, and Glen had a take on it. He really thought that we had to go back to the sorority—that that was the way to do it."
"We have the advantage of having a totally undeveloped story: Billy," Clark continues, referring to the psychopath who torments the college girls with frightening, obscene phone calls before turning to violence. "Who is Billy? What is Billy? That is what Glen has been so clever in doing, using that and developing it. The audience will love finding out about him. We get the history before we go, to see how and why Billy [is who he is] so you know something about him. All we knew about Billy [in the original] was what he revealed to us in his madness over the phone."
Morgan created a backstory for Billy based on the suggestions in that madness, and the character indeed gets his own prologue in the remake, and is part of the sorority house's dark history. The story has been updated to incorporate a bit of modern technology, particularly cell phones. Expect a higher body count, and more gore than the original, but certainly not the kind of all-out carnage Morgan and Wong delivered in the FINAL DESTINATION flicks. The FX will be largely practical, with FD3 and X FILES' Toby Lindala providing makeup FX and Morgan and Wong decidedly aiming for an R rating.
In the manner of this year's WHEN A STRANGER CALLS redux, the events of the new BLACK CHRISTMAS take place in one night entirely in and around the sorority house, where the girls are stranded by a storm. The cast includes STRANGER victim Katie Cassidy, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Crystal Lowe from FD3, Lacey (MEAN GIRLS) Chabert and Michelle (BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER) Trachtenberg. Kristen Cloke, Morgan's wife, who acted for him in the first FINAL DESTINATION, WILLARD and episodes of THE X FILES and MILLENNIUM, appears as well, and original CHRISTMAS sorority girl and SECOND CITY veteran Andrea Martin returns for much more than just a cameo: she plays the new housemother (pictured above, and below with Cassidy and Trachtenberg). —Dayna Van Buskirk
Source: Dayna Van Buskirk & Fangoria.com
Filming is well underway on Dimension's remake of BLACK CHRISTMAS (due presumably for holiday-season 2006 release), the latest fright outing from filmmakers Glen Morgan and James Wong (the first and third FINAL DESTINATIONs and WILLARD). With principal photography in Vancouver just about half-complete, Bob Clark, director of the 1974 original, recently visited the set, taking a break from preproduction on the remake of his very first horror film, 1972's CHILDREN SHOULDN'T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS, which he'll once again direct.
Glen Morgan wrote and directs the updated CHRISTMAS, with Wong serving as producer; initially, they were presented with a very different screenplay. "We did a first draft with a Canadian set of writers," Clark tells Fango. "Glen felt that they strayed too far from the original. He wanted to pull it back to the house more."
"That script was very different from the original BLACK CHRISTMAS, and this version," Wong says. "We read it and said, ‘This is not what we want to do.' But BLACK CHRISTMAS is a great movie, and Glen had a take on it. He really thought that we had to go back to the sorority—that that was the way to do it."
"We have the advantage of having a totally undeveloped story: Billy," Clark continues, referring to the psychopath who torments the college girls with frightening, obscene phone calls before turning to violence. "Who is Billy? What is Billy? That is what Glen has been so clever in doing, using that and developing it. The audience will love finding out about him. We get the history before we go, to see how and why Billy [is who he is] so you know something about him. All we knew about Billy [in the original] was what he revealed to us in his madness over the phone."
Morgan created a backstory for Billy based on the suggestions in that madness, and the character indeed gets his own prologue in the remake, and is part of the sorority house's dark history. The story has been updated to incorporate a bit of modern technology, particularly cell phones. Expect a higher body count, and more gore than the original, but certainly not the kind of all-out carnage Morgan and Wong delivered in the FINAL DESTINATION flicks. The FX will be largely practical, with FD3 and X FILES' Toby Lindala providing makeup FX and Morgan and Wong decidedly aiming for an R rating.
In the manner of this year's WHEN A STRANGER CALLS redux, the events of the new BLACK CHRISTMAS take place in one night entirely in and around the sorority house, where the girls are stranded by a storm. The cast includes STRANGER victim Katie Cassidy, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Crystal Lowe from FD3, Lacey (MEAN GIRLS) Chabert and Michelle (BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER) Trachtenberg. Kristen Cloke, Morgan's wife, who acted for him in the first FINAL DESTINATION, WILLARD and episodes of THE X FILES and MILLENNIUM, appears as well, and original CHRISTMAS sorority girl and SECOND CITY veteran Andrea Martin returns for much more than just a cameo: she plays the new housemother (pictured above, and below with Cassidy and Trachtenberg). —Dayna Van Buskirk
First look at Black Christmas [ February 22, 2005 ]
Source: canada.com
Cameras are rolling in Vancouver on an update of the 1974 horror movie Black Christmas - and canada.com has your first look at the female cast.
Writers/directors James Wong and Glen Morgan are shooting the new version of Bob Clark’s cult classic with hot young stars like Michelle Trachtenberg and Lacey Chabert. Andrea Martin, who appeared in the original, also stars in the feature.
It is due in theatres this holiday season.
Black Christmas is the story of a sorority house terrorized by a mysterious caller who kills girls off one by one during the Christmas break.
Mary Elizabeth Winstead, currently seen in Final Destination 3, insisted it is not necessarily a remake.
"It's interesting, because it's sort of both a prequel and a sequel [to the original]," she said in an interview. "The first chunk of the film follows the childhood and back story of Billy, who's the crazed killer. And then it picks up with the girls in the sorority house in present day, and Billy comes back for a visit. Then there are a lot of twists and disturbing turns, and things that you wouldn't expect."
In addition to Martin, the original Black Christmas starred Margot Kidder and Olivia Hussey. The cast of the new version includes Katie Cassidy (daughter of ‘70s heartthrob David Cassidy) and Oliver Hudson (son of Goldie Hawn and brother of Kate Hudson).
Filming is expected to wrap up in Vancouver next month.
Source: canada.com
Cameras are rolling in Vancouver on an update of the 1974 horror movie Black Christmas - and canada.com has your first look at the female cast.
Writers/directors James Wong and Glen Morgan are shooting the new version of Bob Clark’s cult classic with hot young stars like Michelle Trachtenberg and Lacey Chabert. Andrea Martin, who appeared in the original, also stars in the feature.
It is due in theatres this holiday season.
Black Christmas is the story of a sorority house terrorized by a mysterious caller who kills girls off one by one during the Christmas break.
Mary Elizabeth Winstead, currently seen in Final Destination 3, insisted it is not necessarily a remake.
"It's interesting, because it's sort of both a prequel and a sequel [to the original]," she said in an interview. "The first chunk of the film follows the childhood and back story of Billy, who's the crazed killer. And then it picks up with the girls in the sorority house in present day, and Billy comes back for a visit. Then there are a lot of twists and disturbing turns, and things that you wouldn't expect."
In addition to Martin, the original Black Christmas starred Margot Kidder and Olivia Hussey. The cast of the new version includes Katie Cassidy (daughter of ‘70s heartthrob David Cassidy) and Oliver Hudson (son of Goldie Hawn and brother of Kate Hudson).
Filming is expected to wrap up in Vancouver next month.
Trachtenberg Celebrates a Black Christmas [ January 16, 2005 ]
Source: Production Weekly & ComingSoon.net
Michelle Trachtenberg (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) is set to topline 2929 Productions' horror remake Black Christmas, from the filmmaking team James Wong and Glen Morgan (Final Destination).
Production Weekly reports she will be joined in the Dimension Films project by Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Katie Cassidy and Oliver Hudson.
Black Christmas is about a killer who terrorizes a sorority house with phone calls before he begins to murder various sorority sisters during the holiday break.
The film, which starts shooting at the end of this month in Vancouver, is slated for a Christmas 2006 release. Wong and Morgan are producing, with Morgan writing and directing.
Source: Production Weekly & ComingSoon.net
Michelle Trachtenberg (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) is set to topline 2929 Productions' horror remake Black Christmas, from the filmmaking team James Wong and Glen Morgan (Final Destination).
Production Weekly reports she will be joined in the Dimension Films project by Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Katie Cassidy and Oliver Hudson.
Black Christmas is about a killer who terrorizes a sorority house with phone calls before he begins to murder various sorority sisters during the holiday break.
The film, which starts shooting at the end of this month in Vancouver, is slated for a Christmas 2006 release. Wong and Morgan are producing, with Morgan writing and directing.
