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On her blog, the LA Weekly's Nikki Finke unloads both barrels on the Weinsteins and MGM for their decision to open Yuletide-themed horror movie Black Christmas on Christmas Day, a crass attempt to corrupt the purity of the holiday by luring teenagers away from their families and into the multiplex, where Hollywood expects them to celebrate the miracle of Jesus' birth by watching the evisceration of nubile sorority girls instead of unwrapping next-generation video game consoles. Says Finke:

Shame, shame, shame on Harvey and Bob Weinstein, and their distributor MGM's Harry Sloan, for opening a holiday-themed slasher movie on Christmas Day. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the ads and release date for Black Christmas from Dimension/MGM. The promos even make fun of "people who express outrage" as well as the plot's body count. And the entertainment industry wonders why it continues to have a huge PR problem as promoters of garbage? Showbiz marketing calls this counter-programming.

Still, I don't understand: just how many disturbed human beings does The Weinstein Company and MGM think actually want to go see a gory movie on December 25th — specifically, a remake of a 1974 horror flick in which a college sorority house is terrorized by a psycho who makes frightening phone calls and murders the girls during the holiday break. Is the intended audience supposed to be non-Christians?

Should the Weinsteins fail in their clear mission to destroy Christmas this time, we fear that they'll redouble their efforts next year, partnering with New Line to reimagine this year's earnest, Christian-positive flop The Nativity Story as a slasher flick about the newborn Baby Jesus going on a murderous rampage through Bethlehem, a counterprogramming attack sure to finish the job started by Black Christmas.