Believe me, I'm going to watch the original. I've heard it's very different. This newer one seems to just use the same title, but it's not like it was a famous movie by horror standards. I don't think there was much to "cash in" on as you say since most people hadn't even seen Black Christmas. The most famous xmas horror flick from that time period was undoubtedly Silent Night Deadly Night.
Anyway, my point was that this new movie was still plenty entertaining, whether or not it stayed true to the original or went off on its own far more comedic tangent. I just had a really fun time with it when I saw it in the theater. Granted, it's no
JACK FROST, but nothing ever will be as far as I'm concerned.