Black Christmas
The film's dark mood is quickly made apparent as Silent Night is played amongst the snowy view of the Pi Kappa Sig sorority house in the town of Bedford, which is giving a highly-attended Christmas party. Outside, we see the P.O.V. shot of a heavy breathing stranger approaching the house and climbing up a ladder to the attic. After all of the party guests depart from the cheerfully-decorated house, the girls receive a phone call from the "Moaner," a person whose obscene phone calls have been persistent. As they listen to the terrifying call, the girls hear shrieking, moaning, and assorted voices that the caller uses. Finally, one of the girls, Barb (Margot Kidder, Sisters, The Amityville Horror, The Clown at Midnight), takes the phone and teases the stranger with her vulgar language, until the person threatens her life and hangs up.
Apparently very shocked by all of the phone calls they've been receiving, the girls stand around when Barb and Clare (Lynne Griffin, later in Curtains) start to argue, upsetting Clare enough to have to go upstairs and finish packing up for her winter vacation. While up there, she hears what she thinks is their housecat Claude coming from behind a plastic bag in a closet after she pets Claude. As she approaches the closet to see what's going on, someone bursts through from behind the bag and smothers her with it.
One of the sorority sisters, Jess Bradford (Olivia Hussey, 1968's Romeo and Juliet), soon discovers that she is pregnant with her boyfriend Peter's (Keir Dullea) baby. When Jess informs Peter that she wants to have an abortion, he becomes enraged at her decision, calling her selfish. Peter, who is a music major, fails horribly on a recital later on and ends up wrecking his piano.
Clare's father, Mr. Harrison (James Edmond), arrives to pick his daughter up and discovers that she's disappeared when he visits the sorority house. The housemother, Mrs. Mac (Marion Waldman), an alcoholic who hides her booze from the girls, assures him that everything's alright after seeing all her belongings packed up. Soon, the girls start to worry about Clare and her whereabouts, but are unaware that her body has been moved into the attic, seated in a rocking chair and her head entirely wrapped in plastic. The killer places a baby doll in her lap later on and sings as he rocks the chair.
Mr. Harrison, Barb, and another sorority sister, Phyl (Andrea Martin), all go to the police station to report Clare's disappearance. Although, the matter isn't taken very seriously, even though a townie girl was raped a few weeks ago, resulting in a crude comment by Barb about the house's address.
Many bizarre occurrences abound and terror ensues as the phone calls get more terrifying, making Jess become more tense than ever. It seems know that the phone calls are aimed at her, the killer saying many things similar to Jess and Peter's arguments about the abortion. The phone calls bother Jess so much that she has them traced by the police, resulting in a bone-chilling conclusion as all of Jess's friends are murdered, leaving her alone in the house one dark night.
This 1974 Canadian movie definitely lives up to its tagline: "If this movie doesn't make your skin crawl, it's on too tight!" The unseemingly but uncomfortable atmosphere is a great setting for this slasher, which is most likely responsible for later slasher films, primarily 1978's Halloween. Actually, the director, Bob Clark (Deathdream, Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things, the Porky's series, A Christmas Story), had planned on having John Carpenter make his follow-up to this holiday-themed slasher, which would be about the killer from Black Christmas escaping from a mental hospital on Halloween. The film also featured P.O.V. shots and heavy breathing by the killer, which would be used in countless slasher films to come.
The ending is truly bone-chilling! If you've seen it, then you're very familiar with the feeling that it leaves you with. Many people have praised this movie, and I don't blame them one bit. Without this entry in the genre, there wouldn't have been many of the horror movies that have been made. Black Christmas is a very enjoyable film, which I watch every now and then (esp. Christmas time), despite its sometimes slow pace.
Margot Kidder's portrayal as the foul-mouthed Barb is pretty provocative and sometimes adds to the occasional humor that's thrown in to loosen you up from the tense, fearsome scenes. Marion Waldman is pretty amusing as the housemother as well, especially in her desperate attempts in hiding her alcohol from the girls. Olivia Hussey is great as the final girl, another aspect that was probably established by this film. I also liked how Hussey's character discovered all of her dead friends towards the conclusion of the film, which was very similar to Halloween. Also, John Saxon (Tenebre, A Nightmare on Elm Street) portrays Lt. Fuller, one of the police detectives that helps out in tracing the phone calls.
This film is my favorite Christmas slasher along with Silent Night, Deadly Night, and is highly recommended to send a chill down your back these holidays. Retitled Stranger in the House to avoid any confusion as being a "blaxploitation" film. It's also known as Silent Night, Evil Night.
