A few innocent women experience a nightmare before Christmas in this bloody thriller. Billy Lenz, a severely maladjusted child, finally snaps under years of brutal treatment by his family, killing and eating them in an explosion of violence on Christmas Eve. For years, the Lenz house stands vacant, but in time it's purchased and renovated as the new home for a college sorority. A few days before Christmas, a handful of sorority sisters -- Dana (
Lacey Chabert), Melissa (
Michelle Trachtenberg), Kelli (
Katie Cassidy), and Heather (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) -- are enjoying a quiet evening with their house mother, Barbara MacHenry (
Andrea Martin), exchanging gifts and swapping stories before heading home for holiday break. While Barbara remembers the story of Billy's crimes, the atmosphere is peaceful until the young women receive the first in a series of disturbing telephone calls. Before long, they learn that Billy has escaped after years in a mental institution, and has come back to the house where he grew up to once again spill blood for the Christmas season. Black Christmas is a remake of the 1974 horror film of the same name by director
Bob Clark, who later made a less-threatening film about the Yuletide season,
A Christmas Story;
Andrea Martin, who plays the house mother, also appeared in the 1974 film as one of the sorority girls. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide