Cinematical

Horror movies are blowing up the box office, so of course now we're going to start getting remakes of all the old ones for which the rights are available. Oh boy oh boy! Coming soon are The Hills Have Eyes (easily the least objectionable of the bunch - Wes Craven, who wrote and directed the original, is producing) and When a Stranger Calls (originally made in 1979), and just added to the list is yet another Black Christmas.

The movie, a remake of 1974's slasher classic, has a rather winning premise. A killer spends some time making nasty, scary phone calls to a sorority house before ramping up the horror with a series of murders. (Needless to say, all this takes place over Christmas break. But why the hell haven't the chicks gone home? Ah well. Bygones.) Set to star is Michelle Trachtenberg, who earned her sorority girl stripes as the appropriately feisty and whiny Dawn on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Joining her in director Glen Morgan's cast are fellow TV graduates Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Katie Cassidy and Oliver Hudson; the movie will go into production later this month.

While this remake is likely to appeal to young horror lovers who are new to the story, I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that fans of the original are extremely displeased by this news.