Tags:
Film: Black Christmas
Year: 1974
Director: Bob Clark
Writer: Roy Moore
Starring: Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea and Margot Kidder
Review:
This film is one that I’ll admit, I didn’t care for the first couple times that I saw it. I don’t want to make it sound like I hated the film, but it just wasn’t one that hit me. I still respected it and knew that it is a classic. I’ve now seen it twice in the theater, both at the Gateway Film Center. This most recent watch as a Foray through the Fours.
Synopsis: during their Christmas break, a group of sorority girls are stalked by a stranger.
We start out inside of a sorority house in college. Christmas is around the corner and winter break is starting. They’re having a party before everyone heads their separate ways. We then see someone stalking the house. They climb up the side and enter into the attic through a window.
Inside the house one of the sisters, Barb (Margot Kidder), notices that the front door is open. She closes and goes back to the party. The other sisters are Jess (Olivia Hussey), Phyl (Andrea Martin) and Clare Harrison (Lynne Griffin). Barb has a drinking problem. There’s a phone call for her and it’s her mother who scolds her for it. She tells her that she can’t do the original plans, which upsets her daughter. She invites her and her sisters to go skiing though. Everyone agrees except for Clare. Barb and she do not get along as Clare is more reserved. This young lady is conservative and Barb mocks her for it.
The phone then rings. Jess answers and it is someone who has been making prank calls. It is heavy breathing and saying inappropriate things. Barb calls the person out this time and it provokes him. The house mother, Mrs. Mac (Marian Waldman) then shows up. She is comic relief by having bottles of alcohol hidden throughout the house and takes drinks whenever she can.
Clare plays with the house cat in her room while packing and hears something in the closet. She’s attacked by the intruder. He kills her with a plastic bag and pulls her into the attic. It should be pointed out that he sets her up in a rocking chair with a baby doll in her arm right in front of a window. He rocks her and calls her Agnes. We don’t get a good look at him.
The next morning, we see Clare’s father, Mr. Harrison (James Edmond) shows up to the place where he is supposed to pick her up. She’s late and he isn’t happy about it. It doesn’t help that he’s hit in the face with a snowball by kids. He is then directed to the sorority house, where Mrs. Mac makes him consider her a member. He is concerned when she’s not there or at the charity function that they run. This causes him to go to the police.
We also see Jess as she visits her boyfriend, Peter (Keir Dullea). The night before she called him and he was short with her. He lives in a conservatory and he wants to be a concert pianist, so he doesn’t get a lot of sleep as he practices a lot. He has a big performance later that day. Jess tells him that she is pregnant, but she is going to have an abortion. This upsets him that she made this decision without his input and he wants to change her mind. She doesn’t want to hear it though
Back at the police station, the desk sergeant isn’t listening to Mr. Harrison. It isn’t until her boyfriend, Chris Hayden (Art Hindle) throws a fit that Lt. Ken Fuller (John Saxon) gets involved. There’s a 13 year old girl who is also missing. A search results in a grisly discovery and Jess reports the obscene phone calls to the police. This is just the start of this nightmare for the sisters of this sorority.
That is where I’ll leave my recap and introduction to the characters. I can say, like how I felt after my second viewing, this does continue to get better for me after each watch. It is interesting that this predates Halloween which inspired the holiday slasher films of the 1980s. Taking a non-scary holiday like Christmas is great. There’s the built in idea that students leave for the holidays, so people can go missing and no one notices it so there isn’t panic until later. That’s something I appreciate.
Now that I’ve set that up, there is more that I want to explore here. First is that we have this large sorority house. This allows our killer to move around without being seen. He has a way in and out, which is good. It seems like this attic isn’t used much so that makes sense as well. Also, this house having a second phone line is good. We don’t learn much about our villain, outside of his name being Billy. The prank calls are unnerving. With this most recent viewing, I noticed that there seems to be this odd incest angle to the story told through the phone calls. It also correlates to Jess inadvertently which is interesting with Peter and Lt. Fuller. If I have a gripe with the story, I just want to know more about Billy.
Something that I’ll briefly touch on is the subgenre this film falls into. I’ve heard debates about whether this film is a slasher or if it is proto-slasher. I’d say that this is a slasher film personally. There are vibes as well of a police procedural or even a giallo. There is ‘sexual deviance’ with the abortion debate as well as things that Billy says. It is tame outside of that. I also used to have a gripe about Clare's body not being seen. I actually love the idea after this last watch. Things are so hectic. We know that this police force is bumbling. They’re also waiting on a forensic team. It made me anxious, knowing how things are when we pull out.
I’ll then discuss filmmaking. A big gripe that I had with this film was with the pacing. Now coming to understand that slashers tend to be slow-burns, it isn’t a problem for me. This is a deliberate pace. There’s the open kill and then things ramp up, especially each call then correlates to an attack. It is creepy that the killer is in the house as well. What is great here is the cinematography and framing. We only get glimpses of the killer and it is creative there. I appreciated that this time. The deaths aren’t necessarily on screen. That could be an issue, but since this is earlier in the history of the subgenre, it is fine. I do think that the soundtrack is solid as well. We get a mix of Christmas songs and selections to ramp up tension which works in its favor.
All that is left then is the acting performances. In general, it is good. I absolutely love Hussey. I love her determination. It is ahead of its time with her being a modern woman. I love the commentary there with her decision to abort her pregnancy. It is still relevant now. Dullea is also good and it is interesting, because he shows toxic masculinity. I do feel bad that it threw him off his dream. With how unhinged he becomes, it fits what is needed for the story. Kidder is solid as the drunk and brings comic relief. The same with Waldman. It was fun seeing Saxon and Hindle as well. Martin and the rest of the cast also round this out for what is needed.
In conclusion, I give this film respect for its significance and its place in history. My rating keeps coming up with every viewing, so that is it too. I’ll start by saying that it is well-made. The phone calls are eerie. The cinematography and framing here is top notch. Hussey is great as our lead with the rest of the cast developing the story around her. I love the social commentary that isn’t in your face. If I have gripes, I just want to know more about Billy and see more of the kills. Ultimately, they’re not needed. This is one that I’d recommend to horror and non-horror fans alike for how well it is made.
My Rating: 9 out of 10