If it’s the Friday after Thanksgiving, then regular readers of Balladeer’s Blog know it’s the day when I kick off my annual Christmas Carol-A-Thon in which I review several versions of A Christmas Carol. I look at movies, television shows, radio shows and books which adapt the Dickens classic. Every year I present new reviews and a few old classics since newer readers will have missed them.
SCROOGE IN THE HOOD (2011) – This is easily the worst attempt at a comedy version of the Carol that I’ve ever seen. It’s also a failure in terms of production values. Acting is nonexistent, props are below Cable Public Access levels, dialogue is often impossible to make out and the writing is like something from a 14-year-old trying to be edgy.
The premise behind this failed comedy is that Scrooge is a pimp, and gangsters from outside the Hood are trying to muscle in on his business. They’ve already killed his colleague Marley and are gunning for him, now.
This flick has one joke – inserting profanity, bloodshed and sexual situations into A Christmas Carol – and repeats it over and over and over for 83 minutes. Even porno adaptations like Ebenezer Screwed show a more inventive approach.
Regular readers know I’m sure as hell not prudish and I don’t flinch at violence. I’ve even given positive reviews to the Christmas Carol adaptation with zombies in it, and to the gay adaptation Scrooge & Marley, and to the non-comedy Brazilian version from the year 2000 in which the Scrooge character is a drug lord.
Right off the bat, I’ll cite the one joke in which Scrooge in the Hood succeeds with its dark humored approach. On the morning after his visits from the three spirits, when Scrooge shouts down from his window asking what day it is, the reply he gets is “What day is it? It’s Christmas Day, dumbass!”
Even that’s not all that funny, but after countless Carol versions presenting that exchange, a snarky rendition can’t help but bring a smile. It’s like the moment in the first Lethal Weapon movie when Gary Busey shoots out a tv screen right after Alastair Sim asks “What day is it?” Busey’s action plus his annoyed “It’s Christmas Day!” is pretty funny.
Scrooge in the Hood keeps the general structure of A Christmas Carol but buries it in its repetitious, self-consciously “outrageous” attempts at humor. The Cratchits are the Crotchrots, Tiny Tim is an adult pimp, the Ghost of Christmas Past is a drunken woman, etc.
Nothing much is done with those ideas. Viewers are expected to laugh at the idea of making such changes to the characters in the Carol. In an 8-minute comedy sketch a creative team could get away with that, but not in a feature film.
You might not think that bloodshed, gang warfare, pimps and hos could be boring, but this movie proves you wrong. And on top of that, you’re expected to work hard just to make out the dialogue a lot of the time. This flick is an unfunny disaster.
We’re just getting started! I’ll review plenty of excellent adaptations of A Christmas Carol as we go along!
FOR MORE VERSIONS OF A CHRISTMAS CAROL CLICK HERE: https://glitternight.com/category/a-christmas-carol-2/
Balladeer's Blog 
Haha, ok, I can see why this might be one to miss! 😉
You know it!
Not really the Christmas feeling in this one.
Ha! Not at all, Schmidty, no.
I found this one under it’s other title, SILENT NIGHT DEAD NIGHT on Tubi. With you 100% on this one, nice try at something different but a big failure at doing it very entertainingly. This will probably have some fans but just didn’t work for me.
This year’s blog is looking good but it’s been an incredibly busy season with a lot of issues with my parents in the hospital but glad to finally remember to come back around to your blog. There’s several new versions this year and it’s hard to find the time to keep up.
2022 brings us: SPIRITED (Apple+), SCROOGE: A CHRISTMAS CAROL (Netflix), GHOST OF CHRISTMAS ALWAYS (Hallmark), A NEW DIVA’S CHRISTMAS CAROL (VH1), A CHRISTMAS KAREN (Tubi, other streamers), IL PRINCIPE DI ROMA (unknown where to view), ESTELLA SCROOGE (2020 new to me, Tubi) … that’s gotta be a record for 1 season!
Very sorry to hear about your parents being in the hospital. I’m glad you came to visit, though! I agree that this may be a record year for new Carols and I have drafts started for reviews of two of them over the next couple of days! Did not know about Il Principe di Roma, though, so thanks for the information!