A new take on the 1974 classic Black Christmas was announced by Blumhouse Productions earlier this year, with the new film earning itself a PG-13 rating. Exhibitor Relations Co. confirmed the rating by the MPAA on Twitter and, while some horror fans will immediately be trepidatious about a horror film that falls short of an R rating, this news seemingly confirms that this new take on the premise is sure to offer audiences some thrilling surprises. This new film marks the second remake of the original, with another Black Christmas having hit theaters in 2006. Black Christmas lands in theaters on December 13th.
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BLACK CHRISTMAS is rated PG-13: for violence, terror, thematic content involving sexual assault, language, sexual material and drinking…with an open container on campus. Was actually PG until that.
— Exhibitor Relations Co. (@ERCboxoffice) November 13, 2019
According to Exhibitor Relations, the film earned its rating for “violence, terror, thematic content involving sexual assault, language, sexual material and drinking.” Based on the film’s trailer, most of these were a given, though fans might notice a lack of blood or gore as a reason for its rating.
In the film, “Hawthorne College is quieting down for the holidays. But as Riley Stone (Imogen Poots, Green Room) and her Mu Kappa Epsilon sisters—athlete Marty (Lily Donoghue, The CW’s Jane the Virgin), rebel Kris (Aleyse Shannon, The CW’s Charmed), and foodie Jesse (Brittany O’Grady, Fox’s Star)—prepare to deck the halls with a series of seasonal parties, a black-masked stalker begins killing sorority women one by one. As the body count rises, Riley and her squad start to question whether they can trust any man, including Marty’s beta-male boyfriend, Nate (Simon Mead, Same But Different: A True New Zealand Love Story), Riley’s new crush Landon (Caleb Eberhardt, Amazon’s Mozart in the Jungle) or even esteemed classics instructor Professor Gelson (Cary Elwes). Whoever the killer is, he’s about to discover that this generation’s young women aren’t about to be anybody’s victims.”
The original 1974 is considered by many to be one of the first “slashers,” establishing a formula repeated by a number of imitators. Like many other films of the time, Black Christmas relied more on tension than full-blown gore, which wouldn’t become a slasher staple until the ’80s.
Fans also shouldn’t be too concerned with the somewhat tame rating, as Blumhouse has found hits with the Happy Death Day franchise, with both installments earning PG-13 ratings, despite their gruesome subject matter.
The new Black Christmas lands in theaters on December 13th.
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