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Black Christmas is a creepy look at a strange man and his insane nature. The phone calls were very disturbing, at times hard to understand but made them that much more scary. The camera point of view from the killer's eyes was great, in focus and not all over the place. The kills were not all seen but definatly the ones we did were good. For being what it is (An original horror classic christmas story) I loved it. Lives up to the hype for me.
Posted By: horrorbuff28 at 4:45pm, November 7, 2009
Black Christmas was a bit dragged out. The obseen phone calls were very unnerving but the movie itself is highly overrated. I can see how people could say this started the slasher subgenre and if it wasnt for Black Christmas, there would be no Halloween and Friday the 13th and stuff like that but there are so many better slasher movies than this. All in All, Black Christmas has its moments where it can be scary and sometimes terryfying but it just wasnt everything people make it out to be.
Posted By: Lyssa284225 at 4:38pm, November 2, 2009
I loved it
Posted By: horrorking95 at 1:38pm, October 25, 2009
I did enjoy this film but it's not the sort of film i'd watch again, it was a bit slow and dull in places but I did enjoy it! I don't think it's as good as everyone makes out it to be. It has some good suspensful moments and the last 30minutes will keep you on the edge of your seats!
A great film to watch a christmas!
Posted By: daysfan79 at 6:17pm, September 19, 2009
This is my favorite horror film EVER! I can find nothing to complain about. The acting was great. Olivia Hussey and Margot Kidder are terrific in their roles. Marian Waldman (as Mrs. Mac) definitely steals the show as the comic relief (Kidder comes in second). I'm not really a fan of comic relief in horror films but here it works. The characters were so well layered and developed. You truly cared about them. The atmosphere and music were top-notch starting with the opening of the house as 'Silent Night' plays during the credits. Well paced, directed and very suspenseful. I love that the villain is left to the imagination and nothing is explained about him. It makes the story more mysterious and intriguing without all the answers. Halloween has been given all the credit over the years for being the "original" slasher or the one that started it all. I'm glad Black Christmas is starting to get its much deserved recognition. I love Halloween, but to me Black Christmas is a step above it due to the memorable characters.
Posted By: googoomuck at 12:37pm, September 19, 2009
Creepy as hell,first time i saw this movie was back in 2002,i saw a movie as a child called Tales from the Crypt and in one of the stories theres this women that kills her husband,this is set on christmas,so as she's hiding the body theres a maniac outside dressed as santa and so a couple of years later i realized heyy yeah ive never seen a horror movie set on christmas.So i went to buy this one that my friend recommended called Black Christmas and to this day is one of my favorites. must see.
Posted By: DogCarcass at 10:23am, September 19, 2009
The original slasher. Genuinely creepy... excellent Christmas atmosphere... wonderfully directed... Go buy this.
Wonderfully dark, scary, and dripping with style, this is the film that I consider one of my all time favorite slashers. It still gives me the creeps everytime I watch it around the Holidays.
Fellatio anyone?
Quite simply one of the finest horror films ever made. Unnerving, suspenseful and one of the earliest examples of the slasher subgenre, everyone should see Black Christmas.
One of the greatest horror films ever made. You could argue that there might not be a Halloween, Friday the 13th or any of the others that came with them without this flick.
If I had to pick a favorite horror film of all time, it could quite possibly be "Black Christmas." This movie delivers and does what most horror films can only attempt to do. It's creepy, it's witty, it's funny, it's PERFECT. I've seen countless horror films and only a few actually give me that feeling of absolute dread and terror that this film does. I dare even the most seasoned horror buff to watch this alone with all the lights out and NOT get the chills when the killer "Billy" shows us just how scary phone calls can be. Those who have seen this film know what I'm talking about, the phone calls just leave you spooked out of your mind. I won't give to much away, but this film also has one of the best executed endings in film history. Period. I still find myself pulling this classic out every year around Christmas time in anticipation of the holidays. Unlike most people that watch Rudolph or Frosty to celebrate the coming season, I can be found with Bob Clarks perfect slasher classic "Black Christmas" playing over and over while I patiently await for Christmas morning, and hope to God I don't answer the phone and hear the words, "It's me Billy"...
Black Christmas was absolutely a terrific slasher film! You got to believe that When A Stranger Calls took the idea from this movie. The only disappointing thing about Black Christmas is that you never got to know who the killer. Also I don't know if that makes the movie more a mystery than a horror film, but it is still one of the greats in Horror History!
Classic. Genius. The epitome of what slasher films aspire to be; and it manages to do so without buckets of blood. From what I understand Halloween was originally a sequel to this but they sold the script and John Carpenter got a hold of it.
Oh and When a Stranger Calls ripped this movie off verbatim.
The original slahser and its clear where Halloween took its ideas from. This has such a creepy, unsettling feel to it as the film kicks off with POV shots of the killer approaching the house and making his way in through an upstairs window and the uneasy feeling doesn't stop. This isn't a cheap horror as it's clear through the terrific script that events are portrayed ultra realistic and that makes the situations the characters face even more scarier. The motivation of the killer is rather suprising for the time this was made , again adding to realism. The cast perform well especially Margot Kidder, Olivia Hussey and the always reliable John Saxon. The lack of gore doesn't even detract from the uncomfortable feeling of dread that is portrayed in this film, just listen to the phone voice and that alone will give you nightmares for weeks. This is a horror film done properly through great casting, a realistic premise, excellent scripting and direction. One of the best horros of the 70's along side Halloween, TCM and When A Stranger Calls. Its just sad that this truly original film gets overlooked so often.
Kids today who are hooked on Roth, Zombie and the Saw movies have no idea what great horror is and I suggest start looking back at the 70's,the golden age of Horror and start with this timless classic
Posted By: johnvonswamp at 5:30pm, January 27, 2009
Watched this for the first time last night, and boy does it stand the test of time. Its very unsettling, realistic, and seems to have the perfect pace. I was pretty well glued to the screen for the entire film. It was never an issue during the viewing that the film had little gore. It just wasn't necessary. This is a slasher film done right.
I don't enjoy many slashers, but this is way up there with Halloween, and I can see its influence on that film as well.
Posted By: fuadramses725 at 10:48pm, November 2, 2008
Is Black Christmas the greatest slasher flick of all time? It's quite possible. It is hard to choose between Halloween and this one. They are both perfect. But when it's 2 in the morning and I can't sleep, I always seem to put in Black Christmas and sit there like a kid watching cartoons. It's so perfect, I would put it on par with the best horror movies made. I just can't believe it exists. When I think of horror, this always comes to mind. Not only is it scary, but it has great acting, especially the amazing Margot Kidder. For me, she is the real scream queen. Her character is so funny and obnoxious, but smart and extremely attractive at the same time. And she nails the role. And the writing and direction are something of great skill. This is definately Bob Clark's best work. I like that other Christmas movie he made, but this is his crowning achievement.
Posted By: draculaghost at 9:42pm, November 2, 2008
Great
Posted By: draculaghost at 9:42pm, November 2, 2008
Great
Posted By: tcmassacre at 10:34pm, October 29, 2008
You know, the more I keep seeing old-school movies, the more I realize I should have been born in another time.
When you compare it with your average horror / slasher movies of today, Black Christmas beats the crap out of pretty much all of them. Now, when you realize that this was released in 1974, it becomes more than a movie.
It becomes a statement.
This movie portrays a psychotic situation in an extremely realistic way, which used to be a distinctive feature of horror movies at the time. The emotions are appropriate and well presented, which means that both the script and the acting are quite good.
Although the main subject may seem common and even overexploited nowadays, it wasn't like that in the seventies. Plus, Black Christmas delivers it in a rather unusual way, one we're not used to see in the genre, even if you count movies until this date.
And it certainly doesn't have to rely on gore or visual effects to give you the creeps, now and then, making use of some great and sometimes subtle techniques and situations.
Be sure not to miss it.
And, if you have the chance, make sure to watch it with your family on a cozy Christmas's eve night.
They're gonna love it.
And who knows, you might even feel in the mood for some role playing afterwards.
At least that's what I would do.
This is what you call a classic HORROR movie. If you are after blood, guts and gore then dont bother. what we have here is fear, suspence and edge of the seat horror. Margot Kidder is brilliant in this role and is quite funny as well. the story is so well written and the acting is spot on, it is timeless and always will be. so crack open that bottle of wine, turn down the lights and if you watch it by yourself well!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is probably the most unappreciated horror movie ever made. It came out before Halloween and When A Stranger Calls and clearly inspired both films. It is also the first horror film to have the 'killer's point of view' camera. And don't think because it was made back in the seventies that it's old and outdated. This movie is timeless and will still creep you out. Enjoy!
Posted By: thedescent08 at 7:44pm, September 8, 2008
It’s hard to write a review for Black Christmas. On one hand I thought much of the movie was a pathetic attempt at an emotional slasher film, and on the other hand there were scenes that were some of the best kill/scares in the history of horror movies. It’s almost like Black Christmas flirts with perfection then jumps back to lame subplots. Yes, I understand that this film literally invented the slasher genre, but, no, I cannot call it perfect—I can only call certain aspects perfect.
As I said, the main standout flaw is the complete lack of focus. The movie starts out in a sorority house, but from there jumps to a lot of other places to focus on characters and subplots that don’t really matter to the story at all. The whole subplot of Clare’s father coming to the sorority house was completely pointless by the end of the film, and just takes away from the actual story. The subplot between Jess and her boyfriend should have been cut much shorter, in order to, once again, focus on the actual story. Most of all, the subplot of the missing child still has nothing to do whatsoever with anything else in the film. I don’t understand why the director takes 20 minutes to go into it, when in the end, like all the other subplots, it is nothing important. It could have easily been a passing reference instead of its own section of the film. The police scenes, also, added nothing to the story except take away from the amazing atmosphere. Everything the police scenes added could have been done with phone conversations, instead of taking up half the movie time to show things the audience could have guessed. Without all these subplots the movie would have been much, much more effective and tense.
Another problem I had was the title of the film is Black Christmas, but other than the opening and one of the death scenes, nothing in this movie referenced Christmas at all. Most of the time there wasn’t even snow on the ground. It would have been so much more emotionally effective if it played into the Christmas nostalgia more than it did, but the movie made the ability to play Christmas songs more of a gimmick than a plot point.
Though I’m being negative with almost every aspect of the film, I really did enjoy part of it—the actual story. When the movie isn’t trying to have five different subplots that go nowhere, the actual core story is done to perfection. The killer, the kills, the girls, the sorority house, the phone calls, the ending—all truly perfect, and by far the greatest slasher of all time. It’s sad to see what is really a beautiful minimalist horror story turned into a bloated crime drama with more pointless subplots than kills, and that is the only thing holding this film from perfection.
Overall, I wish I could go in and just watch the actual plot happen in Black Christmas, but I can’t. Still, as much ranting as I did, there is something there that makes it better than so many movies that I’ve rated higher. Something that Hollywood forgot four decades ago. Maybe it’s the fact this movie has very little blood, but is still very effective. Or, maybe, it’s that the core plot was actually thought out, truly terrifying, emotionally captivating, and also something original that had never been done before it. I think that is it.
I really enjoyed this. I watched it in preparation for the remake, and to be honest I liked the remake about the same. BUT, this movie is better in terms of suspense and thrills rather than over-the-top gore (which I also love). However, there were a few of those inevitable "what are they thinking?" moments that every slasher has. However, since this is pretty much the prototype slasher, maybe it can be excused.
very well done. there is alot of suspense in this movie. decent amount of blood splatter. i like how they kept the intentions and identity of the killer hidden. the audience has to guess on it. it the classic '70's slasher. its more on suspense and atmosphere and less on the blood and gore
