The film takes place several days before Christmas and tells the story of a group of sorority sisters who are stalked and murdered in their house during a winter storm.

Five years later, Constance and her lover murder Billy's father Frank on Christmas Eve and bury the body in the house's crawlspace.

Fifteen years later, Billy escapes from his cell on Christmas Eve and heads to his former home, now a sorority house for Delta Alpha Kappa at Clement University in New Hampshire.

In the living room, the other sorority sisters, Kelli Presley, Melissa Kitt, Heather Fitzgerald, Dana Mathis, and Lauren Hannon, along with their housemother Mrs. Mac, receive a threatening call from the killer.

With the police unable to arrive in time due to a snowstorm, Kelli, Melissa, and Leigh decide to stay inside the house while Heather and Mrs. Mac flee.

[9] Star Crystal Lowe noted Morgan's admiration and aim to "take the film to a different level", while "respecting the fact that [the original] was a great movie to begin with".

[9] In conceiving a new script, Morgan had intended to rework elements of the original film that were left ambiguous or implied, such as the cryptic phone calls received by the sorority house.

[9] While writing the screenplay, Morgan received input from the film's original director, Bob Clark, who also signed on to serve as an executive producer for the remake.

[9] Clark gave Morgan his "blessing", stating in an interview that the remake was "still Black Christmas", but explored new subplots that had not been fleshed out in the 1974 film.

[9][10] In writing the character of Billy, Morgan was inspired by the life of Edmund Kemper, a real-life serial killer who as a child had been locked in the basement of his home by his mother, whom he later murdered.

[9] In a 2014 interview with Morgan, he claimed that his inclusion of a second killer was under the urging of Dimension Films executives: "I felt that a ten million dollar movie of Black Christmas didn't need anyone's help, and they should have left us alone.

[9] Katie Cassidy, who also had recently had a supporting part in the When a Stranger Calls remake, was cast in the lead role of Kelli Presley.

[9] Michelle Trachtenberg, who had first attracted attention for her role as Dawn Summers on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, had initially wanted to avoid returning to the horror genre unless she were "given the opportunity to die" onscreen.

[8] Trachtenberg read the script for the film in the middle of the night while alone in her home, and was unnerved by it, which influenced her decision to sign onto the project; she was cast in the supporting role of Melissa Kitt.

[16][17] After the production in Vancouver concluded, Bob and Harvey Weinstein oversaw the shooting of additional footage in Los Angeles intended only for promotional materials.

[28] Several groups, including Liberty Counsel and Operation "Just Say Merry Christmas", called the film "offensive", "ill-founded", and "insensitive".

[29] L.A. Weekly columnist Nikki Finke also questioned the filmmakers' decision to release the film on Christmas, writing for Deadline: "And the entertainment industry wonders why it continues to have a huge PR problem as promoters of garbage?

"[30][31] Dimension Films defended the timing in a press statement: "There is a long tradition of releasing horror movies during the holiday season as counter-programing to the more regular yuletide fare".

The site's critical consensus reads: "A gratuitous remake of the 1974 slasher, Black Christmas pumps out the gore and blood with zero creativity, humor, or visual flair".

[37] Jeannette Catsoulis of The New York Times wrote of the film: "With a peephole-riddled set and a flashback-heavy screenplay, Black Christmas smothers terror beneath a blanket of unnecessary information, revealing too much and teasing too little.

[38] The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw, however, found the backstory "ingenious", but concluded: "For the first 20 minutes or so, Black Christmas has some smart ideas and gags: then it all just gets predictable".

[39] Sam Adams of the Los Angeles Times wrote: "Like an ugly tie or a pair of slipper socks, Black Christmas is destined to be forgotten the instant it's unwrapped, gathering dust until the season rolls around again".

[42] Joe Leydon of Variety goes on to say, "[...] there can be no argument regarding the scant merits of its slapdash, soporifically routine remake, suitable only for the least discriminating of gore hounds".

[43] Jason Anderson of The Globe and Mail wrote: "Lazy, perfunctory and free of tension, the new version will satisfy neither the admirers of the original nor anyone looking for a gory respite from seasonal good cheer",[44] while Michael Rechtshaffen of Reuters wrote: "There are a couple clever touches here and there, including one sequence in which the end of a candy cane has been carefully licked into a highly lethal weapon, but for the most part the accompanying histrionics feel more regressive than retro".

[48] In a retrospective by Fangoria, Ken Hanley said the film "benefits from solid and focused direction" and "wears its cringeworthy elements as a badge of honor".

[52] In 2008 it received a short-print Region A Blu-ray release in Canada, which contained the 90-minute R-rated North American theatrical cut of the film in 1080i.