“Black Christmas” (2019) is a pleasant holiday surprise. With a rating down in the 3s on IMDb, I wondered if I should even unwrap this third entry in the series (all of which are standalone stories, but close enough that original writer Roy Moore keeps getting a credit). It turns out to be an assured big-picture debut from writers Sofia Takal (who also directs) and April Wolfe.
Holiday heroine
I knew Imogen Poots, who I loved in “Roadies” and “A Long Way Down,” was among the cast. I was happy to learn she is the lead character and gets the most screentime as Riley. Poots is expressive in small and big ways, and I don’t understand why she isn’t an A-list star.
In “BC19” – which is far enough removed from the 1974 classic and uneven 2006 remake that I think it’s mainly using the title for branding – Poots plays a college senior who was raped a few years earlier at a frat party.
“Black Christmas” (2019)
Director: Sophia Takal
Writers: Sophia Takal, April Wolfe (screenplay); Roy Moore (1974 screenplay)
Stars: Imogen Poots, Aleyse Shannon, Lily Donoghue
Riley has retreated into a shell, but she has the friendship of her sorority sisters Kris (Aleyse Shannon), Marty (Lily Donoghue) and Jesse (Brittany O’Grady). (And some others, but they are killed off before they become full characters.)
It’s interesting that the sorority sisters have gender-neutral names, because Takal and Wolfe dig into reaction along gender lines to campus rape culture. One fraternity at Hawthorne College – where a statue is removed because the founder was a slave-owner (“in the North,” activist Kris points out) – is pure cinematic evil.
They have those robes that drape over their eyes. See the “Buffy” episode “Reptile Boy” for another example of this trope (and for other things the film borrows).
Going for woke
I think the evil fraternity is why people hate “BC19” and label it as an annoying woke movie. But Takai and Wolfe contain their blatant trope use there.
Well-developed, or at least charismatic, characters have the spotlight. Cary Elwes’ Professor Gelson may be a bad guy or simply an establishmentarian going about his routine – he teaches classic literature and Kris criticizes the syllabus for being all-white-male writers.
The two male students in the main cast are allies to the women, but they think for themselves. Landon (Caleb Eberhardt) shyly pursues the distracted Riley. Nate (Simon Mead) speaks out against girlfriend Marty when she attempts to lump all men into a sort of secret society that holds all the world’s power.
“BC19” is undeniably a woke movie, but it presents several people’s point of view. For a third-generation slasher remake, it explores the danger of college-party rape and the surrounding talking points in smart ways.
Back to a mystery vibe
As noted, “BC19” is not a faithful remake, but it does get back to the mystery vibe that was skipped by the 2006 version. The cold-open victim notes that an item has gone missing from her room.
If this was someone’s first “BC” movie, they wouldn’t know for sure that someone is hiding in the house. Instead, they’d think someone has access, or the killer is one of the women.
The suspect list includes the obvious – Riley’s roofie-rapist Brian – but he’s barely a character. Gelson also has a motive, with his job in jeopardy.
After the obvious suspects, we drop down to the not-at-all-obvious – but this latter group would have access to the house. “BC19” gets those little gray cells working in a way the first two films do not.
Holiday trappings
The staging of scares and kills is hit and miss. I enjoyed one scene where someone is testing strings of light bulbs by plugging them in in the dark attic. We gradually realize the shadow nearby could be the killer.
The opening victim inadvertently makes a snow angel as she’s stabbed. That’s a notch above the Christmas-objects-as-weapons that litter “BC06,” although, granted, an icicle is used here.
I’m not saying “Black Christmas” 2019 is revolutionary or that it competes with the first “Black Christmas” in any way. But it has far superior character writing to the 2006 take.
It’s smart, timely and fun, with a great Poots performance at its heart. I think a bunch of Grinches skewed the IMDb ratings.