Black Christmas
Dir: Bob Clark.
Starring Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea, Margot Kidder, John Saxon, Lynne Griffin,
Art Hindle, Marian Waldman and Andrea Martin. 1974
The original “the calls are coming from inside the house”
flick. Sorority sisters are stalked in their home by a madman in the attic. Simple and effective, but it's that simplicity supported by a potent setting, atmosphere, score, cinematography, direction and acting that make this proto-slasher a standout. The characters, too, are another key to the film's success. They, and their problems, are memorable, believable and relatable. It also doesn't hurt that, for my money, Black Christmas features the
eeriest obscene phone calls in any film I've seen, er... heard. Finally, and significantly, Black Christmas successfully exploits and
subverts all the elements of a Canadian Christmas to its best advantage – the snow,
the cold, the lights, the carols, the quiet and the Yuletide loneliness.
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