Trailer for Blumhouse’s Black Christmas goes well over the top

Black Christmas is a classic in Christmas horror (though not as much fun as Santa’s Slay or Rare Exports, for my money) and one of the earliest slashers. From the director of another holiday staple–A Christmas Story–the film followed a group of sorority sisters spending the holiday at college. Soon enough, however, girls are disappearing one-by-one to be suffocated in the attic by a loon with a plastic bag.

It’s all pretty rudimentary stuff by today’s standards, so let’s just go ahead and hurl a blood cult into the mix. This is one weird trailer, and every second I spent watching it the less I understood what I was looking at. Did Blumhouse just turn Black Christmas into The Purge? Maybe!

I really don’t know how to feel about Black Christmas from this trailer. I’m glad the film’s addressing contemporary themes, and the central premise is intact (sorority girls at Christmas getting murdered), but boy did this ever ratchet the plot straight the hell to 11. We now have a cult, living statues, blood rituals, and a big revenge blowout. Also, one of the ladies says, “Ho ho ho, bitches.” We could always use more of that.

Is this too much? Or is too much exactly what a remake of such a straightforward slasher needs to stand out today? I really don’t know, but I’m intrigued and would like to see more.

Black Christmas will unleash its yuletide of blood into theaters on December 13, 2019.