Black Christmas is a horror remake with something to say about today’s society, much in line with previous Blumhouse Production movies like Get Out. But it knows audiences won’t listen unless they’re entertained, which is a balance that screenwriter April Wolfe worked hard to achieve. She spoke to Screen Rant about that process, as well as the various homages to the original.
I love the message of this film. I love the song in this film. Amazing job. But I do have to ask: Black Christmas was originally a cult classic from the 1970s. What opportunities did you see remaking this for a modern audience?
What opportunities does having a horror movie set at Christmas time provide for you?
April Wolfe: Bob Clark was obviously really ahead of his time, considering that the original is essentially about abortion rights and domestic violence and women feeling safe on campus, which is so strange because it kind of feels like today. So, we felt like there was an opportunity for this to be brought to a mainstream audience.
The original is a cult classic, it’s beautiful. Sometimes it might not be as accessible, I think, to some people who maybe need to see that message. And so this was an opportunity to say, “Well, he had amazing ideas. Let’s do something a little bit different.” And then make it palatable and bring it to an audience that might want to have fun. Fun was kind of our biggest thing, I would say, for that. Keep going back to having fun.
Correct me if I’m wrong, is there a small Easter egg in the film with the original killer from Black Christmas, how the girls all had his weapons towards the end?
April Wolfe: Well, I love Christmas. I also hate Christmas. It is a scary, depressing, dark time. But also so cheerful. And having a horror film in that, first off, you have these amazing visuals to draw from because Christmas itself is kind of strange. The images are strange, especially if it’s in a religious connotation. But also, nothing is better than red blood on white snow. It is a well known fact.
And so, I think that having the juxtaposition of cheerful and dark is something that I’ve always been drawn to as a lapsed Catholic, and it’s something that I am drawn to in all films too. The Shane Black-ness of things. The subversiveness is there.
One of the issues that you touch upon is women not being believed after an attack or trauma. Can you talk to me about how you towed the line between educating an audience but keeping that entertaining?
April Wolfe: It’s a big one. It’s a big Easter egg. You’re saying it’s a small one, but it’s big Easter egg. Yeah, we planted a few more kind of subtle ones here and there, and hopefully people can kind of find those. But it was definitely a very overt thing that we did, having a reversal happen with the feminine and masculine in this.
More: Read Screen Rant’s Black Christmas Review
April Wolfe: That was actually really hard, and Sophia and I had to do a lot of read throughs back and forth to make sure. Because there are fights, and there are people who are making points that are valid on all sides. And you have to kind of make sure that you have all those things in there while still keeping it scary. That was, I would say, one of the more difficult things. It really just came with a lot of practice and continuing to go through it to decide how much was too much, and I think it turned out exactly how we needed it to. Which is enough where it is overt, where people know that is what’s going on, but there’s still some nuance to be left for discussion later on.
- Black Christmas Release Date: 2019-12-13
