Never Retallack | Entertainment Editor
“Black Christmas,” a mystery slasher film centered on the murder of a sorority sister, was originally created and directed by Bob Clark in 1974. Clark later directed “Christmas Story,” a great balance of genres. In the original he relied heavily on the shrouded identity of the killer, and in the end, never revealed the villain.
The 2006 remake, directed by Glen Morgan, went the opposite route and made it pretty obvious who the masked killer was, leaving little for the audience to think about.
Sadly, the 2019 remake directed by Sophia Takal followed suit and all the twists and turns that happened were obvious from a mile away, leaving no mystery for the audience and ending up quite a basic horror film.
A key difference in the plot, however, with the 2019 remake is the feminism aspect and spotlight on sexual assault issues on college campuses.
Mysterious hooded figures with weird black goo on their faces are murdering members of a sorority, and the main protagonist Riley, played by Imogen Poots, is left to try and discover who is after her friends. Riley does not trust the authorities to help her after she was raped on campus and her rapist went unpunished.
While there was some bad acting in the film, and a general predictability, I think that including a character who has gone through a trauma with no justice reflects current day issues with sexual assaults, especially on college campuses. The villains in the film want to put women back in their place, and reclaim male dominance in society, which reflects the toxic masculinity and sexism that is also prevalent today.
Overall Rating: While I wouldn’t necessarily say that a second remake was needed of the Canadian horror film, and the acting wasn’t quite believable, the underlying feminism and attention to #MeToo was an interesting twist and brought something unique to the film. The “who done it” aspect was not available, because the killers were quite obvious in the film, but the motives for their rampage was different than I expected. All around, not a bad horror film; for those that prefer something a little more sinister on the holidays, “Black Christmas” is entertaining enough and touches on more serious issues.
Contact the author at howlentertainment@wou.edu
