Black Christmas (1974) by Bob Clark

Director: Bob Clark

Year: 1974

Country: Canada

Alternate Titles: Silent Night, Evil Night; Stranger in the House

Genre: Slasher

Plot:

Gathering for a Christmas party, members of a sorority house are inundated with a series of obscene phone calls that no one can do anything about, and as the calls continue and the girls disappear they realize that there's a killer in the house and try to get out before they encounter him.

Review:

While it has a few flaws, there was a lot to this like here one. One of the main factors that this one gets right is the mystery of the killer which helps to maintain a sense of mystery and thrills. We never learn the killer's true motives or identity, or why he decided to plague this particular sorority house, and as we never see the killer's face aside from a hand and a spastic-looking eyeball this is just eerie and really makes the killer a lot more fearsome when the identity remains a secret. The film does a spectacular job of making the killer feel really threatened without doing a whole lot as the killer establishes a trademark method of operation and immediately places an obscene phone call to the house after dispatching a victim. That works wonders, especially when it's revealed that this has been going on before the beginning of the film and the other various bits about the dangerous activity on campus that tell of a lurking presence around the house.

When it switches over to the later calls, it gets even more disturbing and furious as the caller exhibits obvious symptoms of multiple-personality disorder, and we hear him switching between three different voices within the course of one call, often times the different voices even overlap one another. It's a neat trick to show off his unhinged nature and again goes even further toward making the killer the ultimate creep. From the moments where just the POV is seen running across the landscape with just the breathing voice heard to the sense of humor displayed with the strangulation gag that comes from the simply mind-blowing original finale, the killer here is one of the best in the genre. A couple of the attacks are pretty cool as well, especially the bedroom one where the screams are drowned out by the caroling group downstairs as well as one where a victim is lured in and attacked with a giant pulley system. These here provide the film’s good points.

There are some big issues with this one. Among its biggest problems is that this one has such a dull and boring middle section that most of the problems are found here. The film decides to stack in as many different scenes and subplots as here to stretch the running time out, with ineffectual police officers, an empowering subplot about the pregnant sorority sister, and the exploits of the father tracking down his missing daughter that all feel natural and normal in the storyline but end up feeling like the film is super padded out to ridiculous lengths. These take up a large amount of the film’s time to take in certain areas of the plots that contain nothing of importance in the final count and slow the tempo to a sluggish crawl with very little of any interest going on. There’s also the fact that there’s not much in the way of who the killer is, as some might like the lack of information but not even getting a name is a bit disappointing as a personal preference issue than a genuine flaw.

Overview: ****/5

With a lot of dull moments in this one and some rather enjoyable moments, this one comes across as a slightly disappointing effort despite its heritage and importance in the genre. This one is really for those who have a big fascination with the early-going slashers, appreciate the creative crew, or are into the film’s positive points, while those who prefer faster-paced fare should seek caution.