Ooof this film killed my Fantasy Movie League this week, coming in so far under projections. It baffled me, until I actually saw it. I absolutely backed the wrong reindeer here.
This is a pretty straightfoward slasher movie that takes place on a college campus in the days leading up to Christmas break. Disappearances go unnoticed because people just assume they’re going home for the holidays. On top of that, there’s a take on college rape culture. Our protagonist was sexually assaulted a few years prior, and no one in authority believed her. The timing and victims of these disappearances seem to be related to some retaliatory acts she and her friends have taken.
The first half or so is watchable. Nothing too remarkable. The Christmas stuff (ie, stabbing someone with an icicle and leaving a snow angel on the ground) feels a little forced, but playful. The horror aspects were pretty basic though, nothing innovative at all. That’s fine. It’s marketed at the teens who can’t get into the R rated films, so it’s passable gateway horror.
And then there’s a reveal about how things are happening. And it’s dumb. I try to give films the benefit of the doubt and find the positives, and I just can’t figure out a way to spin this one. It completely lost me, and I couldn’t get out of that 90 minute film soon enough.
The other thing that really didn’t help the film was that it was trying way too hard to be woke. I say that as someone who is all about female empowerment. There were some good intentions and even some good moves (such as the song the girls sang at the frat), but it just felt like such a reach. Especially when said reveal was revealed, the whole thing felt very contrived. I want the film this was trying to be, not the one it actually was. Cause this was a total bummer.
Black Christmas – \m/ \m/