Certificate:

Director: Bob Clark

Release Date: 20 December 1974

Tagline: If this movie doesn’t make your skin crawl… It’s on too tight!

Main Cast:

Olivia Hussey … Jessica Bradford

Keir Dullea … Peter Smythe

Margot Kidder … Barbie Coard

If you’re a horror fan like myself, then you are probably very frustrated at the lack of good horror films made over the last 20 years or so. If, however, you think that modern horror flicks like Wrong Turn, or the remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre to name but two are good, then you need to get out more.

Now, I’m not easily scared or made to feel uneasy, so when I find a film that does either or both (I’m rarely scared!), then it’s quite an achievement!

Black Christmas (and I don’t mean the 2006 remake!) is regarded by many as the first stalk-and-slash horror film. It’s genuinely creepy and unsettling and the level of tension grows at a steady pace until you find yourself beginning to sweat. The obscene phone calls received by the girls are particularly nasty. It’s not your average heavy breather on the line either. It’s some deeply disturbed individual who spews all sorts of filth, and it even sounds like he has multiple personalities. Whatever the case, he’s obviously a very disturbed individual.

It is also devoid of all the post 1980 stereotypes such as stupid characters and endless gore. There is one moment of stupidity from one of the characters (near the end), but I understand that it has to be there for the sake of the film. And it has the most unusual ending. I’m not going to give anything away as I’d really like it if you watched the film yourself, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a horror film end in this way before.

There are times when I like a bit of gore, but all the best horror films have a less is more approach. They rely on suspense, tension and the terror of the unknown. If you ask any serious horror fan to name some of the best films, they will probably include Halloween, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Alien, Psycho and Ringu amongst them. I’d put Black Christmas up there too.

We’re always safe as long as we’re behind a locked door… Right?

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