The Gore Connoisseurs

'Tis the season for Christmas horror - and what better choice than  Black Christmas ? But after sticking on the beloved 1974 original, is it also time to revisit the two critically panned remakes ? Could the 2006 and 2019 versions of Black Christmas be better than we remember? I scoured the net for people willing to stick their neck out and defend the remakes - and it wasn't hard to find convincing defences of both films. But do they have a point? Is it time to readmit these modern horror films to the Christmas hearth, or is there no room at the inn? Mulled wine in hand - let's take each major defence of the remakes one at a time. Be warned, there will be spoilers for all three films ahead. The 2006 Black Christmas brings a welcome helping of gore and grindhouse nastiness ( Morbidly Beautiful , Bloody Disgusting ) The only thing in 1974's Black Christmas that could potentially disappoint slasher fans is the lack of gore - almost all of the kills take place mostly offsc...

Throughout Brandon Cronenberg 's arresting sophomore feature we're led to believe Vos (Andrea Riseborough) is having her identity worn away by inhabiting so many bodies - until we understand she never really had one to begin with. Warning: Spoilers How do we define our sense of self? At the beginning of the film, Vos is shown a box of items from her past by her handler Girder (Jennifer Jason Leigh). Girder is satisfied that Vos has been restored to her sense of self after inhabiting Holly's (Gabrielle Graham) body when she successfully recalls a memory for each object - particularly after she says she always felt guilty for killing a butterfly she wanted to have pressed, which seems to reveal something deeper about who she is. Next we see Vos pay a visit to her semi-estranged husband and son, rehearsing how to greet them on her way. At the time this seems to imply Vos still hasn't returned to her old self. When Vos becomes Colin Tate (Christopher Abbott), it seems at ...