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Lunch » Tags » Movies » Reviews » Black Christmas » User review

There's nothing like a little murder for the holidays.

  • Sep 27, 2011
Rating:
+4
During a Christmas party in a sorority house, a demented man sneaks in the house by climbing alongside a wall and entering through the attic. This person then begins to torment the girls who reside in the house by making explicit prank phone calls. It all begins as a little joke, until the phone calls become worse and one of the girls by the name of Clare Harrison (Lynne Griffin) disappears. -summary

Hailed as the father of the slasher genre for breaking new ground. Black Christmas(1974) directed by Bob Clark is hailed as a horror/slasher masterpiece. It actually laid out the blueprint to produce a superb slasher utilizing its atmosphere to instill fear in the viewer. One can easily detect the fingerprints of Black Christmas all over classics such as John Carpenter's Halloween(1978) and When a Stranger Calls(1979) directed by Fred Walton. However, I'm not here to judge this film on its influence but as a horror film. In my view, the film still holds up, and provides a breath of fresh air for the sophisticated horror fan in the process, who has binged on too many mediocre slashers as of late.

For the record, although they can be very redundant, slashers are my favorite of the horror genre. Once in a while something will standout. They're not my favorite because I like to see brutal killings. When done right and from a realistic perspective, an excellent slasher can leave a lasting impression. Like it or not, serial killers are real and they are among us, and I feel Black Christmas is another one of those films that shows us what a truly mentally disturbed person is capable of.

Black Christmas is truly one of the greats, and this style of horror is rare these days. Today, many horror film directors seek to instill fear by shocking the audience. They carry out this style of thoughtless horror, by adding very large body counts via death in the most disturbing, and sometimes in the clumsiest of ways. For a perfect example, see Black Christmas(2006) directed by Glen Morgan. This style of horror can be entertaining to a certain degree, but for me and many others it lacks soul. When watching a horror film, I want to experience fear in its true form through suspense, atmosphere, and tense build up. For the most part, I need to see pure horror that can stimulate my imagination. This is one of the few that grants my wish.

The direction is very good. Bob Clark indeed had a vision, and that vision was to give the viewer a close up on madness. The killer who enters the house is everything a madman would be. He's completely irrational, mentally he's on another planet, but above all else, he is dangerous. I have never been a victim of prank calls, but I can only imagine the feeling of a person being delivered lines from someone who sounds completely disturbed.

The superb camera work is pretty much the backbone of the film. The viewer is watching some of the events through the eyes of the killer. This is what triggers the fear in the film. The girls are in the house carrying on with their forms of entertainment, while the killer is only on one floor above them watching. He moves through the house quietly and at will. The killer who goes by the name of "Billy" only continues to become more of a terrifying character. The eerie music score which is used at the right times receives credit for this as well. It helps in a great deal to build the tension and suspense.

Where I feel the horror works its edge with the viewer, is with the fear of the unknown. While watching the film, we all know the girls of the sorority house are in danger. However, they have no clue of the immediate danger which is literally above them. This film can definitely give a paranoid person, who lives alone something to think about. The film has solid acting, which is most notable by Jess(Olivia Hussey) and Barb(Margot Kidder). The characters have realistic and diverse personalities. Those who get a good amount of screen time are pretty well developed.

Although this is a very good film it does have its flaws. The film is slow which isn't really a bad thing, but there's too many scenes that really don't go anywhere. Especially, the scenes involving the sorority house mother. They add a bit of comedy, but I really didn't need to be reminded of her habit. Valuable screen time was wasted when it could have been used on making the death scenes more detailed. The kills are somewhat disturbing, but they won't satisfy the gore hounds.

Black Christmas has a lot going for it, but I do believe it's an acquired taste. This film more than likely will not appeal to those who enjoy their horror fast paced, everything is explained, or containing bucket loads of gore. I would love to give more detail, but huge spoilers would be hard to avoid and I refuse to go that route.

I'm not going to say "true" horror fans are the only ones who will appreciate this. I can't define a "true" horror fan. People just have different taste, and I can understand anyone who comes away from this wondering what all the fuss was about. If you're the type who appreciates a horror film that works through building tension, suspense, is atmospheric, and provokes thought. Then I recommend this to you.

Pros:
-Realistic, atmospheric, great tension build up, suspense

Cons:
-Slow paced for some, may not appeal to"shock" and "dark comedy" audience, unnecessary scenes

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February 05, 2012
"I want to experience fear in its true form through suspense, atmosphere, and tense build up. For the most part, I need to see pure horror that can stimulate my imagination." -- my thoughts exactly!!! Gotta see this one; I never heard of this one before and I must rent it. OOOO Frank, you're sparking my curiosity with all these horror reviews!!!
February 06, 2012
This is an early one here. It can build tension prettyy well.
 
October 03, 2011
I have to agree that it is well made even though the slasher flick is my least favorite subgenre of all, and for the very reason you mention--they can become VERY redundant. Of course all the subgenres can. But I seem to mind it less when a zombie is being cliched.
October 03, 2011
I can understand zombies being cliche, because that's a genre that can only go but so far. And since zombie attacks are non existant these days.... Well, there just aren't many real life examples to go off of. Now slashers are a different story, but too many directors just go deep into the absurd and focus only on shocking with one death scene after the other. They completely ignore atmosphere and tension.
October 04, 2011
I don't know about that. I think any genre is only limited by the imagination of the guys working in it. Just take a look at the difference between FIDO and DEAD ALIVE and NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD or DAY OF THE LIVING DEAD. I think there are still great zombie flix to be made.
October 05, 2011

Fido is the only one out of those providing a shining light. Look at the dates at the other ones... The chances for fresh ideas that don't come off completely retarded are still pretty slim for zombies. But I did enjoy the Horde. Although not original they were still able to focus on the action aspect of zombies as well as a theme here and there.

 
October 01, 2011
Yeah man this is a fun one, the remake was such a let down.
October 03, 2011
The remake was horrendous. I might revisit it just for review sake though.
 
September 28, 2011
I remember you giving the remake a really bad score. I have to admit I haven't seen this in ages, and I do need to re-watch it....then again, I do have to finish my unwacthed pile. I have a few minutes on break so I thought I'd look at what is going on.
October 03, 2011
Check it out again man, I would like to know your take on it. And yeah, I think I gave it a two back on amazon.
 
1
More Black Christmas reviews
review by . July 13, 2011
posted in Movie Hype
***1/2 out of ****     Who says all Christmas movies need to be sentimental and sweet? "Black Christmas" is a rather tasteless holiday outing that is perhaps only tasteless because of its genre; horror. How many Christmas horror movies have you seen? There are a few, but this is the best out of all of them. It was directed by Bob Clark, who if you saw his soon-to-come "A Christmas Story", you'd know is very fond of the Christmas holiday, yet he's not afraid to be daring and make …
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About this movie

Wiki

Black Christmas is a 1974 Canadian slasher film directed by Bob Clark and written by A. Roy Moore, and largely based on a series of murders that took place in Quebec, Canada around Christmas time. The film's score is by Carl Zittrer. It was distributed by Ambassador Film Distributors in Canada and Warner Bros. in the United States. It follows a group of college students who must face a deranged serial killer lurking in their sorority house. It stars Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea, Margot Kidder, Andrea Martin, Marian Waldman, and John Saxon. A remake of the same name directed by Glen Morgan was released on December 25, 2006. The movie was inspired by an urban legend called "The Baby-Sitter."
 

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Tags

Movies, Action Movies, Action, Horror, Horror Movies, Slasher, 70s, 70s Slasher, 70s Horror
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Details

Director: Bob Clark
Genre: Horror, Mystery
Release Date: December 20, 1974
MPAA Rating: R
Runtime: 98 minutes
Studio: Film Funding Ltd. of Canada
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