The original Black Christmas released in 1974 and the first remake released in 2006 are both rated R. That’s not something the new Black Christmas can boast, as the holiday killer thriller has been stamped with what some feel is the dreaded PG-13. A move to pull in tween girls who aren’t old enough to see darker fare. Well, horror fans aren’t having it, lighting up a healthy discussion on Twitter. Now, the screenwriter of the movie has come out to defend the PG-13 rating.
Writer April Wolfe, who is behind this latest take on the Holiday horror classic, has some things to say about her new horror movie receiving a PG-13 rating. She admits that they set out to make something a little more harsh and covered in a lot more blood. But test screenings changed their thinking. In a Twitter post, she says this.
“Here’s the deal: We wrote it with an R in mind. When they did the test screenings, it was clear that this movie needed to be available to a younger female audience because the subject matter is timely. Also I want to indoctrinate girls into horror. Doesn’t make it any less vicious!”
Bloody Disgusting was the first to report the PG-13 rating for Black Christmas. And it wasn’t long before Wolfe gave her desertion on why it had to happen this way. A lot of people on Twitter were not happy to find out the rating. It has since been pointed out that some very good horror movies have flown in with the PG-13 rating. These include Sam Raimi’s Drag Me to Hell, Gore Verbinski’s The Ring, and John Kraskinski’s A Quiet Place. Tobe Hooper’s Poltergeist was rated PG, as was Joe Dante’s Gremlins, both produced by Steven Spielberg, and both responsible for helping create the PG-13 rating in the first place.
After April Wolfe offered her take on why the movie was coming to theaters with a PG-13 rating, XX director Jovanka Vuckovic arrived to support the idea that not all great horror movies need to be rated R.
“A rating does not define a horror film. The Changeling, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Deathdream, Burnt Offerings, Tombs of the Blind Dead, Picnic at Hanging Rock, Salem’s Lot, Race with the Devil, Lemora, The Other, Let’s Scare Jessica To Death, Poltergeist & Jaws were all PG.”
Fangoria editor-in-chief Phil Nobile Jr. also arrived to defend the PG-13 rating. First talking about the 2006 version that wasn’t necessarily well recieved, followed by the original and this new one heading our way this December.
“So now we have a gory Black Christmas, a trauma-inducing Black Christmas with Margot Kidder and the C-word, and a Black Christmas to indoctrinate tweens into horror. Who loses?”
This remake of Black Christmas once again takes place on a college campus during the holidays. The sorority girls of Hawthorne college are being stalked and killed, but the slasher soon discovers that these women growing up in the #MeToo and #TimesUp era aren’t so easy to knock off, as they team up to fight back and finish this reign of terror.
Black Christmas stars& Imogen Poots, Aleyse Shannon, Brittany O’Grady, Lily Donoghue, and Caleb Eberhardt. Cary Elwes will also have a supporting role in Black Christmas. Sophia Takal directed the movie and had this to say about her Black Christmas reboot last year.
“My version of Black Christmas is about a group of women who are sorority sisters at a college who start to disappear one by one and the remaining sisters have to figure out why these women are disappearing and who’s responsible for it. And eventually, once they figure out who the bad guy is, they have to fight for survival. The original Black Christmas feels so contemporary and modern for the time. I wanted to make something that reflected our time right now. For me, it was about, What does it feel like to be a woman in 2019?”
Black Christmas will be unwrapped on Dec. 13. You can check out some of the tweets below, with the majority of this report coming from Entertainment Weekly.
Here’s the deal: We wrote it with an R in mind. When they did the test screenings, was clear that this movie needed to be available to a younger female audience because the subject matter is timely. Also I want to indoctrinate girls into horror. Doesn’t make it any less vicious! https://t.co/UMOdU3HQ4E
— April Wolfe (@AWolfeful) November 13, 2019
LET GIRLS SCREAM IN HORROR IN A SAFE SETTING! THEY NEED THE RELEASE!
— April Wolfe (@AWolfeful) November 13, 2019
A rating does not define a horror film. The Changeling, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Deathdream, Burnt Offerings, Tombs of the Blind Dead, Picnic at Hanging Rock, Salem’s Lot, Race with the Devil, Lemora, The Other, Let’s Scare Jessica To Death, Poltergeist & Jaws were all PG.
— Jovanka Vuckovic (@JovankaVuckovic) November 13, 2019
No, it’s a pg-13….no true horror ever is a pg-13
You’ve sold out to try and hit the younger market for $$$. Wish studios would stop this crap. Let’s take a horror/violent film & make it kid friendly. They tried this with Robocop remake and that is one of the worst films ever— Chad (@IamChadbacca) November 13, 2019
The men in the replies are triggering my migraine.
— dilara elbir (@elbirdilara) November 13, 2019
Buckets of blood and F-bombs never made the difference between a good movie and a bad one. I’m sure if it was good at R it’ll be just as good at PG-13, and then further down the line an unrated cut if need be.
— Chris Bumbray (@cbumbray) November 13, 2019
It’s actually a slap in the face to younger female audience. Basically saying they can’t handle hardcore horror. Nice try.
— Wesley (BRING BACK ANAKIN) (@wesleywhite626) November 13, 2019
The original movie tackled extremely serious issues and also showed us kickass female characters that took on their attacker head on. I was excited to see this movie but when a movie is looking to “target” an age group they’re not really thinking about the horror movie at all 🤷♂️
— Dino Reacts (@DinoReacts) November 13, 2019
PG 13 ? Really ??? I’ll wait for it to come on Disney Plus 😂😂
— EJ (@chill_dude03) November 13, 2019
PG 13.. My god is that even a horror anymore 😂😂 this film just gets worse @wentz_bin
— JD Salvator (@Jarod_D_T) November 13, 2019
The fact that they’re remaking a film that pioneered the slasher genre then rating it PG-13 is just stupid within itself but,hey the movie could be a little surprise. We’ll just have to wait and see pic.twitter.com/gHgERXHqR7
— 𝕮𝖔𝖚𝖓𝖙 𝕹𝖊𝖐𝖗𝖔𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖎𝖓 (@tyler__jones666) November 13, 2019
More of a medium grey Christmas
— Brendan Knapp (@temujinbk) November 13, 2019
