Black Christmas

From The Deuce

Black Christmas Poster Available DVDs Review #2 Poster Art Fun Facts "Black Christmas" radio spot

Also Known As

• Jessy - Die Treppe in den Tod (Germany)
• Un Natale rosso sangue (Italy)
• Silent Night, Evil Night
• Stranger in the House (USA TV Title)

Taglines

• If this picture doesn't make your skin crawl... It's On Too Tight!
• Christmas is coming early this year. And it's murder.
• The sort of Christmas you don't dream of.
• A Christmas of another colour brings a killer on the loose!
• Twas the Night, Before Christmas, and All Through the House, a Creature was stirring. The Stockings were Hung by the Chimney with care, but it was Hard to Say that St. Nick would be there. A Christmas of another Colour, brings a Killer on the Loose.
• Have Yourself a Scary Little, Black Christmas. It's Not at All Like the Ones You Used to Know.
• He Knows When You're Sleeping, He Knows if You're Awake, He KNOWS...
• It's beginning to look a lot like -- bloodshed! Christmas is almost here, and a deranged, axe-wielding psycho is terrorizing a sorority. As it happens, the mad murderer also makes obscene phone calls -- and he lives right above the girls..

Main Details

• Released in 1974
• Color
• Runtime: 94 min (PAL) / 98 min (NTSC)
• Aspect Ratio: (1.85:1)
• Rated: R
• Production Co: Film Funding Ltd. of Canada (as Film Funding), Vision IV, Canadian Film Development Corporation (CFDC) (with the participation of), Famous Players (with the participation of), August Films (uncredited)
• Distributed by Ambassador Film Distributors (1974) (Canada) (theatrical), Warner Bros. Pictures (1974) (USA) (theatrical)

Cast and Crew

• Directed by Bob Clark
• Written by Roy Moore
• Starring: Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea, Margot Kidder, John Saxon, Marian Waldman, Andrea Martin, James Edmond, Doug McGrath (as Douglas McGrath), Art Hindle, Lynne Griffin, Michael Rapport, Leslie Carlson (as Les Carlson), Martha Gibson, John Rutter, Robert Warner, Syd Brown, Jack Van Evera, Les Rubie, Marcia Diamond, Pam Barney, Robert Hawkins, David Clement, Julian Reed, Dave Mann, John Stoneham Sr. (as John Stoneham), Danny Gain, Tom Foreman, Bob Clark (Prowler Shadow / Phone Voice) (uncredited), Nick Mancuso
• Produced by Gerry Arbeid, Bob Clark, Findlay Quinn, Richard Schouten
• Original Music by Carl Zittrer
• Cinematography by Reginald H. Morris (as Reg Morris)
• Film Editing by Stan Cole

Film Review

In 1974, the world of horror hadn't seen a film quite as daring and unique as Bob Clark's cult masterpiece Black Christmas. 30 years after its initial release (which was pretty dissapointing at the time), it has gained a huge cult following and has shown to be a true influence on the entire 80s slasher genre. This film influenced films like John Carpenter's Halloween, the Friday The 13th series and the Nightmare on Elm St films. Black Christmas is essentially the first actual all out "slasher" film, (influenced largely by Italian giallo cinema) and it was the innovator that introduced the killer's Point of View shot (see the opening of John Carpenter's Halloween for another example). This way the audience not only felt the horror of the violent attacks by the killer, they saw them though the attackers own eyes.

Black Christmas takes place around a sorority house (the film was shot around Toronto Canada). The house itself has a creepy look in its architecture which only adds to the mysterious aura. At the films opening we see a Xmas house party going on and quickly we realize that we arent alone, the mysterious killer is the one watching from outside and we see this through his eyes. In the first really great POV shot of the movie, we see the killer climbing up the side of the house. The killer climbs into the attic of the house and waits there.

One of the young pledges is Clare (Lynn Griffin). She hears a noise in her bedroom closet. It sounds like the house cat meowing, but when she goes to inspect it, the killer takes a plastic clothes bag and wraps it around her head and strangles her. Then he drags her up into the attic and puts her in a rocking chair. The camera shot of Clare with the plastic wrap over her face is the most iconic image from the film.

Meanwhile downstairs, Barb (Margot Kidder) one of the older girls in the house is drinking and rambling on. Shes sort of the wild child of the movie. Shes very loud and shes mostly drunk through the entire film and it really adds a comedic touch. The other form of comedy relief is the sorority's headmistress named Mrs Mac (Marian Waldman). Mrs Mac also loves to drink and throughout the film we see her secret booze stashes all over the house including in the toilet tank. She also uses lots of colorful language which is fun.

One of the creepiest things in the film are the obscene phone calls the girls receive. After this film was released there were many horror/thriller films that used the "obscene phone caller" plot device as well. It really spawned its own subgenre in the horror ouvre. With Black Christmas' obscene phone calls theres some very graphic language used and when you hear how its done, it will make you uneasy. This only adds to the unique creepiness of the film.

After Clare goes missing, the girls goto the police station and file a missing person report with the sargent. While there, the local police chief Lt Fuller (John Saxon) begins working on the case. Note: Saxon actually replaced veteran actor Edmond O'Brien who was originally cast as Fuller but had to be let go from the role due to his increasing Alzheimers disease.

The English girl Jess (Olivia Hussey) is the most elegant and beautiful in the film. She is the conscience of the film, while everyone else is running around, Jess is trying to deal with the goings on. Jess' boyfriend Peter (Keir Dullea) is an aspiring concert pianist and one night during a recital, he goes bezerk and smashes his piano after the recital gets a bad review from the audience. One thing Director Bob Clark does is allude that Peter may in fact be the psycho killer, but you really dont know for sure. The killers body shape is very much the same as Peters.

When the police finally trace the phone calls, they find out that the killer has been calling from inside the sorority house. Lt Fuller calls Jess and tells her to get out of the house, but Jess goes looking for others who might be still upstairs. Jess opens the door to Barbs room and sees two dead bodies and then, we see the killer's eye behind the closet door and his bizarre rambling. This is really all we see of his face in the entire film. The killer chases Jess around the top floor then she runs down into the basement. Jess locks herself in the basement and she waits to see what the killer does. Crazily he slams the door trying to get in, then stops suddenly (you can see this device used in later slasher films like Friday The 13th). We then hear the door of the house shut. While she hides, she sees the shadow of someone looking into the basement through the foggy windows. The figure slowly moves from window to window, then we hear its Peter looking for her. He pounds on the window and tries to wipe the icy frost off, then he kicks in a window and climbs through it and calls out to her.

Outside the police hear a loud scream and they rush inside and break down the basement door. They see Jess lying with Peter (whos dead) slowly we see shes alive. As Lt Fuller and the other police leave the house, we see Barb sleeping after her terrifying ordeal. The camera pans around the top floor of the house and slowly moves to the attic door, where we see a light flickering, and the sounds of someone talking. We see the unfound dead bodies, and then the phone begins to ring.

Director Bob Clark (who later went on to direct comedies like Porky's and Police Academy) was at his best with Black Christmas. The way the film was laid out and executed was totally original and groundbreaking for its time. This film really set the standard for all the popular slasher films that followed. This is what great horror cinema was meant to be. It is very much in the tradition of Hitchcock. The horror comes from the audiences own psyches. Another thing that was great, was the comedic flourishes. Theres several really funny scenes in the film in between the killings and other craziness going on. It makes the film flow even better. Blood and gore is virtually not even shown in the film save for a couple quick shots. This is cinema at its best. The use of visual imagery, sound and acting is what makes this film a classic work of horror cinema.

Reviewed by Popeye Pete - 6/10/07

- This review is dedicated to the memory of Bob Clark -

Featured In

• Mad Ron's Prevues From Hell (1987)

Spoofed In

• Student Bodies (1981) - entire opening sequence

Remake

Black Christmas was remade in 2006. It was directed by Glen Morgan. The movie is rated R in the US, 18A in Canada and 15 in the UK for strong horror violence and gore, sexuality, nudity and language. The film score was the last to be composed and conducted by Shirley Walker, who died a month before the film's release. The film was released on December 25 (Christmas Day) 2006 in the United States and grossed $3,723,364 on its opening weekend. The film went on to gross a total of $16,273,581 domestic, earning well over its $9,000,000 budget. As of December 14, 2008, the film has earned $5,109,918 foreign, making a total worldwide gross of $21,383,499. It has been moderately successful outside the US despite being a limited release in some countries.