Horror Facts Vol. 13: A Killer Christmas

The 13th edition of Horror Facts focuses on holiday horror films like Black Christmas, Silent Night, Deadly Night and more!

/ Black Christmas (1974), was originally titled “Stop Me”, then “Silent Night, Evil Night”, before Director Bob Clark came up with the final title for the film. He liked the irony of something dark taking place during such a cheerful holiday. The film is one of the first slashers to put the audience in the killer’s POV. Peeping Tom in 1960 introduced this technique and Halloween popularized it in 1978.

/ Andrea Martin, who starred in the original Black Christmas (1974) as Phyl, said in an interview that she hadn’t thought about the film for 32 years when she was offered to play the role of the house mother in the 2006 remake. After the remake flopped both critically and financially, Bob Clark began to work on a sequel to the original with both Olivia Hussey and John Saxon reprising their roles of Jess and Lt. Ken Fuller. The character of Jess was set to play the house mother of the sorority. Sadly, Clark passed away which prevented plans for a sequel from seeing the light of day.

/ Better Watch Out (2016) may have been influenced by Charlie’s Angels (2000). In one scene, Luke (Levi Miller) draws lips on Ashley’s (Olivia DeJonge) taped mouth, which also happens to Drew Barrymore’s character in Charlie’s Angels. Both women also break the chairs they are tied up to and use them as weapons to fight off the bad guy.

/ The film, P2 (2007), was completely shot during the night over a period of two months in an operating Toronto parking garage.

/ Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) was originally titled “Slayride” but Tri-Star changed the title to “Silent Night, Deadly Night” shortly before the film’s premiere. The film, which used an axe-wielding Santa Claus in its publicity campaign, received a lot of controversy from the public and was pulled from theatres. Robert Brian Wilson, who plays Billy, the killer Santa, stated in an interview with People Magazine that he felt so ashamed from all the negative publicity that he asked his friends and family not to see the film. After attending a 30th Anniversary screening and meeting with fans, he now appreciates the film and makes occasional horror convention appearances. Maybe we’ll get lucky with a credible sequel one day featuring the return of Robert Brian Wilson as Billy!

/ Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 (1987), was filmed in only 10 days. The role of Billy’s brother, Ricky Caldwell, was down to Eric Freeman and one other actor in the casting process. The other actor was more seasoned and had a substantial acting resume but the casting crew preferred Freeman’s looks so they went with him.

/ Mickey Rooney was vocal about his disapproval of the original Silent Night, Deadly Night in 1984, which surprised audiences, when he agreed to play a role in Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toy Maker (1991). It has been said that the film was shot under the title “The Toy Maker”, and the “Silent Night, Deadly Night” wasn’t added or revealed to the cast until post-production. Some fans still call him a hypocrite for appearing in the film after his public feelings towards the original.

/ Shannon Elizabeth’s first acting role was in the fantasy/slasher film, Jack Frost (1997), about a notorious serial killer who transforms into a mutant killer snowman.

/ It is said that the success of Halloween (1978) is what opened the door for Christmas Evil (1980) to be made. Director Lewis Jackson, however, does not consider the film to be a slasher, but more aligned with Frankenstein (1931). The script was actually written years before it was greenlit to begin filming. Star of Serial Mom, Kathleen Turner, auditioned for the role of Harry’s sister-in-law but was turned down.

/ Black Christmas (2019) was initially filmed as an R-rated film but after test screenings, it was edited for a PG-13 rating. It will be the first PG-13 Black Christmas as the original 1974 version and 2006 remake were both rated R.

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