Movies
The Story Behind the Missing Scenes in the ‘Black Christmas’ Remake
Ten years ago, Black Christmas spread holiday fear at the box office.
It may not pop up on many “Best Remakes” lists, but Glen Morgan’s 2006 re-imagining of Bob Clark’s Black Christmas is a film I personally have a whole lot of love for – so too does Jess Hicks, who wrote a piece in defense of the remake back in 2014. Granted, the film was undoubtedly a bastardization of the original – Billy is freakin’ yellow?! – but as its own movie, it’s a damn fun flick that totally nails the Christmas theme. While the original is a scary and suspenseful masterpiece, the remake is a gory slasher that feels ripped out of the ’80s, and I love it for that.
After revisiting Black Christmas 2006 (Black X-Mas, if you prefer) this past weekend I found myself digging for info and fun facts about the movie – among other things, I learned that it was marketed as a Final Destination sequel over in Japan! – and I was reminded that the original theatrical trailer was home to some pretty memorable moments that never actually ended up appearing in the film itself. They weren’t in the theatrical cut, they’re not in the unrated cut, and you won’t even find them in the DVD’s deleted scenes section. What gives?!
First off, let’s revisit that original trailer.
What’s that? You don’t remember a scene on a frozen lake wherein a woman reaches her hand through the ice? And that spinning Christmas light killing machine isn’t ringing any sleigh bells either? There’s a good reason for that. Because neither scene is anywhere to be found in any cut of the movie. And it wasn’t that those scenes were cut from the film after the trailer was put together, as is often the case with scenes that appear in trailers but not in the actual movies. Rather, those scenes were shot specifically for the trailer, after filming had wrapped.
Weirder still, they were shot behind Glen Morgan’s back. And he wasn’t happy about it.
Speaking with Chris Vander Kaay and Kathleen Fernandez-Vander Kaay for the recently released book Anatomy of Fear, Morgan detailed the whole story.
The guy who played Agnes was a focus puller named Dean Friss. After the movie was finished, we got a call from Weinstein’s marketing guys about going to pick up some shots for TV spots, ornaments and stuff. So I said, “Okay, go ahead,” being a good sport. I get a call from [Friss] about being in LA shooting some stuff for the TV spots. He was telling me something about carrying a gun. So I looked into it and they shot footage of Michelle Trachtenberg running around with a shotgun, and there’s a weird lawnmower electric light thing on the roof. So if the audience sees that and likes it, they go to the movie and don’t see it. And if they don’t like it, they don’t go to the movie. I’m sure it was against guild rules, and I didn’t understand.
Most of the scenes shot for the trailer feature young actress Jillian Murray (Cabin Fever 3: Patient Zero), who didn’t actually appear in Black Christmas at all; that’s her falling off the roof, tangled in Christmas lights, and that’s also her in the aforementioned frozen lake scene. As for the scene of Michelle Trachtenberg wielding a shotgun that Morgan references in the book, that was only used for a TV spot that I wasn’t able to track down – in the spot, she aims the shotgun at someone ringing the sorority house’s doorbell and says, “Merry Christmas, motherfucker!”
Morgan talks openly about his troubles with Black Christmas in Anatomy of Fear, revealing that it didn’t really even end up being his movie. The Weinstein brothers, he says, had their hands all over the film, insisting that he increase the violence, the silliness, and even change the original ending. The two killers (Billy and Agnes)? That was also their idea, rather than Morgan’s:
I felt that a ten million dollar movie of Black Christmas didn’t need anyone’s help, and they should have left us alone. But they had to have the two killers, and then they were after kids from “The O.C.” We compromised a lot.
Are you a fan of the Black Christmas remake? Sound off below!
It was almost one year ago that Warner Bros. brought the entire original A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise to 4K in one massive 7-movie collection, with the limited edition SteelBook version of the set quickly selling out and becoming highly sought after. But we’re happy to report tonight that the SteelBook set is currently back in stock over on Amazon!
While supplies last, grab the Elm Street SteelBook collection for $154.99 right now!!
Orders placed for this re-release are scheduled to begin shipping out September 15, 2026.
[Related] Freddy’s Back: New ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ Movie in the Works at Paramount
From New Line Cinema, the collection includes the original seven films – A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge (1985), A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987), A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master (1988), A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989), Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare (1991), and Wes Craven’s New Nightmare (1994) – along with the uncut versions of A Nightmare on Elm Street and The Dream Child.
Two BRAND NEW SPECIAL FEATURES for this set include:
- Boiler Room Confessional: The king of slashers, Robert Englund, takes us on a journey through the dream world, sharing what inspired Freddy Krueger, his rise as a cultural icon, and the legacy of A Nightmare on Elm Street, plus his favorite kills, scenes, and more.
- Freddy’s Footnotes: Robert Englund and original A Nightmare on Elm Street filmmakers revisit iconic scenes, revealing the movie magic and chaos behind our favorite nightmares. Pull back the curtain and relive epic moments through the eyes of those who made them.
Here’s the full breakdown of included Special Features for each movie…
A Nightmare on Elm Street
· Ready Freddy Focus Points
· Commentary with Wes Craven, Robert Englund, Heather Langenkamp, Ronee Blakley, Robert Shaye, and Sara Risher
· Commentary with Wes Craven, Heather Langenkamp, John Saxon, and Jacques Haitkin
· Alternate Endings – Scary Ending, Happy Ending, Freddy Ending
· The House that Freddy Built: The Legacy of New Line Horror
· Never Sleep Again: The Making of A Nightmare on Elm Street
· Night Terrors: The Origins of Wes Craven’s Nightmares
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge
· Freddy on 8th Street
· Heroes and Villains
· The Male Witch
· Psychosexual Circus
A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
· Behind the Story: Burnout
· Behind the Story: Fan Mail
· Behind the Story: The House that Freddy Built
· Behind the Story: Onward Christian Soldiers
· Behind the Story: Snakes and Ladders
· Behind the Story: That’s Showbiz
· Behind the Story: Trading 8’s
· Dokken Dream Warriors Music Video
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
· The Finnish Line
· Krueger, Freddy Krueger
· Hopeless Chest
· Let’s Makeup
A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child
· Behind the Story: Womb Raiders
· Behind the Story: The Sticky Floor
· Behind the Story: Take the Stairs
· Behind the Story: Hopkins Directs
· Behind the Story: A Slight Miscalculation
Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare
· 86’D
· Hellraiser
· Rachel’s Dream
· 3D Demise
Wes Craven’s New Nightmare
· Commentary with Wes Craven
· NEW – Boiler Room Confessional
· NEW – Freddy’s Footnotes
· Becoming a Filmmaker
· Filmmaker
· An Insane Troupe
· The Problem with Sequels
· Two Worlds
· Welcome to Prime Time: It Really Happened
· Welcome to Prime Time: A Childhood Memory
· Welcome to Prime Time: Sometime in the Early 80s
· Welcome to Prime Time: So It Began
· Welcome to Prime Time: Beauty and the Beast
· Welcome to Prime Time: Making the Glove
· Welcome to Prime Time: Shapeshifter
· Welcome to Prime Time: The Shoot
· Welcome to Prime Time: The Revolving Room
· Welcome to Prime Time: All’s Well that Ends Well
· Welcome to Prime Time: Talalay’s Tally
· Welcome to Prime Time: It Couldn’t Have Happened
· Welcome to Prime Time: Alternate Ending Version
· Conclusion: Where Gothic Plots Come From
· Conclusion: Why We Like Gothic
· Conclusion: Sadomasochism
· Conclusion: Freddy vs. Pinhead
· Conclusion: Freddy’s Manic Energy
· Conclusion: Creating Lasting Characters in Horror
· Conclusion: No More Magic Tricks
· Conclusion: Monster with Personality
· Conclusion: Freddy as Sex Machine
· Conclusion: Campfire Stories
The Elm Street collection is available in this collectible SteelBook packaging (exclusive to Amazon) and as a standard 4K collection that’s also available now over on Amazon.
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