It's always a strange and unusual scenario when Hollywood pursues a remake of a well-established horror film with the original story having been done before and executed effectively with virtually no one asking for a remake other than Hollywood feeling that the story needs an unnecessary upgrade. In most cases, attempts to retell a classic horror story generally end up failing or largely paling in comparison to their predecessors. Some prime examples of such misfires are the infamous Nightmare On Elm Street remake, Rob Zombies Halloween, the completely forgettable 2005 The Fog remake, and the lastest The Grudge reboot. With 2019's Black Christmas, the latest horror remake/reboot is the second attempt at reimagining the 1974 horror film classic after 2006's remake failed to garner the same kind of cult-classic status the first film received. The newest version of the story takes place in modern times with numerous pokes being directed at the era of Me Too, as well as the crafting of its story around questioned accusations centering around the believability of women in regards to sexual misconduct. While the newest version of the Black Christmas story dives into these societal issues, it does so in a form that stays true to the modern day style of horror despite never reaching the cinematic heights of the original creation that inspired it. The 2019 version of Black Christmas mildly entertains with how it pokes fun at many of its timely feminist tropes but lacks the mystery, the suspense, and innovativeness of the original with the newest attempt feeling both painfully generic and cliched which is disappointing given the films holiday setting.
Based on the 1974 horror classic and its underwhelming 2006 remake, the 2019 reimagining of Black Christmas focuses on a group of sorority sisters being stalked by members of a mysterious underground cult on campus with the girls beginning to slowly disappear. Realizing they have no choice but to fight back, a few of the sorority girls muster the course to fight back with them discovering an underground misogynistic college conspiracy. The newest version stays true to the concept that made the original a hit while taking a more modern approach with its story, which feels relevant to today's world in comparison to the 2006 version. Arguably an improvement over that film, the newest Black Christmas aims to carry more relevance to its plot rather than being just another pointless slasher flick, but it can't shake the feeling that's ultimately what it ends up feeling like with it recycling the same familiar elements of a typical horror flick with nothing new being brought to the table. The main plots scenario is familiar to audiences, particularly those who've seen the previous versions with the overall film lacking the creative touch and edge that the 1974 film possessed, which made it endure as a surprisingly solid slasher flick before the days of John Carpenters Halloween. Despite this main flaw, the newest Black Christmas is serviceable as being a watchable horror film that provides serviceable entertainment for horror fans looking for a holiday type slasher flick, though they'll ultimately be disappointed in the lack of genuine scares the film carries despite some effective atmospheric moments along with the film taking a fun stab at numerous feminist tropes, which manage to inject some much needed life into the films recycled plot. The newest version of Black Christmas isn't as sharp as its predecessor nor offers horror fans anything groundbreaking in regards to switching up the genre, but it remains as fun to watch as most other horror films being released currently with both its Christmas setting and heavy dose of feminism in comparison to the 2006 version, adding for a nice twist to the proceedings.
One of the main key elements that makes the newest version of Black Christmas surprisingly watchable is the appeal of its main cast. Although the characters themselves are serviceable at best, the performances from the main actresses are convincing enough with them making the most of their roles. Out of the main female cast members, the strongest performances come from both Imogen Poots and Aleyse Shannon as Sorority Girls Riley Stone and Kris Waterson. Of the two, Poots delivers the more emotional and key role as the films main female character Riley, a college student struggling to move on from previously being raped by the College fraternity president. Poots succeeds in making her character both likable and sympathetic with her being able to make the audience connect with her characters plight. Aleyse Shannon equally impresses as Riley's aggressive friend Kris, a young activist on Campus who crusades against "the white-supremacist patriarchy." Shannon like Poots, makes the most of her role and eats up the scenery playing her character. Both actresses do well playing the two different sides of the current climate of feminism with Poot's essentially playing a victim turned fighter with her character, and Shannon playing a hardcore activist whose hell-bent on enacting change with her actions. The rest of the cast deliver effective to noteworthy performances with Brittany O' Grady as sorority girl Jesse Donovan, Caleb Eberhardt as Landon, a frat boy who shares a liking for Riley and later helps him expose the underground cult on campus, Madeleine Adams as another sorority sister Helena, Cary Elwes as the questionable and suspicious Professor Gelson who appears charming upon first glance but can have moments where he snaps without much warning the next minute, ultimately making audiences question his characters true intentions. Ryan McIntyre also manages to do well playing Brian, the sleazy rapist of Riley's character who shares numerous similarities to Brock Turner. As a whole, the cast for Black Christmas does a fairly decent job of adding realism to the story while having fun with their roles. They succeed in garnering the audiences interest despite their characters not being the most well-written in terms of in-depth exploration. Even if their roles don't come across as being very meaty besides Poots and Shannon, they play their roles to the max while appearing to be committed to doing so.
The films directing by Sophia Takai proves to be standard work with her best attempts at creating a darkly chilling atmosphere, that's draped around the holiday season being relatively successful for the most part. She makes a bold attempt here to hold back on the blood and gore aspect of the story in exchange for building up suspense with the films atmosphere. This is one aspect of the original she attempts to keep in line with, along with setting up some interesting atmospheric sequences that often result in being effective. Whereas the 2006 version of Black Christmas was R rated and placed heavy emphasis on gore, the newest version trades the latter for a more old-fashioned buildup of suspense while allowing the story to standout with it's main themes. The editing proves to be a mixed bag though with the story being kept consistently moving for its 93 minute running time, though the former tends to feel a bit choppy when it comes to the choreography of the films violent scenes, making it evident that the filmmakers deliberately cut down the violence in the editing room. While the aim to achieve a wider audience with the film comes across as being understandable, the omitting of much of the stories brutal nature come across as feeling sloppily handled at times. The films score proves effective in adding to both the creepiness and holiday style of the story. In terms of the films overall directing, Sophia Takai does a reasonably decent job of creating an atmosphere which serves as being genuinely creepy while crafting the story to be a hardcore piece regarding feminism. Takai aims for a newer generation of audiences with the originals story with her shaping it to entertain the new era of teenagers. The film is not so much directed at those who are fans of the original, but aims for a newer audience with that films same concept and themes. Takai's intentions of reintroducing the franchise to a newer generation of audiences fall upon being a noble effort, even if none of her work here appears to be groundbreaking nor clever like the original 1974 classic.
The films screenplay by Sophia Takal and April Wolfe serves as being a mixed bag with the script operating at its strongest when it explores the stories themes regarding feminism, gender roles, misogyny, sexism, rape culture, college tradition, fraternities, and supernatural activity. The overall screenplay aims to carry a message that drives home the feminist aspect of the story with the film saying that women can and should always fight back against misogyny and never stop doing so. The newest Black Christmas carries a heavier dose of feminism in comparison to the 2006 version and tackles many of today's issues pertaining to the Me Too movement, as well as the argument over a woman's place in society. The original Black Christmas mainly focused on the societal issue regarding abortion and a woman's right to choose, representing a stark difference between the eras of both films. The newest Black Christmas explores claims and accusations that women make in regards to instances of sexual misconduct and rape with Riley's character serving as being a prime example of the victim coming forward and the reaction she gets from those surrounding her. The character of Kris represents the fight that young women find themselves engaged in regards to establishing a women's place within society, along with calling out the injustices being conducted on campus as evidenced by her petition against Cary Elwes character. The script cleverly explores these concepts and does so in a way that doesn't make it come across as being overly preachy, but actually manages to work within the context of the story with the horror elements surrounding its serious discussions. The latter becomes the scripts main issue when it switches over to being a traditional horror film with the side characters all feeling like typical cardboard cutouts of other characters from numerous horror flicks. Outside of the characters of Riley and Kris, the rest aren't that well-developed for the audience to become invested in with the script carrying plot twists and reveals in the films third act that the audience can see coming a mile away regarding characters who appear to be noble and good at first later being revealed to be bad or corrupt. The script thrives when it plays off its noble intentions of addressing the misogyny that women face with the scene involving the sorority girls main Christmas performance with them in Santa suits, being a prime example with Riley's character throwing her rapists denial back in his face. The newest Black Christmas wants to and strives to be a piece of entertainment that not only has more depth than the average horror film, but also to make a bold statement with its overall message which encourages the women watching it to confront their own battles regarding misogyny, and ultimately feel empowered by the films strong showcasing of feminism.
The 2019 remake of Black Christmas is a film that no one asked for in particular nor did its story need any kind of revisiting, but Sophia Takal looked at the material and saw potential to bring the classic story into a more modern setting while incorporating themes and issues that women face in today's society in comparison to when the first Black Christmas opened. Takal knows what she wants to show and does so with a clear message behind the films plot. The intentions behind reimagining the originals story are clear and serve as being noble, but the film lacks the sharpness, the edge, and skillful crafting that made the original so effective at being an old-school slasher flick. The newest Black Christmas isn't a bad movie and stands as being a better remake than the 2006 film with more depth to its story. Despite being better, the newest version never comes close to matching the quality of its predecessor, nor does it ever feels like it tries to. One wonders what this film could've ended up like had as much enthusiasm went into making it live up to the standard of its original, as it did for the films push to have a heavier dose of feminism than the previous retelling. Despite its main faults, there's more shown here that works than doesn't with the overall experience being reasonably entertaining if one goes into it with the right expectations. Black Christmas 2019 is a fun-spirited and fairly entertaining Christmas-themed horror flick, that aims to reimagine its concept for a whole new generation while adding a heavy dose of feminism to it. Although certain aspects of it may come across as feeling a bit familiar to audiences, the story gets the appropriate makeover required in order to feel relevant in today's political climate. It's not very scary but it lives up to its promise of delivering some fairly decent holiday slasher fun.
Final Verdict: Fans of the original Black Christmas and horror fans in general will find mild entertainment with the 2019 version with it ultimately working as being a fairly decent though generally flawed reimagining of the 1974 Canadian horror cult-classic.
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