CASTOlivia Hussey, Keir Dullea, Margot Kidder,
John Saxon, Marian Waldman, Andrea Martin
Plot
A disturbed man sneaks into a girls sorority attic right before
Christmas break. Who starts out with making grossly creepy phone
calls to the girls living in the house. One by one the calls become more
grim and more un-nerving each time he calls. Suddenly, the
girls start mysteriously disappearing!
Just a little background on Black Christmas 1974
Black Christmas was directed by Bob Clark, most famous for directing the hilariously crazy Christmas film A Christmas Story. Black Christmas is one of those forgotten horror gems that you might decide on renting if your intended rental is out. But be rest assured you will not be disappointed my fellow horror movie buffs! Black Christmas inspired such films as Halloween. Black Christmas came out back in 1974 and stars one of Nightmare on Elm Street's most notable actors. John Saxon! John Saxon also plays ironically a lieutenant as he later played one in Nightmare on Elm St. So a real treat for Saxon fans to get to see some of his earlier work.
Review
I always found it strange that i never stumbled up on this movie anytime i went to my local movie rental store to rent movies. Granted most of the rental stores i grew up around were pretty small and almost all of their horror movie sections were little. Only carrying the most popular well known horror movies. Once in a while you might come across something you never heard of and give it a watch. But i never saw this one. We did have a place that was a little out of our way that was privately owned and it was believe it or not a 2 story movie rental store! But we didn't get to go there very often. And i don't ever remember seeing it there either. Anyway, so the first time i ever saw this movie was back in the 90's and i stumbled on it on Cinemax late one night. And i have to say that i was genuinely creeped out by it. Especially the creepy phone calls. I was surprised to found out this movie was made in 1974 seemingly because it had the familiarity of such movies as Halloween, Friday the 13th etc. I thought the story was fairly well written. The characters seemed to have great chemistry together which makes a movie like this even more believable. The movie wastes no time getting to the point. Which is something i like in horror movies. The POV shots are great for this movie in its time. And sets the standard for other great horror movies. The movies mystery factor pretty much stays exactly that til the end. Questions like who killed the little girl in the park are never answered. So it leaves you wondering if the killer had anything to do with that or not. Not to mention the biggest question of all...who is Billy? Who's Agnes? Why is this guy killing people? There isn't alot of blood in this movie, but you don't need alot of blood and gore to make a great horror movie. At least in my opinion. It doesn't hurt of course either. The movie also has its funny moments to, like the house mother Mrs. Mack sneaking around the house taking swigs off of hidden booze bottles shes got placed all over. And getting upset with her cat Claude! I really liked her character in this movie, she helped to take the edge off when things get to tense. Nash the nerdy deputy takes that job over when Mack is killed off with his total lack of common sense when Margot Kidders character gives him their house number and tells him Fellatio and that its a new extension! But all an all if your a big fan of traditional style horror this is definitely going to be a pleaser.But if you like more movies that cater to the glorifying of clever kills, over kills, blood and guts then this probably isn't going to satisfy your taste. But still worth a watch!
RATING: 4/5
Clip
A disturbed man sneaks into a girls sorority attic right before
Christmas break. Who starts out with making grossly creepy phone
calls to the girls living in the house. One by one the calls become more
grim and more un-nerving each time he calls. Suddenly, the
girls start mysteriously disappearing!
Just a little background on Black Christmas 1974
Black Christmas was directed by Bob Clark, most famous for directing the hilariously crazy Christmas film A Christmas Story. Black Christmas is one of those forgotten horror gems that you might decide on renting if your intended rental is out. But be rest assured you will not be disappointed my fellow horror movie buffs! Black Christmas inspired such films as Halloween. Black Christmas came out back in 1974 and stars one of Nightmare on Elm Street's most notable actors. John Saxon! John Saxon also plays ironically a lieutenant as he later played one in Nightmare on Elm St. So a real treat for Saxon fans to get to see some of his earlier work.
Review
I always found it strange that i never stumbled up on this movie anytime i went to my local movie rental store to rent movies. Granted most of the rental stores i grew up around were pretty small and almost all of their horror movie sections were little. Only carrying the most popular well known horror movies. Once in a while you might come across something you never heard of and give it a watch. But i never saw this one. We did have a place that was a little out of our way that was privately owned and it was believe it or not a 2 story movie rental store! But we didn't get to go there very often. And i don't ever remember seeing it there either. Anyway, so the first time i ever saw this movie was back in the 90's and i stumbled on it on Cinemax late one night. And i have to say that i was genuinely creeped out by it. Especially the creepy phone calls. I was surprised to found out this movie was made in 1974 seemingly because it had the familiarity of such movies as Halloween, Friday the 13th etc. I thought the story was fairly well written. The characters seemed to have great chemistry together which makes a movie like this even more believable. The movie wastes no time getting to the point. Which is something i like in horror movies. The POV shots are great for this movie in its time. And sets the standard for other great horror movies. The movies mystery factor pretty much stays exactly that til the end. Questions like who killed the little girl in the park are never answered. So it leaves you wondering if the killer had anything to do with that or not. Not to mention the biggest question of all...who is Billy? Who's Agnes? Why is this guy killing people? There isn't alot of blood in this movie, but you don't need alot of blood and gore to make a great horror movie. At least in my opinion. It doesn't hurt of course either. The movie also has its funny moments to, like the house mother Mrs. Mack sneaking around the house taking swigs off of hidden booze bottles shes got placed all over. And getting upset with her cat Claude! I really liked her character in this movie, she helped to take the edge off when things get to tense. Nash the nerdy deputy takes that job over when Mack is killed off with his total lack of common sense when Margot Kidders character gives him their house number and tells him Fellatio and that its a new extension! But all an all if your a big fan of traditional style horror this is definitely going to be a pleaser.But if you like more movies that cater to the glorifying of clever kills, over kills, blood and guts then this probably isn't going to satisfy your taste. But still worth a watch!
RATING: 4/5
Clip
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