He's chillin...and killin

Jack Frost
2097 | R | 1Hr 28 Min | Horror | Frost Bite Films

Director: Michael Cooney
Writers:

Jeremy Paige

Michael Cooney
Stars: 

Scott MacDonald

Christopher Allport

Stephen Mendel

Shannon Elizabeth

Synopsis:

A serial killer is genetically mutated in a car wreck on the way to his execution. After this, he becomes a murdering snowman hell-bent on revenge for the sheriff who caught him.

Stop I know what you're going to say but listen Jack Frost is pure joy and a playful B-horror flick to get you into the Christmas spirit. And it will not try to hide the fact either. The film follows the familiar format of monsters going out and killing people in senseless (yet fun) fashion with the surviving citizens banding together to try to stop it. But not before more people die. And then a couple more after that!

Nothing is better then Jack spewing out awful pun-infused dialogue and some rather sick methods of bringing on death. For example, a boy gets decapitated by a slow-moving sled. And you know, it’s pretty damn funny. Although a boy having his head chopped off should in no way cause a chuckle it’s so over-the-top it’s hard not to. And it never lets up! 

Michael Cooney knows his budget is so low he addressed it with Fangoria "Campbell Soup's "Let it Snow" advertisement and notes that that commercial (which similarly features a living snowman character) had a budget "three times" that of the film." Furthermore, he stated that Identity, another film he wrote, had a budget of $30 million, while Jack Frost was made for "the cost of its catering budget". Yet he winks at the camera giving us something to laugh at that would otherwise be just plain bad. But in making it really, really, horribly bad, Jack Frost is at the very least entertaining. And is there anything else you could ask for from a B-movie about a serial-killing snowman?

And of course, Jack Frost is famous for giving us Shannon Elizabeth and her raped by a snowman scene. I guess the lesson of the story is that a budget of nothing limits the amount of fake snow you can produce so live with it and move on. Jack is a fantastic time waster full of belly laughs. If your celebrating Creepmas this one should top your list!

4 Bloody Brains out of 5

Don't eat yellow snow!

The sort of Christmas you don't dream of.

Black Christmas
1974 | R | 1Hr 38 Min | Horror | CFCD

Director: Bob Clark

Writer: Roy Moore

Stars:

Olivia Hussey

Keir Dullea

Margot Kidder

John Saxon

Synopsis:

It's time for Christmas break, and the sorority sisters make plans for the holiday, but the strange anonymous phone calls are beginning to put them on edge. When Clare disappears, they contact the police, who don't express much concern. Meanwhile, Jess is planning to get an abortion, but boyfriend Peter is very much against it. The police finally begin to get concerned when a 13-year-old girl is found dead in the park. They set up a wiretap to the sorority house, but will they be in time to prevent a sorority girl attrition problem?

Not wanting to completely miss out on Creepmas and thanks to a little help from Joe Bob Briggs and Shudder this past weekend helped me get into the dark holiday spirit. I have always wanted to dive into Bob Clark's Black Christmas when it started to gain momentum of a lost gem in the early 2000s shortly after Clark's death. And with Clark's career helping feed my desires, Porky's is on my top ten of the all-time list, and of course, Christmas Story is his legacy and forever to be a Christmas Classic, it's always fun to look back on to there roots of director's when they started there career with Horror!

When rock royalty Elvis Presley and Steve Martin claim Black Christmas to be one of there all-time favorite horror flicks. And Black Christmas star Margot Kidder admitted in an interview that she never thought that the film would become a hit and was surprised to learn that it had gained such a large cult following over the years you can not help but think this is going to be a wild ride when instead you get a slow burn with subduing twists and turns that get seasoned vets of horror like me to go crazy trying to figure it out. Every time you think you know the answer to the puzzle Clark and writer Roy Moore slap you in the face and take you in a different direction. Hailed as the movie that helped jump-start the slasher genre the rules of horror have not been written yet so anything goes, and the survival of neither virgin nor even final girl comes guaranteed.

The movie does a great job of settling you into the warm feel and glow of Christmas setting the tone. Yet the story keeps you guessing as it weaves you through the story of whodunit and why. With a fine-looking young cast and a well-shot movie, it is hard to look away.  When the credits roll you're left with thoughts of why who and man that was a pretty wild ride. Your left thinking about this movie for days after and yet you don't know why. And this is a good thing! It is the uncertainty that is unveiled in the final moments before the credits roll that makes Black Christmas stand alone in its genre and a must-see Christmas Horror Flick.

Look this movie is not for everyone yet the film still manages a good slice of old-fashioned suspense like Aunt Jean's Fruit Cake. Like John Carpenters Halloween, Clark avoids graphic gore, focussing instead on suggestion and using careful editing and use of music to build suspense. Oh and that soundtrack! The cleaver way of slowing down Christmas classic's giving them a creepy sound that fits in. If you have not seen the 1974 Black Christmas and enjoy the classic feel of a slasher flick do check this out. If you need your horror spelled out for you or fast-paced action your better off skipping it.

3 Bloody Brains out of 5