Reviews: Black Christmas (2019) Movie Review
Genres: Horror, Thriller, Mystery
Subgenres: Holiday, Christmas - Slasher, Blumhouse
Our take on Black Christmas (2019) explores its plot, scares, and horror highlights to help fans decide if it deserves a place on their watchlist.
Black Christmas (2019) reimagines the 1974 cult classic for a modern audience, infusing the slasher formula with overt feminist themes and collegiate social commentary. The film follows a group of sorority sisters at Hawthorne College—Riley, Kris, Marty, and Jesse—as they become the targets of a masked killer during winter break. But as the body count rises, it becomes clear this isn’t just a random psycho—it’s something far more sinister, secretive, and supernatural.
Black Christmas (2019) – A Slasher Reboot with a Modern Feminist Twist That Misses the Mark
Plot, Themes, and Character Development
This reboot attempts to address misogyny, patriarchy, and s**ual assault, positioning the sorority sisters as empowered figures fighting back against a violent system. Riley, portrayed by Imogen Poots, carries the emotional core of the film as a survivor dealing with trauma, trying to protect her friends while confronting a dark conspiracy rooted in the college’s history.
Unfortunately, the character development feels flat, with many of the supporting women reduced to one-note stereotypes (the activist, the athlete, the innocent). The film’s themes, while timely, are delivered with little nuance, relying more on blunt dialogue than organic storytelling.
Acting and Cinematography
Imogen Poots delivers a solid performance as Riley, balancing vulnerability and strength. Aleyse Shannon as Kris also brings intensity, but the script limits the range of emotional complexity the characters could have explored. The male characters, particularly the villains, are cartoonish, often portrayed with little subtlety or depth.
Visually, the film opts for a clean, polished aesthetic, but lacks the gritty atmosphere or chilling tension that defined the original. The kills are tame and mostly bloodless, a decision that disappoints horror fans expecting traditional slasher brutality. Despite some well-framed shots and moody lighting, the suspense never truly escalates, and the PG-13 rating significantly hampers the horror elements.
Directing Style, Strengths, and Weaknesses
Sophia Takal directs with clear intent, aiming to blend genre thrills with a message of female empowerment and resistance. It’s a bold creative choice, but the execution falters. The movie shifts tone abruptly—from campy slasher to supernatural thriller to feminist manifesto—without a cohesive throughline.
The film’s twist involving ancient male magic and mind control strains credibility, pushing the premise into near-parody territory. While the intention is admirable, the dialogue is often clunky, and the film struggles to maintain its horror roots amid heavy-handed messaging.
Strengths:
Modern feminist themes offer a unique twist to the slasher subgenre
Imogen Poots gives a grounded and emotional lead performance
Timely commentary on campus culture and institutional power dynamics
Weaknesses:
Flat characters and on-the-nose dialogue undercut dramatic weight
Lack of scares and gore disappoints genre fans expecting visceral horror
Tonal inconsistencies and weak supernatural twist derail tension
PG-13 rating restricts slasher impact, especially compared to the original
Final Verdict & Score: 4/10
Black Christmas (2019) aims to update a horror classic with a feminist perspective, but sacrifices scares, subtlety, and suspense in the process. While its heart is in the right place, the film struggles to balance message and mayhem, resulting in a horror reboot that feels more like a lecture than a screamfest.
Sources Used to Shape This Review
Insights in this review are drawn from director interviews, fan commentary, production notes, and long-form breakdowns across genre-specific platforms. Content is written uniquely and reviewed for accuracy.
- Black Christmas Rating Scores
- Our Score: 4/10
- Overall Score: 4.09/10
- IMDB: 3.5/10
- MetaCritic: 4.9/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 4.0/10
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