If you’re looking to skip watching Elf for the millionth time with your ten-year-old cousins and escape to the movie theater for something a little more grisly this holiday season, Variety has great news for you: the seminal slasher Black Christmas is returning to theaters for a limited time next month, courtesy of the American Genre Film Archive.
The re-release celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of the Bob Clark-directed classic, which will be presented in 4K for the first time ever. Screenings will take place across America from December 7 to December 22, at the following theaters:
- Olympia Film Society in Olympia, WA
- Grand Illusion Cinema in Seattle, WA
- New Beverly Cinema and Vista Theater in Los Angeles, CA
- Brattle Theatre in Boston, MA
- Rivoli Theatre in La Cross, WI
- AFS Cinema in Austin, TX
- Denver Film in Denver, CO
- Rubber Glove Studio in Denton, TX
- Cinema Moderne in Montreal, Quebec
- Hollywood Theatre in Portland, OR
- Frida Cinema in Santa Ana, CA
- Coolidge Corner Theatre, Brookline, MA
- Metro Cinema in Edmonton, Alberta
AGFA has also teamed up with Texas-based designer Mutant to create a new poster available at the anniversary screenings. With just 285 editions produced, the five-color screen print features brand-new artwork by Phantom City Creative, with white and red variants of the art available on Mutant’s website on November 29.
“AGFA is proud to partner with our friends at Shout Studios and Mutant to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Bob Clark’s Black Christmas by bringing the iconic holiday horror hit back to movie theaters in stunning 4K,” said American Genre Film Archive leadership. “This year also marks the 15th Anniversary of AGFA and our mission to preserve, protect, and promote the greatest genre films and their filmmakers. We’re grateful to partner with incredible collaborators to bring these films to a new generation of movie lovers.”
Black Christmas is largely considered the film that began the slasher craze of the late 1970s and early 1980s, even before Halloween’s Michael Myers hit the scene. Starring Olivia Hussey and Margot Kidder, it follows a sorority plagued by a killer while they stay over at their accommodations during Christmas break, and was popular enough as a cult film that it received two remakes in 2006 and 2019.
“I am so honoured that the American Genre Film Archive and Mutant are presenting the 50th Anniversary of Black Christmas in movie theaters this year,” Hussey said in a statement. “The film world is lucky to have the AGFA, which continues to show the meaningful impact of going to the movies through screenings like this one. I’m so happy and honoured that AGFA is introducing this film to a new generation of moviegoers.”
Black Christmas returns to theaters next month. Check out the brand new poster from Mutant below:
