Greetings fellow cinephiles of our Winchester winter wonderland!

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, for some.

Others aren’t fans of the Christmas season or its stocking full of jolly-themed cinema, music, sentiment and nostalgia.

Don’t fret my Grinches and Scrooges.

If you do not like this season or if you are more of a Jack Skellington with a dark twist on it all, there are plenty of cold-hearted, twisted Christmas titles for you to relish in this holiday season.

Like the annual Elf on the Shelf photo-sharing frenzy or the seasonal denial of the gifted fruit cake, a horror movie released around Christmas has become expected in recent years.

2019 is no different and has the horror honor of falling on Friday the 13th.

No, its not “Friday the 13th Part XV: Jason Takes the North Pole,” but the slasher remake, “Black Christmas.”

“Black Christmas” is the chilling tale which focuses on Hawthorne College sorority girls who are stalked and murdered by an unknown stranger during their Christmas break.

A small group of pledges, Imogen “28 Weeks Later” Poots, Aleyse “Charmed” Shannon, Lily “The Goldbergs” Donoghue and Brittany “Above Suspicion” O’ Grady refuse to play the part of helpless victim and fight to survive the killer in this Christmas-themed yuletide yarn, which also stars Cary “Saw” Elwes.

Directed by Sophia “Always Shine” Takal, and written by Takal and April “1989: The Year that Made Us” Wolfe, it is the second loose remake of the 1974 Bob “Christmas Story” Canadian horror classic “Black Christmas” which starred Margot “Superman” Kidder, Olivia “It” Hussey and Andrea “SCTV” Martin.

The original was the influence for John Carpenter’s “Halloween” (1978), which would benchmark the slasher sub-genre at the time of its release.

The 2006 violent remake followed a group of sorority sisters who become targeted by an escaped maniac as his childhood home is now their sorority house.

“Black Christmas” (2019) is a horror film that focuses on the strength of women facing adversity and overcoming obstacles no matter how big, like their male counterparts do in every other film.

This is by no means a new direction for female characters and by no means is it conveying a message about women’s liberation. Its a message of empowerment and a reminder to women it is expected to fight back and not fall prey to playing the victim in life.

That is a sound message for men and women alike.

“Black Christmas” wrapped in approximately a month in June in New Zealand and is already being released, that is impressive. Besides it being a remake of a classic within the genre, there is an outcry because horror producers Blumhouse releasing it with a PG-13 rating (that rating fills more seats) and not an R rating.

The unrated or “R” version will be released after the theatrical run as this is done and has been for awhile as a marketing ploy by the studios and distributors to rake in more cash. This Christmas is no different.

If you are not having a holly jolly white Christmas but are steering clear of having a blue Christmas, then check out “Black Christmas” and definitely the original.

You’ll have a killer time if you aren’t taken out by a piece of fruit cake and a half gallon of egg nog first.

Have a film-tastic day and a very Merry Christmas! 

Rick Baldwin is a writer, filmmaker and film/music historian. He is president of the Winchester-Clark County Film Society. Find more from Rick on Facebook. He is on Twitter @rickbaldwin79  and can be reached by email at rickbaldwiniii@hotmail.com.