Black Christmas (Don't Worry, I Saw The Original)

Black Christmas (1974)

Runtime: 98 minutes

Directed by: Bob Clark

Starring: Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea, Margot Kidder, John Saxon, Marian Waldman

From: Several low-budget Canadian companies

I realized it was about time I checked this out again so that I could have a proper review online; thankfully it's still a classic horror film and one of the first slashers. I dish about it below:

As I tend to say, this is a film I had seen before but the last viewing was years ago. I couldn't think of a better time to give this a review than now. Thankfully it is still a quality horror picture that was one of the first slashers and thus was incredibly influential. Between the chilling nature overall, the kills that were memorable even if there was hardly any gore, and the POV shots of the killer... Halloween was clearly inspired by this.

This tale is deceptively simple: a mysterious figure hides in the attic of a sorority house, makes obscene calls on another line to the house, and they start killing the sorority sisters. During all that, Jess (Olivia Hussey) has to deal with serious relationship problems when it comes to her boyfriend Peter (Keir Dullea). I had forgotten how funny the movie was at times, between a bumbling cop, the amazing 70's fashion/decor and both Barb (Margot Kidder) and house leader Mrs. Mac (Marian Waldman) are clear alcoholics, with the latter drinking sherry almost nonstop.

Even with the humorous bits, much of the movie is pretty frightening and it builds dread. After all, some disturbed individual living right in the attic of your home is enough to send chills up your spine. Then it's the nature of those phone calls which are also terrifying. It is shot quite well by Bob Clark and when it's augmented by an always creepy score with low tones by Carl Zittrer, it goes a long way to making this an always thrilling watch. A talented cast also helps in that regard... you typically can't go wrong with John Saxon.

Plus, the ending is tremendous and I loved how the story resolved itself; talk about a punch to the gut. I know from hearsay that even in the unrated form the director preferred, the remake of this film is a pale imitation which unfortunately does many things different and thus the story is a lot worse off. In addition, I wish that more slashers would have been like this or Halloween rather than the goofy cliché nonsense we got instead.