Graeme Clark, The Spinning Image One night, as the Christmas holidays approach, the girls of a college sorority house are enjoying an informal party before they get ready to leave. Little do they know that outside their house is being watched by a mysterious figure, who climbs up a trellis and breaks in through the attic window. Just then, the phone starts to ring, and Jess (Olivia Hussey) answers it. The caller is breathing heavily, and Jess calls her sorority sisters through to listen - it's the obscene phone caller again, making lewd suggestions. Bolshy Barbara (Margot Kidder) takes the receiver and gives the nuisance a taste of his own medicine, but the other girls don't think it's such a good idea to antagonise him... and they're right... Written by Roy Moore, Black Christmas was notable for being the first real slasher movie, even before Halloween arrived. Although the Italians, such as Mario Bava and Dario Argento, had been producing horror thrillers featuring insane killers, this one set down the outline for the slasher cycle that happened in the late seventies and beyond. Here you can see the killer represented by a point-of-view camera, young people successively bumped off by a person of uncertain identity, and the atmosphere of a spooky tale told around the campfire, or in this case, by the roaring hearth on Christmas Eve. It doesn't quite fit into all the clichés, however: the first victim is the most viriginal. Traditionally, she would have lasted until the end credits, but here she is murdered within ten minutes of her entrance. This leaves our heroine to be Jess, who although kindly and reliable, has recently become pregnant by her boyfriend, a pianist called Peter (Keir Dullea). Peter doesn't react too well when Jess tells him she wants to abort the baby, leading us to suspect him as the killer, because, as we know, serial killers in the movies are a moralistic bunch. As we are already aware that the killer is lurking in the attic, there is a certain amount of tension while we wait for the other characters to find out themselves. This comes about through tracing those phone calls, which are very well realised, with unnerving phrases ("Where's the baby? Where's the baby?!") and what sounds like more than one person talking at once, all interspersed with grunts, groans and screams. While you may wonder why nobody in the house heard the murderer on the other phone, it's a good idea worthy of an urban legend (which it is). To relieve the menace, there is a drop of humour, and it's of the kind that Clark would later use in Porky's - crude, sexual and aggressive. But even that is turned on its head when the forthright Barbara is teasing the father of the first victim, only for her to get upset and lose her temper. What you most take away from the film is a chilly feeling, as the whole town looks as though it would freeze you to the bone, indoors and out. Surprisingly, the Christmas setting isn't over-exploited, except for one effective killing scored to the sound of carol singers in the street below. Maybe they should have called it "In the Bleak Midwinter" instead. Music by Carl Zittrer. Tex Massacre, Bloody-Disgusting.Com Director Bob Clark’s entire career might have been summed up by his contributions to Holiday cinema had he not also helmed the seminal teenage sex comedy PORKY’S. In 1983, Clark’s adaptation of Jean Shepherd’s memoirs brought generations A CHRISTMAS STORY, and the plight of little Ralphie Parker’s quest for a Red Rider carbine action range model air rifle. But a decade before lensing that annual television staple, Bob Clark wasn’t peddling nostalgic Christmas wishes to adoring moviegoers everywhere. He was dreaming up something much more terrifying and indescribably more influential—BLACK CHRISTMAS—and when it was released on December 20, 1974—on the cusp of the Christmas Holiday—the director’s nearly bloodless nightmare of a film—alongside Mario Bava’s 1971 classic Twitch of the Dead Nerve—virtually created the template for the modern slasher film. In the midst of holiday preparations the lovely ladies of the Pi Kappa Sig sorority house are being terrorized by an unknown caller. As the revelry continues, and they drink, and chat, and pack their bags for break, the same mysterious stranger is scaling the wall of their house and setting up shop in the attic’s crawl space. Soon after—one by one—as the calls continue—the few remaining sisters will each meet a terrible and shocking end. It’s hard to watch BLACK CHRISTMAS now and recognize the sheer importance of the film. As an audience we’re just too far gone. Too bombarded by dozens of HALLOWEEN’s and FRIDAY THE 13TH’s. Too accustomed to killers like Freddy or Ghostface spouting smart aleck dialogue before plying their slice-and-dice trade. Too removed from the time when Norman Bates slid that shower curtain back—his face cloaked in darkness—the gleaming blade slicing through the celluloid, but never seen by our eyes piercing Marion Crane’s soft skin. BLACK CHRISTMAS is a relic. But, it’s one that rallies against fading away. Every time that house appears on the screen, serenely serenaded in a sea of snowy white, it captivates. It captivates with it’s breathlessly ominous presence. It unnerves and unsettles the viewer. Clark along with Cinematographer Reg Morris and Composer Carl Zittrer (PROM NIGHT) created a visual and aural ambience that is perfectly designed to make your skin crawl. The film is a faultless study in omniscient filmmaking. The audience always knows where the killer is and what his intentions are. So, the innate suspense in watching these girls go, one after another, to their deaths is in our helplessness to do anything but cringe and witness the execution. The deft performances from the cast are the other piece that makes the project a living, breathing entity. Specifically adept at bringing the viewers directly into the world of the film—then 21-year old actress Olivia Hussey (ROMEO AND JULLIET) captured the abject horror of the entire audience with little more than the quiver of her voice and the fear in her eyes. In fact the reason the film feels much more contemporary than so many of its 1970’s counterparts is due to the naturalistic performances from its cast—Including Margot Kidder (SISTERS), John Saxon (NIGHTMARE ON ELM ST.), Kier Dullea (2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY) and SCTV’s Andrea Martin (who will also be appearing as the house mother in this year’s remake of the film). To measure the unquantifiable influence that BLACK CHRISTMAS had on a new kind of horror film is futile. It’s inspiration can be seen directly in John Carpenter’s 1978 masterpiece HALLOWEEN and in the 1979 thriller WHEN A STRANGER CALLS which—not so subtly—borrows BLACK CHRISTMAS’ climatic line “The calls are coming from inside the house!” and builds an entire film around it. Anticipation for the Dimension Film’s remake has afforded the opportunity of a Special Edition re-release of the film on DVD. The new package is tight with some solid extras including The 12 Days of BLACK CHRISTMAS documentary including interviews from Hussey, Saxon and Kidder and several additional members of the film’s cast and crew. Also included is a 20-minute midnight screening Q&A featuring Clark, Saxon and Composer Carl Zittrer. The most interesting addition—one that trumps the usual “deleted” footage—is two original scenes from the film with alternative audio tracks. Probably not something that your average viewer will get excited about, but I found it to be a fascinating glimpse at how a few minor changes in the sound mix can alter ones perceptions of a film. The most disappointing element of the release is the minimal appearances from Clark and the lack of an audio commentary track. Clark seems reluctant to talk about the film, even in the included Q&A session so I can only assume that this gross omission was unavoidable. Still, the presentation of this—now 32-year old film—is wonderful. The picture and the sound are spectacular with very little grain and a stellar 5.1 surround mix calculated to keep your fingers clutched tightly together and the hair on the back of your neck at end. Even with the planned remake stomping its way into theaters on 25 December 2006, there will never be another BLACK CHRISTMAS. As I said before, too much time has passed and today’s teenage male driven marketing departments would have no idea what to make of a film that hinges on very little action, with a killer that is never seen, and with less blood on screen than a Thursday night episode of CSI. BLACK CHRISTMAS is almost minimalism horror cinema, yet that restraint is inarguably part of the charm that makes the film not only still relevant, but still unsettling today. Someone much smarter than I said “they don’t make ‘em like they used to”—well to that all I can say…are you there Hollywood…it’s me Billy. Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid This dark holiday classic ranks as one of the screen's very first slasher flicks. I love it because it understands the concept of maneuvering between relaxing scenes and frightening scenes, and what better time to relax than at Christmas (in a sorority house, with lots of booze)? A maniac makes weird obscene phone calls and someone starts hacking some of the girls up in the attic. (The most famous murder ulitizes a plastic bag over a girl's head.) Directed by Bob Clark, who would go on to make the beloved A Christmas Story, the film features top-shelf acting from Margot Kidder, John Saxon, Keir Dullea (2001: A Space Odyssey) and the gorgeous Olivia Hussey (Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet). Clark intercuts one gruesome upstairs murder with shots of kids singing Christmas carols at the front door. In spite of itself, it has become a holiday favorite of mine. (Note: the actor who plays the police sergeant is named "Douglas McGrath," not to be confused with the director of the same name who made Infamous. Nick Schager, Film Project Pioneering many now-familiar slasher film tropes a good five years before John Carpenter’s seminal Halloween (with which it shares an opening POV shot from a murderer’s perspective), Black Christmas corrodes jolly yuletide cheer with some cruel prank calls, sexual tension and sorority girl slayings. Director Bob Clark works through his grisly premise – part When a Stranger Calls, part Slumber Party Massacre – with deliberate sordidness, the most vulgar (and frightening) example of which involves an insult-filled conversation between Margot Kidder’s slutty alcoholic and a shrieking, squealing telephone pervert that ends with the calm-voiced promise, “I’m going to kill you.” A head wrapped in a plastic bag, a homicide laced with penetrating coitus imagery, and a horrendous haircut sported by the unbearably overacting Keir Dullea (2001) all contribute to the film’s nastiness, and it’s surprising how much mileage the director gets out of his gore-free set pieces and schizophrenia-plagued killer’s incoherent phone tirades. Ultimately, though, Black Christmas is a somewhat uneven holiday horror treat, its scares having aged reasonably well but its intriguing gender warfare dynamic – found in the contentious relationship between pregnant (but abortion-craving) Jessica (Olivia Hussey) and frustrated pianist (and wannabe daddy) Peter (Dullea) – a victim of woeful underdevelopment. Heidi Martinuzzi, Film Threat Right away I thought it would be another rip-off of Silent Night, Deadly Night, or any cheezy slasher flick. I was surprised to see that it was made in 1974, before either of those two, and starred the much talented and much underrated Margot Kidder, who should be honored as a Scream Queen for her role in Sisters, but is mostly remembered for being Lois Lane in the Superman movies and then going insane ten years later. Yes, it was a slasher movie, that was clear, but it appeared to be one of the first slasher movies (always tempting when found at a horror movie desert like Hollywood Video). In fact, I think the vignette that starred Joan Collins (another unacknowledged scream queen) in Tales from the Crypt, the Movie in 1969 or near that date was the first Christmas-is-scary-too story to make it to the big screen. Directed by Bob Clark, creator of the childhood comedy A Christmas Story, Black Christmas is undeniably violent and graphic for the time it was made. It is a staple of holiday horror and, as the years have gone by, has withstood the test of time as a serious horror flick that inspires fear in sorority girls everywhere... Not hampered by gatuitus sex, nudity, gore, or sleaze, Clark relies on good old fashioned Hitchcokian suspense to scare. Cold, classy, and straightforward, Black Christmas also has the advantage of good acting by the female leads played by Margot Kidder and Olivia Hussey Black Christmas starts off with a Christmas party at a sorority house and an obscene phone call. It doesn’t beat around the bush. A deranged lunatic sneaks into the attic of the house and makes his way downstairs occasionally to brutally murder the girls. The police, who finally become involved after the girls begin disappearing and the phone calls become more than just run of the mill demented phone sex and death threats, fail to catch the killer who in the end remains at large, and hence, still a potential threat to young college girls everywhere. The movie has several very interesting plot twists which I’m sure mesmerized movie-goers back in the Brady Bunch early seventies, but are now predictable and sometimes frustrating to anyone who enjoys horror movies on a regular basis or who has heard a few urban legends (ironically, it is refreshing and innovative to anyone who saw the movie Urban Legend or especially its sequel, Urban Legends-Final Cut). Literally creating the idea of urban-legend-as-movie-plot and pioneering the red herring disturbed-boyfriend-as-a-potential-suspect concept, Black Christmas was not only innovative but made a strong attempt at suspense and terror. The gibberish babblings of the lunatic killer on the other end of the phone and the use of profanity are more extreme than many other horror movies from the early seventies, with the exception of The Exorcist. The acting is good. The storyline makes logical sense. Unnecessary dialogue or meaningless sub-plots do not burden the characters. There is not a lot of gore, which is disappointing if you like gore, but the death scenes are still satisfying. However, horror fans who rent Black Christmas may find the cute drunken bumblings of the house mother an annoyance right out of Bewitched and the incompetence of the local police department excessive even for a small college town. Disregarding everything else I have just written, I still recommend this film if for no other reason than to watch Margot Kidder being stabbed to death by her own glass unicorn collection, which will put a smile on anyone’s face. Mondo Digital.Com Years before he crafted the ultimate comic Christmas film experience, A Christmas Story, Canadian director Bob Clark put a completely different slant on the revered holiday with Black Christmas, a chilly little gem which has been popping up on cable over the years under the titles Stranger in the House and Silent Night, Evil Night. Though not as well known as many of its American imitators, this film is quite a class act and still manages to scare the living hell out of viewers while all the lousy Friday the 13th sequels have mercifully faded from memory. The day before Christmas, the remaining girls at a college sorority and their house mother are getting ready for a long, cold holiday. However, their eggnog-drenched festivities are interrupted by an obscene phone caller whose frightening, distorted voice(s) set the young girls on edge. One of the girls, Claire (Lynne Griffin, later in Curtains and Strange Brew), is murdered that night, and her body is stored away in the attic by a deranged killer (seen only through point of view shots - later a cliche, but very creepy here). The police, led by John Saxon, investigate the disappearance, which they believe is linked to recent attacks on young town girls. Another sorority girl, Jess (Olivia Hussey at her loveliest), fights violently with her boyfriend, Peter (Keir Dullea), about her decision to have an abortion, and she begins to suspect he may be the killer at large. Meanwhile, the murders continue as Christmas morning passes into night... Skillfully shot and edited, this film marks the final and strongest entry of Clark's all-too-brief horror career which also included Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things and the eerie Deathdream (and, some argue, continued with Murder by Decree). Though it has been imitated countless times (When a Stranger Calls in particular), Black Christmas holds up thanks to very strong performances (fresh off her turn in Brian De Palma's Sisters, Kidder is a particular standout as an asthmatic foul-mouthed party girl) and an unexpected, welcome streak of irreverant humor running throughout the film. Of course, Clark also includes one of his trademark scenes of cops cracking up for minutes on end (repeated famously in his later Porky's) and utilizes a marvelous sense of both visual and sound cutting (for example, the Hitchcockian moment when a grieving mother opens her mouth to scream only to cut to a ringing telephone). The rumbling, abstract score by Carl Zittrer alternates with chilly Christmas carols to create an unsettling soundscape-- a Dolby surround remix of this would be unbearably creepy. The killer's voice is one of the most nightmarish ever conjured up on film, prone to screaming and weird shifts in vocal tone that set the viewer on edge within the first five minutes. What really makes this film, though, are the scares. The first attack is a great seat-jumper, and from there Clark delivers one powerful jolt after another. The close-ups of the killer's eyes, reminiscent of The Spiral Staircase, are guaranteed to induce chills, and the wintry Canadian setting spotted with colorful splashes of Christmas lights manage to create a shuddery, chilling effect even when the film is viewed in the middle of summer. If it weren't for the bleak, open-ended final plot twist, Black Christmas would undoubtedly be recognized more widely as the visceral horror classic it truly is. As part of Image's laudable quest to preserve some of Warner's most underrated cult titles on laserdisc while the format is still around, this title is one of the most welcome and overdue entries. The matted transfer looks far better composed than the VHS and TV prints, revealing much picture information on the sides and removing a sliver at the top. The print looks as good as we'll ever likely see; since this is a '70s title, it wasn't shot on the finest film stock and reveals some paleness during a few of the more shadowy scenes. However, the colors are consistently stable and vivid, with fine detail evident in the snowy street shots and cluttered sorority rooms. Sound quality is fine considering the film's technical limitations, but watch your volume during some of the louder telephone calls. Simply put, at this price, there's really no excuse for any self-respecting horror hound to turn this one down. return to main page