The Cutprice Guignol

You know, in a lot of ways, I actually do really like the idea of this remake of Black Christmas.

In the era of prestige horror, Sophia Takal’s retread of the sorority girl slashfest really feels like a good take on the old premise: set on a modern college campus and picking up on the sisterhood premise of the original, Takal adds a contemporary twist in the tail with a sharp feminist throughline that seeks to explore rape culture on campus and the toxic masculinity of violence like the kind that exists in gorefests like this one. Using the meta-narrative of the final girl slasher framework to explore these themes is a genuinely inspired idea, and with an almost all-female cast and crew, it feels like it’s coming from an authentic place as opposed to wearing its feminism on its sleeve to make a point about its progressive politics.