With the holidays over, I decided it was time to take a stab at a holiday classic before we got any later into the year. I'm taking about Black Christmas, the 1974 slasher that paved the way for famous horror films such as Halloween and Friday the 13th. Often left in the shadows of its more famous successors, Black Christmas is nevertheless a cult classic that was even treated to a most likely craptacular Hollywood remake back in 2006.
The plot is very simple and classic. A mysterious person continually harasses a group of sorority girls living in a sorority house via disturbing telephone calls. When one of the girls goes missing, the police get involved and the hunt for a mysterious killer named "Billy" ensues.
Despite the fact that this film has a very simple plot, director Bob Clark is able to achieve something here that is severely lacking in many of the later slashers: suspense. When I first saw this film, the guy I thought was going to end up being the killer wasn't. And I can usually see these things coming a mile away. Between the numerous disturbing phone calls made to the girls of the house to the creepy POV action shots of the killer, we are left with a tense environment and a genuinely engrossing mystery, ending with the typical yet effective finale of young damsel in distress locked in the house with crazed madman. There are just so many aspects of this film that became such mainstays in later horror films that it's really just a shame that not as many people have heard of this movie. The mystery identity of the killer just adds to the appeal of the movie in my opinion, making him all the more creepy and interesting. Sometimes the most terrifying things are left unexplained. A big problem in modern films is that some of them try too hard and explain too much. This film was a perfect balance of good storytelling mixed in with just enough mystery so that you're not left disappointed at the end.
As much as I've read people trying to come up with their own theories as to who the killer is and why he is such a psychopath, the answer is just simply that he's nuts. The remake, from what I've read, attempted to shed some light on the background of Billy, but even without seeing the film I can tell that this is probably just one of many aspects that earned the remake the shiteous reviews it has received. While I agree that the vast majority of remakes are horrid and useless, there are a handful that I genuinely enjoyed, some even better than the originals (ex: John Carpenter's The Thing). After seeing the original Black Christmas, I don't even think I'd be interested in seeing the remake. This is one of those rare gems of a movie that is just almost perfect. Don't go in expecting a bloodbath, the movie is clearly dated and tame compared to modern standards. If you enjoy the classic slashers, especially Halloween which this movie reminded me so strongly of, you definitely need to check out Black Christmas.
RATING:
**** out of *****
The plot is very simple and classic. A mysterious person continually harasses a group of sorority girls living in a sorority house via disturbing telephone calls. When one of the girls goes missing, the police get involved and the hunt for a mysterious killer named "Billy" ensues.
Despite the fact that this film has a very simple plot, director Bob Clark is able to achieve something here that is severely lacking in many of the later slashers: suspense. When I first saw this film, the guy I thought was going to end up being the killer wasn't. And I can usually see these things coming a mile away. Between the numerous disturbing phone calls made to the girls of the house to the creepy POV action shots of the killer, we are left with a tense environment and a genuinely engrossing mystery, ending with the typical yet effective finale of young damsel in distress locked in the house with crazed madman. There are just so many aspects of this film that became such mainstays in later horror films that it's really just a shame that not as many people have heard of this movie. The mystery identity of the killer just adds to the appeal of the movie in my opinion, making him all the more creepy and interesting. Sometimes the most terrifying things are left unexplained. A big problem in modern films is that some of them try too hard and explain too much. This film was a perfect balance of good storytelling mixed in with just enough mystery so that you're not left disappointed at the end.
As much as I've read people trying to come up with their own theories as to who the killer is and why he is such a psychopath, the answer is just simply that he's nuts. The remake, from what I've read, attempted to shed some light on the background of Billy, but even without seeing the film I can tell that this is probably just one of many aspects that earned the remake the shiteous reviews it has received. While I agree that the vast majority of remakes are horrid and useless, there are a handful that I genuinely enjoyed, some even better than the originals (ex: John Carpenter's The Thing). After seeing the original Black Christmas, I don't even think I'd be interested in seeing the remake. This is one of those rare gems of a movie that is just almost perfect. Don't go in expecting a bloodbath, the movie is clearly dated and tame compared to modern standards. If you enjoy the classic slashers, especially Halloween which this movie reminded me so strongly of, you definitely need to check out Black Christmas.
RATING:
**** out of *****