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Dec 13, 2019 · Led by writer/director Sophia Takal (“Always Shine,” “Into the Dark: New Year, New You”) and co-writer April Wolfe, “Black Christmas” is a PG-13 horror film for general audiences—it never really needed to be R-rated, especially since the 2006 “Black Christmas” remake is gory enough for two movies—that follows realistic ...
Dec 13, 2019 · Better than the 2006 remake yet not as sharp as the original, this Black Christmas stabs at timely feminist themes but mostly hits on familiar pulp. Read Critics Reviews
- (116)
- Sophia Takal
- PG-13
- Imogen Poots
Dec 12, 2019 · ‘Black Christmas’ Review: Horror for a New Era of Campus Debates. Sophia Takal’s film isn’t particularly scary, but it has plenty on its mind. Share full article. From left, Imogen Poots,...
- Sophia Takal
- Ben Kenigsberg
- 92 min
- This slasher remake brings fresh scares, even with a PG-13 rating.
- 12 Must-See Christmas Horror Movies
- Verdict
By Kristy Puchko
Posted: Dec 13, 2019 12:00 am
You better watch out. You better not cry, because it's not Santa that’s breaking in this yuletide. Black Christmas is back with another remake and a ferociously feminist take on this seasonal slasher story, courtesy of writer April Wolfe and Always Shine director Sophia Takal.
Inspired by the 1974 cult classic, Black Christmas stars Imogen Poots as a college senior who's spending winter break with her sorority sisters in their cozy campus housing. They have big plans for a celebratory feast and to shake-up the festivities of a notorious fraternity's talent show. But their reveries are ruined once a hooded figure breaks in and starts murdering off co-eds one by one.
This is all pretty close to the original film's premise. However, it's just a jumping-off point for Wolfe and Takal's script, which folds in a more complicated narrative than "mysterious creeper lurks in the attic." To save from spoilers, I'll tip only that it involves a frat's special hazing ritual. Thankfully, things don't get convoluted like in the 2006 remake, which gave its killer a backstory rife with tragedy, incest, and cannibalism. Instead, these female filmmakers considered what might motivate someone to harass, stalk, and kill a band of sorority sisters. This pretty naturally dovetails with issues of the #MeToo movement, like institutional sexism, sexual harassment, date rape, and misogynistic violence. From there, Takal and Wolfe offer horror that hits frightfully close to common fears among women.
The first scene of slaughter is a great example. A girl walks home alone at night. She's just gotten off the phone with a friend, who knows where she's headed and her ETA. Then, she starts getting menacing text messages. Are they from the man walking behind her? He's on his phone, chuckling, and a bit too close for comfort. So, she takes out her keys, placing them quickly between her knuckles like DIY Wolverine claws, just in case. She's taken precautions. But walking down a well-lit street, telling her friends where she'll be, being alert, and arming herself won't save her.
Where Black Christmas really shines is in the dread Takal brews in between attack scenes. A long shot lingers on a hallway in which the voice of a lone sister echoes as she calls out for her missing cat. We witness and wonder, 'Who else can hear her?' In a dark attic, another sister seeks Christmas lights that work. She plugs one dud set in after another, and with each, we feel our breath tightening, worrying what their illumination might reveal. Suspecting that someone is watching turns these seemingly empty spaces as scary as hell.
A while back, some horror fans were incensed when it was announced that unlike its R-rated predecessors, this Black Christmas would be rated PG-13. The fear was that the film would lose its edge if it was barred from the level of gore and onscreen violence that an 'R' allows. If you're really looking for what might have been trimmed for the PG-13 cut, you may notice how quickly a grisly corpse is cut away from, or that the penetration of a knife into flesh is kept off-frame, though its wound is clear in the next shot.
The slasher subgenre's subtext has dealt with gender dynamics and sexual repression since its infancy. By thoughtfully--and provocatively--addressing gender politics, Takal and Wolfe present a Black Christmas for horror fans that crave more than just scares, but also food for thought. Those who've relished the layers in Get Out, Cabin In The Woods,...
Dec 13, 2019 · Dec 12, 2019 4:00pm PT. ‘Black Christmas’: Film Review. The 1974 slasher film gets updated to the new age of woke feminism in the rare college horror movie that actually has something on its...
There's nothing clever about Black Christmas, and with an anemic PG-13 rating, even the horror parts do nothing to make anyone's dreams of a black Christmas come true.
Dec 13, 2019 · The latest Black Christmas reboot understands the frustrations and lived horrors of modern sexual politics, but stumbles over its scares and the finer points of its feminist messaging.
