Black Christmas (1974) Review

"Agnes, it's me, Billy."
-Billy



As Christmas break approaches, sorority sister Clare Harrison (Lynne Griffin) goes missing, while the rest of the house receives obscene phone calls from a strange man.  As the police search for Clare and the bodies start piling up, the remaining sisters don't realize the killer is inside their house.


What Works:

Black Christmas is one of the earliest slasher movies and it works really well.  The tension is palpable throughout the film because we know the killer is in the house.  We see him enter in the very first scene.  The other characters don't know it, but we do and we know he could strike at any time, which makes this a fun watch.

The characters are also really solid and surprisingly progressive for 1974.  Barbara (Margot Kidder) and Mrs. Mac (Marian Waldman) are crass and drink heavily, which gives us some really fun moments.  The best character is our protagonist, Jess (Olivia Hussey).  She's a flawed character for sure, but she has some real depth and isn't afraid to take the audience into some heavy topics.  Her strained relationship with her boyfriend, Peter (Keir Dullea), and their response to her unplanned pregnancy is the best part of the movie.

Clare is the first victim of the killer and she is on the poster.  Throughout the film, we see her face wrapped in plastic as her body remains undiscovered.  It's a chilling aspect of the film and pretty haunting.

The reveal that the killer is in the house is really well done, especially because we already know that, but Jess doesn't.  Her reaction sells it and we can feel her terror.  It's an excellent sequence and the brief chase through the house might be my favorite scene in the movie.

Finally, the killer himself is very creepy.  We barely see him, but we hear him.  His dialogue makes your skin crawl and he certainly leaves an impression.


What Sucks:

There are a few parts where the audio simply isn't very good.  I was watching a high quality version of the film and I still had trouble understanding the characters a few times during the movie.

Finally, there are a handful of really dumb character decisions that I find extremely frustrating.  Mrs. Mac, Jess, and the police all do some very stupid things that a rational person simply wouldn't do.


Verdict:

As far as early slashers go, Black Christmas is one of the better ones.  It's tense, has interesting characters, thrilling and chilling moments, and a creepy killer.  The audio could be better and the characters could be more competent, but this movie has still got it going on.

 8/10: Really Good 

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