TORONTO (CP) - The upcoming release of a Canadian horror flick that
features a serial killer on a Christmas rampage has raised the ire of
religious advocates south of the border but barely raised an eyebrow at
home.
Canadian religious advocates dismiss "Black Christmas" as a typical slasher film that shouldn't be given the free publicity it's enjoying in the United States.
Groups like the Ohio-based Operation Just Say Merry Christmas say the trailer's use of holiday images to promote the Dec. 25 release is an insult to Christians.
But that kind of uproar is just he kind of publicity B-movies seek, said Richelle Wiseman, executive director of Calgary's Centre for Faith and the Media.
When you do that you draw more attention to the film than it deserves," said Wiseman, whose group monitors the way religion is portrayed in the media. "That's exactly what you don't want to do."
The film is a remake of the 1974 cult classic "Black Christmas," in which a psycho-killer harasses a group of sorority sisters, picking them off one-by-one over Christmas break.
It's
not slated for release in Canada and the U.S. until Christmas Day, yet
some U.S. religious groups are already up in arms.
"It's
just a deliberate attempt to take something holy like 'Silent Night'
and put it as a background for murder movies," complained Jennifer
Giroux of Operation Just Say Merry Christmas.
She
said the film should be delayed until after Dec. 25, maintaining that
the premise desecrates "one of the holiest days of the year to
Christians."
Nun and
online film reviewer Marie Paul Curley said "Black Christmas" looks
like a typical horror film but wouldn't critique it without seeing it
first.
"It's very difficult to judge a film on the trailer because things can be taken out of context," Curley said.
"Images are put next to each other that aren't next to each other in the film."
The
U.S. distributor, Dimension Films, said in a statement that it's been a
tradition to release horror movies during holiday season as
"counter-programming to the more yuletide fare."