Dunedin-shot Christmas disappoints
Black Christmas (M, 92 mins) Directed by Sophia Takal Reviewed by James Croot ★★1⁄2
Twenty years after brothers Robert and Duncan Sarkies showcased their hometown to the world in Scarfies, Dunedin once again plays host to a movie about dark, criminal activities.
However, this time the Edinburgh of the South’s University of Otago isn’t playing itself, but rather the snow-flecked Hawthorne College.
It’s there that Mu Kappa Epsilon sorority sisters Riley Stone (Imogen Poots), Kris Waterson (Aleyse Shannon), Marty Coolidge (Lily Donoghue) and Jesse BoltonSinclair (Brittany O’Grady) are attempting to juggle studies with holding down part-time jobs and protesting ‘‘the ruthless misogyny of higher education’’.
Kris has already succeeded in getting the bust of its controversial founder Calvin Hawthorne removed from public display and now has her sights set on the termination of classics teacher Professor Gelson (Carey Elwes).
If that hadn’t already drawn the ire of founding fraternity AKO, then the girls’ provocative performance at the boys’ open mike talent night certainly does, especially after it goes viral.
‘‘We’re not inspiring people, we’re pissing people off,’’ Riley warns Kris. But even she isn’t prepared for what happens next.
Actress-turned-director and cowriter Sophia Takal (Always Shine) originally wanted to remake infamous feminist revenge flick I Spit on Your Grave. Instead, she was offered the chance to reimagine cult 1974 horror classic Black Christmas (a film that inspired everything from Halloween to Scream).
The result is a movie with something to say (Gelson is clearly inspired by the likes of Canadian author Jordan Peterson), traditional tropes to subvert, but one that bears very little resemblance to the original film or its risible 2006 remake.
Thankfully, it is far better than that farrago, but it still feels like a missed opportunity and is deeply disappointing.
Most of the characters are onedimensional, the set-pieces lack innovation and the story is heavyhanded with its politics (literal toxic masculinity is key to the plot).
Takal and co-writer April Wolfe also seem unsure if they’re making a serious high-browed horror, or a supernatural-infused parody. It means it ends up feeling like Sucker Punch without the dodgy visuals, or Cry Wolf sans the preppy uniforms and charismatic cast.
On the plus side, Oamaru’s Campbell Park Estate and Dunedin look suitable gothic, and the production designers have done a fabulous job of capturing the Dunedin student flat and winter wardrobe aesthetic for a global audience – layering and leggings abound.
If only Takal and company hadn’t had to transform the atmospheric locations into middleAmerica and a potentially interesting premise into a genre franchise movie.
Black Christmas is now streaming on Lightbox and iTunes.