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Happy Holidays 2006

Flick has ties to classic film

By RICK GERSHMANN
Published December 23, 2006

The headline for a recent article in our free sister publication, tbt*, read: Some see red over "Black Christmas."

Of course, because the article was in tbt* motto: We're not just a pillow for the homeless, it also was labeled "the gory of christmas." (Yes, all lower case. We hear the targeted demographic likes that.)

The article was about how Catholic groups and Christian media watchdogs are upset over Dimension Films' new serial killer flick, which opens on Christmas Day.

But there's nothing here so new it should cause a ruckus.

The film, directed by X-Files alumnus Glen Morgan, doesn't break any new ground thematically: A killer stalks slutty sorority sisters over Christmas break.

In fact, it's a remake of a 1974 film. The original Black Christmas, while hardly well-known, had enough cult appeal to spawn a devoted Web site, itsmebilly.com.

And the horror film industry's bible, Fangoria, called the slasher flick "seminal" and "arguably the first official American body-count horror film."

Another thing you probably didn't know about the original Black Christmas:

It was directed by Bob Clark, who in 1982 wrote and directed the infamous (and in several ways, also seminal) teen sex flick Porky's. Clark also directed the sequel, Porky's II: The Next Day, in 1983.

But Porky's II was hardly Clark's key contribution to American cinema in 1983. Here's the kinda creepy, kinda wonderful, extra-special twist:

In 1983, Clark, a pioneer in the Christmas killer and horny teenager film genres, directed and co-wrote one of the most beloved holiday movies in modern filmmaking:

A Christmas Story.

That's right, the film that made "You'll shoot your eye out" a household phrase.

The film that inspired the TV show The Wonder Years.

The film that lands on the Internet Movie DataBase's Top 250 films of all time at a solid No. 179.

Really, Clark's participation isn't entirely surprising. Based on a Jean Shepherd novel, A Christmas Story has some seriously twisted touches that make it so much fun.

Next time you watch the film, keep an eye out for Clark.

He has a small, uncredited role as Swede, the dopey neighbor who is enamored of the freakish "Leg Lamp."

Sadly, the director's career basically tanked post-Christmas Story.

The 1984 film Rhinestone, starring a singing Sylvester Stallone, sits at No. 82 in the Bottom 100 List of the IMDB (imdb.com).

It gets worse.

The most recent film Clark helmed was 2004's SuperBabies: Baby Geniuses 2, which is ranked the eighth-worst film of all time by IMDB users. He also directed its predecessor, 1999's Baby Geniuses, merely the 29th worst movie of all time.

But at 65, Clark does have several new films in the works, including a remake of another '70s horror film he directed, Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things.

Howard Stern is involved in a planned Porky's remake.

However shaky his recent work, it's clear Clark was nothing if not influential. Porky's inspired, for better or worse, a ton of '80s teen sex flicks.

Several film scholars believe Clark's Black Christmas influenced the original Halloween. And it also may have inspired 1984's Silent Night, Deadly Night, which depicted an ax-wielding serial killer dressed as Santa Claus.

Now if that doesn't ooze Christmas just like blood from a freshly slaughtered corpse, I don't know what does.

Happy holidays, everyone.

Rick Gershman can be reached at rgershman@sptimes.com or 226-3431. His Times blog, the Ill Literate, is at www.sptimes.com/blogs/tampaarts.

[Last modified December 23, 2006, 06:38:46]