Who hasn't watched an adaption of Dickens A Christmas Carol. Seeing Scrooge take his journey to the past, present and future. This story has been told on film and TV so many times that it's hard to count them. We have seen dramas, comedies, animated and even an old west version.
Every version has been made... right? Well, what about a film noir version. Well, now we have Blue Christmas. VCI Entertainment and MVD Visual have released this noir version of A Christmas Carol on Blu-ray!
Synopsis: Chicago, 1942. At his Christmas Eve office party, private eye Richard Stone celebrates bribing his way out of the draft. He's a disappointment to secretary/main squeeze, Katie Crockett, whose brother Ben is fighting overseas; and his honest young employee, Joey Ernest, is guilt-ridden over all the divorce-racket keyhole peeping. Just a year ago tonight, Stone's sleazy partner Jake Marley was murdered, a crime the detective didn't bother solving. After Stone is visited by an ankle-chained Jake, on leave from Purgatory to demand his murder be solved, three more visitors arrive to help, one at a time - the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future: Bonnie of Bonnie & Clyde infamy; a recently decreased soldier; and a strange entity who just might be the King of Rock 'n' Roll.
Max Allan Collins wrote the amazing graphic novel Road to Perdition than that was turned into a feature film. He also took over the comic strip Dick Tracy, so he knows noir. So, it seems perfect for Max Allan Collins to adapt Dickens classic story into a noir film.
Blue Christmas while shot in 2024 the film is stuck in the 1940s. This is an independent film so there is no huge star power in this film, but the acting is still extremely believable. Rob Merritt stars as Private Eye Robert Stone and he is joined by Alisabeth Von Presley, Brian Linderman, Chad Bishop and Chris Causey. Without the Hollywood star power some might say that this bring a real feel to this film.
This was a low budget production so Max Allan Collins used ways to work within that budget. The entire film takes place inside Robert Stone's office. It works in one way that it feels like a very cool stage production, but for a film version of A Christmas Carol my opinion it needs to expand outside four walls.
All things considered Blue Christmas is still an entertaining and very well produced piece of cinema. But while A Christmas Carol is entertainment for the whole family, Blue Christmas is not. The film have violent imagery, mild profanity and alcohol. So this film is not good for the children.
Blue Christmas has been transferred to Blu-ray in 1080p and is presented in widescreen format and presented in 2.35:1 aspect ratio. The audio track is an English LPCM 2.0 stereo. There are also English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing.
Blue Christmas looks crisp and clean on Blu-ray. There are no digital artifacts found in this transfer. The audio is clean, and the mix is great the carols never take over the dialogue. But a beautiful transfer is not all that is included here. There is some cool bonus features included on this Blu-ray!
* Commentary Track by Max Allan Collins and Chad Bishop
* Q&A Highlights from Advanced Theatrical Screenings
* Documentary featuring Max Allan Collins
* Trailer
The audio commentary is a very interesting listen. They talk how they were able to shoot the majority of the film in a week's time. Also, how they almost scored WKRP in Cincinnati's Andy Travis (Gary Sandy) to play Marley. Now that would have been awesome. Than the addition of the documentary and the Screening Q&A make for really nice additions to this Blu-ray.
If you love film adaptations of A Christmas Carol, why not try this noir version. You might be surprised at how much you enjoy this take on the classic. head over to MVD Shop or Amazon and order your copy today!
* Trailer
The audio commentary is a very interesting listen. They talk how they were able to shoot the majority of the film in a week's time. Also, how they almost scored WKRP in Cincinnati's Andy Travis (Gary Sandy) to play Marley. Now that would have been awesome. Than the addition of the documentary and the Screening Q&A make for really nice additions to this Blu-ray.
If you love film adaptations of A Christmas Carol, why not try this noir version. You might be surprised at how much you enjoy this take on the classic. head over to MVD Shop or Amazon and order your copy today!
Out of 4 Film Reels (4 being the best) the Blu-ray of Blue Christmas receives.....
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