Hello everyone, I have returned with another book review. These days it's amazing seeing all of the wonderful books detailing horror franchises like Crystal Lake Memories, Taking Shape, Phantasm Exhumed and Slash of the Titans. I mean these books are even better than any of the special features that we used to get. The depths of where they are able to go is astounding.
Well, today I have the pleasure of talking about It's Me Billy: Black Christmas Revisited. Inside these pages, you get to hear the story of how Black Christmas came to be. It's something that I had never heard before. I don't have the Shout! Factory release of Black Christmas so I cannot tell you if that's something that was covered here. But it was interesting to hear the lengths it had to go. I also had no idea that Black Christmas came out at a time when Ted Bundy was beginning to be more known. For me, I had just started hearing about that within the last year. So never put two and two together.
But the depths that Paul Downey and David Hastings have went to for this franchise, it's absolutely incredible. There are quite a few stories that probably have never been told till this point. It just leaves me flabbergasted thinking about how much love and passion has to go in to craft something like this. I tip my hat to those that are able to do that because I know that I don't have the opportunity nor the tools at my disposal to do so.
But they don't just give the spotlight to the original, it would be incredibly easy to just do that. They took the time to discuss the 2006 retelling of Black Christmas. By now, we all know that Black Christmas '06 was an interesting take on the material. It expanded on Billy's backstory and brought some elements that were a little more subdued in the original to the forefront. As a fan of this incarnation as well, it was nice getting a more in-depth look at the behind the scenes of it. I enjoy the original DVD that was released for it and was a bit disappointed at the brief amount of Behind the Scenes for it. I am happy to say that this does it justice as well.
And oh no, they went even further. By this point, I was smiling ear to ear. All of the stories of the making of for the previous two incarnations had been fantastic. I was super excited to just see where they went with 2019's Black Christmas. Now, I know this incarnation gets so much hate. It's kind of the runt of the franchise. However there were quite a few that enjoyed it, so getting more information regarding it is good. It's just astounding the wealth of information packed into this tome. Just when I thought that it was done, it kept giving more. And honestly, everything I have mentioned is only a fraction of what is covered in this astounding book.
Honestly, I would have to say that this entire book is amazing. It manages to cover so much and helped me find a better appreciation for this franchise. I have a massive understanding now of what Black Christmas means to people and why it matters. Paul and David were able to preserve Black Christmas for future generations as they go through their film history. This is probably my favorite out of all of the ones I have read so far. And I cannot recommend it enough. If you are a fan of this series, this is for you. If you appreciate film and its history, get it.
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