The girls at a Sorority house receive disturbing phone calls, unaware they are being stalked by someone...
Black Christmas is often overlooked when it comes to talking about the Slasher sub-genre in horror films. I really don't understand why. It puts in place a lot of what, in time, would become the cliches of this type of film. We have a group of women being killed one by one by a killer who we never see. Instead of seeing a masked killer, we get point of view (POV) shots from their perspective, adding to the mystery. While Black Christmas was not the first film to use this idea, it certainly uses it effectively.
Considering the films that followed in its wake, such as Halloween or Friday The 13th for example, Black Christmas never shows you the deaths, we do get brief moments, such as in the first murder, but mostly they happen off screen or just off camera, relying on some sound. Even the most brutal murder, is more to seeing the weapon being brought down, rather than the impact on the victim. Considering how brutal the films to follow were, it might seem old fashioned, but then, it's as much a thriller as horror, and it doesn't feel the need to dwell on the violence.
It's written by Ron Moore, though apparently Bob Clark was involved with some re-writing of the film. It does have some story lapses (the police never think to check the attic for example) but it is a well written film. Some have pointed to various plot threads never resolved, such as the girl murdered in the park, but if you consider that detail along with a line early in the script, I do think it ties together well. Also, without giving anything away, most of the films that followed set up the virgin or innocent of the girls to be the final girl. Here, the girls aren't really innocent, but made more 'real' as it were, more relatable.
And then there is the ending, or rather the ambiguous lack of one. I love the bravery of the director to leave the ending open to interpretation. It can be taken on many levels. I have my own take on it and others will have their own, none of which could be considered wrong. In fact, you could consider Black Christmas's open ending like a horror story told at Christmas around a fire, one designed to unsettle the listeners. It certainly would have worked on audiences at the time, though I do concede that lack of a proper ending will frustrate many. But what Clark manages to do is keep the tension up throughout. Even though we know the killer is loose in the house the girls don't but with the creepy phone calls that do unnerve, Clark keeps the audience on edge, both to the killer and also who will be next.
It helps that the film has a tremendous cast. Olivia Hussey plays Jess, the main girl in the story. She's very good in the role. Margot Kidder plays Barb, one of the other girls, who spends most of her time drunk and Kidder plays a rather convincing drunk. Keir Dullea plays Jess's boyfriend Peter, who is a major suspect in the film. John Saxon plays the Lt. Fuller investigating the murder in the park and the calls to the house. All are good as is the supporting cast, including special mention of Lynne Griffin, who plays Claire, the first girl killed and spends the rest of her scenes in the film playing a corpse with a bag over head (that's her on the poster above).
Bob Clark moved more into comedies after this film, though he did make a stunning Sherlock Holmes film, Murder By Decree (1979) that pitted Holmes against Jack The Ripper. Highly recommended if you haven't seen it. He could have been a terrific horror director, but didn't return to the genre after Black Christmas, which is a shame.
While a minor hit at the box office and mixed reaction at the time, over the years the reputation of Black Christmas has grown. Apparently John Carpenter was a huge fan of the film, and you can see its influence on Halloween, especially the opening POV scene in that film. Even the first Friday The 13th was influenced by not showing the killer, except their hands, until the end. Of course most films after would then go for a masked killer and we would see more of them in the film, but even then, they did try and add mystery of the killer. But Black Christmas did a lot of this first.
It was Clark that decided on the title Black Christmas, the idea being of dark, horrible things happening in contrast to what is meant to be a light festive time of year. As such, one could consider the film, rightfully, a Christmas film. But while it might not be up there with It's A Wonderful Life, Die Hard or The Muppets Christmas Carol as one of the best Christmas films, Black Christmas is a wonderful, late night film to watch if in the mood for something a bit more alternative and scarier at this time of year. There was a remake in 2006, that is trashy but fun, but not a patch on the original.
If you haven't seen it, I recommend catching Black Christmas if you can. It's well worth it.
Rating - 4/5
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