Black Christmas

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Horrorphile - December 2007

Black Christmas

December 24th 2007 06:14

Halloween (1978) may have made the stalk and slash flick the legendary sub-genre that it is, but there were two movies before it which hold claim to inventing that particular type of horror movie; one is Mario Bava’s Twitch of the Death Nerve (1971) and the other is Bob Clark’s Black Christmas (1974).

Black Christmas, which was also known as Silent Night, Evil Night, is a strange little film. It’s also a genuinely scary movie, and it’s never been ruined by a sequel despite its blatantly open ended conclusion. Director Clark insisted on the ambiguity even though the studio wanted him to change the ending and have a more conclusive reveal and finish.

It is this character ambiguity, that the killer is never revealed, which makes the movie so interesting. You only ever see the killer’s eye and a sliver of his face, but boy, it’s a scary enough glimpse at pure psychopathic evil! And that voice, or to be more precise those voices, yikes! The multiple personalities of so-called Billy, the moaner, and his vulgar and vitriolic outbursts over the phone are brilliantly written pieces of crazed dialogue.

The moaner is on the line

So, what’s going on I hear you ask? Okay, it’s Christmas time. And a private school house of sorority girls are looking forward to the holiday break. There’s prissy Jessica (Olivia Hussey), loud and drunken Barbara (Margot Kidder) and virginal Phyllis (Andrea Martin). But a prowler manages to scale the outside of the three-storey house and climbs in a top window, hiding in a bedroom.

Olivia Hussey as Jessica

Shy Clare goes upstairs to pack and is asphyxiated by the prowler who then carries her body up into the attic. The killer then proceeds to terrorise the rest of the household by making these weird phone calls from within the house which the girls initially think is a crude sexual prank, referring to him as the moaner. But it becomes apparent there is something much more sinister going on.

John Saxon as Lt. Fuller

Black Christmas was the first horror movie to utilise the point of view of the killer and the killer’s laboured breathing as part of a distinct visual motif. Wes Craven’s Scream (1996) borrows heavily from Black Christmas, in particular the phone calling.

Margot Kidder as Barbara

Despite a low budget Black Christmas is inventive and stylish, with very dark, but still vivid cinematography (great colour palette). There's a neat streak of black comedy running through roy Moore's screenplay. The acting is a little uneven though, with Olivia Hussey’s deer-caught-in-the-headlights look wearing thin after ten minutes. It’s Margot Kidder’s brash Barbara that threatens to steal Hussey’s thunder, and in fact, Barbara is a much more interesting character. John Saxon plays the local lieutenant and he fits the role like a glove.

The attic has a secret or two

The movie is also unusual in that it uses the c-word expletive several times (one of Billy’s sexual taunts over the phone). For 1974 this would have been considered quite a bold and confronting bit of dialogue. It’s a Canadian movie, and I picked that out quite early on when two of the characters pronounced “out” as “oat”. The Canadians make good horror movies I’ve decided.

The killer's eye

Black Christmas isn’t graphic (certain dialogue aside) or gory at all, or even that violent, but it does possess a striking and resonant sense of fear and apprehension. Just who is this Billy freak and what is his damn motive?! The lead up to the first kill from behind the plastic I found decidedly unnerving. I haven’t actually been as genuinely creeped out from a horror movie as I was whilst watching Black Christmas.

I haven’t seen the remake, but apparently it’s not too bad. I’ll let you know.

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Posted By: Bryn - Category: movie reviews

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Comments

5 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by Damo

December 24th 2007 08:03

I am dreaming of a black christmas....

Why isn't this on tonight?
Humphrey B Bear really bugs me.

Comment by anonymous

December 24th 2007 21:11

This is honestly one of those older, little known films you've heard of, that live up to its reputation. I've had more than a couple recommended to me (for example, Let's Scare Jessica to Death) that just didn't live up to the hype. However, jaded as I am, this one was very suspenseful and ground-breaking. It didn't terrorize me upon first viewing, but it certainly made me antsy and I appreciated a lot of what came from it, like your aforementioned pictures and When a Stranger Calls.

As to the remake, I liked the backstory but felt the overall theme, as well as the basic abysmal acting, sucked. But you've got to give it points for all the lucious eye candy.

Oh, and Kidder was a hoot. She personified Barbara like her evil twin.

-lilith

Comment by Bryn

December 25th 2007 00:36

Horrorphile

Damo, Merry bloody Xmas to you dude! If Black Christmas was programmed on free-to-air tonight there'd be complaints fer sure ... lol

lilith, Kidder is gold! Crazy to think Bob Clark went on to direct Porkies (!!!) ... The image of Billy's eye through the crack in the door is chillingly effective ... There's touches of Argento too. And a Merry Xmas to your sinful self.

Comment by D. Armenta

December 25th 2007 04:25

The Florida Keys and Everglades
The Black Sheep Chronicles
What constitutes bad manners?
The male mystique
Debate Fan
L.A.M.P.

Merry Christmas, Bryn, be it black or white!

D. Armenta

Comment by Bryn

December 28th 2007 04:04

Horrorphile

Armenta, and I hope yours was merry as all hell!!

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