Black Christmas

I decided to begin the holiday season with a wholesome Christmas movie, Black Christmas. I saw that this 1974 horror classic was on Amazon Prime, and was anxious to cross it off my must-see horror films list. Black Christmas has played a very important role in the horror genre as it was the prototype for the slasher era. The film was the first of its kind in that you never actually see the perpetrator. In fact, you get a first person view from the very eyes of the killer himself. What classic horror film does that remind you of? Yes, Black Christmas was the very inspiration for John Carpenter’s Halloween, which was released four years later in 1978. The OG slasher film of all slasher films. Bob Clark told Carpenter what he envisioned a sequel to Black Christmas would be, and thus, Michael Myers was born in the quiet, suburban town of Haddenfield. So I guess, I have Clark to thank for inspiring my favorite horror film of all time.

It also seems that Black Christmas inspired 1979’s When a Stranger Calls with its infamous line, “The call is coming from inside the house!” The ending to Black Christmas actually fucks me up lol. The killer is never caught, and is seemingly still in the attic. No one ever checks the attic! Why?! The police discover all the other bodies in the house, but not the two that were still in the attic with the psychopath. What’s worse is the police leave the last remaining victim alone to rest in the house where they had just found DEAD SORORITY GIRLS... is that not a crime scene? Why is she not in a hospital? Why is she left alone in the house with only a police officer keeping guard outside? The last police officer they assigned to watch the house got slashed. I wonder if Black Christmas started that phenomenon in horror films too. You know, Police assign an officer to watch the house or send only one squad car for help when there’s a killer on the loose trying to butcher people... the officers always end up with their throats slit. Man, I say it all the tine, but the 70’s were a wild time.

There’s actually two remakes of this film: 2006 and the one that opens this Friday. I’m not sure why they keep rehashing this movie, or why studios can’t make Christmas horror films that have a different plot. How many films must there be of a mentally insane killer picking off sorority girls one by one on Christmas? I think I might watch 2006’s remake of this classic because it’s already out, there’s no way I’m wasting money to see the brand new remake in theaters.

Until then, I’ll be on the hunt for more Christmas horror classics...