Deck the halls with sounds of murder. A remake of 1974 slasher Black Christmas is in the works from Blumhouse, with the tale of stalked sorority girls getting a fun, feminist revamp, per Variety.
The original Black Christmas was released four years before Halloween and is credited with inspiring John Carpenter's iconic horror film. The film is loosely based on the urban legend about a phone call from a killer coming from "inside the house" — the same tale that would go on to inspire 1979's When A Stranger Calls. It tells the story of sorority girls who await Christmas break while an anonymous killer stalks them from inside the house, murdering some, and terrifying all others.
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According to a press release, the movie — which stars Green Room's Imogen Poots — is leaning in with women fighting back against their stalker.
"Hawthorne College is quieting down for the holidays. One by one, sorority girls on campus are being killed by an unknown stalker. But the killer is about to discover that this generation’s young women aren’t willing to become hapless victims as they mount a fight to the finish."
The new film will be directed by Sophia Takal, who co-wrote the script with April Wolfe. In addition to helming psychological thriller Always Shine with Mackenzie Davis and Caitlin FitzGerald, Takal recently worked for Blumhouse on their anthology series Into the Dark. Her episode "New Year, New You" was a savage takedown of influencer culture, with a horrific twist. (Like Misery, if author Paul Sheldon hocked juice cleanses.)
Takal's won't be the first remake of Black Christmas. A 2006 version starring Katie Cassidy gave substantial, straight-up icky backstory to the killer, something that the original version neglected entirely as the murderer remained anonymous. Will Takal's version include Christmas cookies made of human flesh and incest? Unclear, but at least it will feature badass sisters pledging to take down a psycho killer.