If you were tuned into TNT on television during the holiday seasons of the 1990’s, there was a significant chance that A Christmas Story was playing. Bob Clark’s holiday classic showcased the exploits of a young boy, his comedic family, a passionate pursuit for a “Red Ryder” air rifle, and an iconic leg lamp that was sure to put a smile on any father’s face. If Bob Clark was good at anything, it was catching the spirit of the season. And if there was anything else he was good at, it was turning it upside down to make it feel cold, isolating, and foreboding. Nearly a full decade before Bob Clark would showcase a charming winter vacation, he would terrorize a sorority of young women in his holiday horror hit, Black Christmas.
*** Spoilers ahead ***
The year was 1974, and Black Christmas was about to take horror in a direction from murder mysteries to the earliest stages of the slasher sub-genre. With a modest kill count by today’s standards, the film carries its tone with prolonged shots from the killer’s perspective. The killer himself is only shown through shadows, obscured from the viewer and his victims alike. Utilizing the likes of plastic bags, hooks, and crystal figurines, he slowly picks off a group of young women while residing in their sorority’s attic, undetected.
After several victims have seemingly vanished, the locals and authorities immediately take a hands-on approach. A full manhunt goes into effect, and the police wire tap the sorority phone line in hopes of catching the culprit in the act. The killer simply can’t help but to call the home, lashing out in an emotional display where he takes on the role of several different people… Including, but not limited to, a mother figure. Reminiscent of 1960’s Psycho, with a splash of Basketcase energy, the antagonist unleashes everything from sexual debauchery to pleading for the well being of an unknown child.
The last part hits the film’s protagonist, college student Jess Bradford, harder than the rest of the phone antics as she spends the majority of the movie at odds with her boyfriend, Peter. Jess is pregnant and has no intention of keeping the child, while her boyfriend begins to spiral into madness at the notion of her receiving an abortion. Peter shows constant emotional instability after receiving the news. He botches a judged musical performance and follows it up by later beating the piano he played in a fit of rage. He calls the sorority house, crying to Jess and begging her to not “kill their baby”. This leaves Jess, and the authorities listening in, to look at Peter as a potential suspect in the house’s harassing calls and disappearances.
Jess winds up as the film’s final girl, but her self-serving exploits of survival are saved exclusively for the final act and with most of the action done off screen. She takes action after the local police inform her that the menacing phone calls she and the other girls have received were coming from within the sorority itself. The classic line, “The calls are coming from the house” would send chills down viewers’ spines several years before it would be implemented into the pop culture lexicon thanks to 1979’s When a Stranger Calls, which took that premise and ran with it.
However, no film would be more motivated by Black Christmas, than 1978’s Halloween. When given the chance, John Carpenter asked Bob Clark if he ever intended to return to Black Christmas for a sequel. Clark informed Carpenter that he was done with horror, but if he had to do a sequel it would be about the villain escaping a mental facility one year after his Christmas killing spree… Stalking a new group of sorority girls on Halloween. This input, along with the requests of a few producers, would lead to Halloween’s creation and solidify the slasher sub-genre that would carry horror through the 1980’s and beyond.
There’s no understating it. Black Christmas is as important to modern horror as other films such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and is a must-see for any fan of macabre cinema during the holiday season. Bob Clark may not have made a career out of horror films, but he laid the groundwork for generations of horror creators to come. This review has been intentionally left spoiler-free so that you can take the time to experience the movie for yourself, and appreciate one of the earliest slashers the genre has to offer. Do yourself a favor, and embrace the tense, sometimes goofy, offerings of Black Christmas this holiday season. It could easily become your next holiday tradition.
At the time of writing, Black Christmas is available to watch for free on Amazon Prime.