Merry December everyone, let’s talk a little Black Christmas. Full disclosure, this is an all time favorite of mine. I watched it a few years back and was blown away, especially when I realized how early this movie came out. It was four years before Halloween, a few weeks after Texas Chainsaw Massacre, this movie lays so much groundwork for the slasher genre I was so surprised that I had never really heard of it. Even if you disagree with how good this movie is, if you are a slasher fan it is a must watch as an important work in the genre.
Don’t believe me on that? John Carpenter really enjoyed Black Christmas and asked the director Bob Clark if he had any ideas for a sequel. Clark had no interest in making a sequel, but did say if he did it would be about the killer escaping from a mental institution to terrorize people and he would call it…Halloween. That’s right the movie often held as the slasher was very much inspired by the man that directed A Christmas Story.
Oh fudge, I hadn’t mentioned that yet. Yes, the man behind Black Christmas also directed the Christmas movie that plays on repeat in the background while you open gifts and eat that nice holiday dinner. Let's remove the mistletoe from above this man’s butt now and get to the ratings.
Story Setting
There are a couple of different storylines going on in this movie. The inciting incident is one of the sorority sisters going missing. Her disappearance lingers and festers in the background for the rest of the movie. Then we have Jess, the main character, who is dealing with her clingy boyfriend and a pregnancy she plans on terminating. This adds a bit of a deeper story than we see in a lot of slashers and lends itself to some important commentary. Maybe best of all, we have the story of the killer “Billy”. We get this through absolutely bonkers phone calls where he plays all the voice acting roles in what seems like a reenactment of a horrific childhood trauma. After each phone call you are left sort of sifting through the barrage of craziness, trying to put together the pieces of the story. These different threads don’t always overlap cleanly throughout the movie which does hurt the pace a bit.
As far as setting is concerned the house Black Christmas primarily takes place in is the perfect place for a horror movie. It is big enough to hide a crazy slasher villain, while also feeling small and tight when the intensity picks up. The staircase that leads to the door and the phone is also used to perfection in a few scenes, creating a few really terrifying moments. The director, Bob Clark, is able to take the Christmas decorations scattered across the house and give them a dreary sort of feel.
Music
The music in Black Christmas would never be considered iconic by any stretch, that being said it does a good job of setting a creepy tone. The main score (if you want to call it that) is this off tune kind of swipe down a piano. It is ominous without being intrusive. A lot of the other music are solemn christmas songs that in the context of the film come off creepy and off putting. One in particular is sung by a group of young carolers which is juxtaposed with a murder scene. Overall the music does the job but will not blow you away like some other iconic horror scores.
Slasher Fodder
This will be the first perfect score I assign to a category for Slash Mountain. This cast of characters is pretty perfect and feel like real characters instead of, well…Fodder. They are vibrant, funny, and even the ones that only have a line can leave an impression on the viewer. Now if there is a criticism some of the characters can sometimes edge towards goofy. More often than not though, the humor hits and does so without ruining the creepy aura of the film.
The wise cracking drunk. Barb. steals every scene she is in. The cops aren’t just there in the background to bumble through scenes, I mean one may have laid the groundwork for the doofy cop but the main detective actually does his job. Mrs. Mac who sneaks booze she has hidden all through the sorority house while secretly resenting the girls she looks after is the perfect comic relief. Oh, and our main character Jess, a likable priss, can tear people down with her strong confidence and makes for a very different final girl. The way she absolutely shits on people during phone calls makes me laugh everytime I watch the movie.
Slasher
“Billy” can be absolutely terrifying. The phone calls are extremely off putting and leave a looming threat from pretty early on in the movie, leaving us thinking about this group of girls being forced to face this insane person on the other side of the phone. When the climax of the movie hit he is absolutely terrifying, one scene in particular creeps me out to this day. The reason I will take off points is because we don’t get enough of him unleashed. Which is a little disappointing because just as the movie goes from creepy to scary it is sort of abruptly over.
Kills
The main weakness of this movie is the kills. Originally the kills were supposed to be way more brutal, but the director opted to have them be more subtle and off screen. It is a choice that works for the movie but does leave you wanting a bit more in this department. There is one kill in particular in the movie that is shot beautifully, but honestly who wants that? Some of the post kill corpse stuff really works though, so Black Christmas still manages a few points here on that.
Double Tap
This movie was almost called Stop Me, something “Billy” says on one of the phone calls. Not a bad title but Black Christmas definitely has a better ring to it.
There is a scene where you can just see the killer's eye through a crack in the door and now I am always expecting to see an eye when I walk past open doors. Also no one remembers whose eye it is in that scene.
This movie earned a 16 out of 20 so it will sit pretty high on Slash Mountain for the foreseeable future. With its strong characters, creepy atmosphere and great slasher villain it is very much deserved.
By the way if you want to hear me talk this movie with full spoilers head over to the Super Slash Bros. podcast here.
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