12th October 2018 | 31 Days of “Alternative” Horror: Black Christmas
Even our most sacred of seasonal holidays can no longer escape the Halloween effect. Even though Black Christmas itself is not a gorged in Christmas spirit it presupposes that — at least after a scene with a Christmas party — that the rest of the movie needs no reminder of seasons greeting. It’s indeed not used to play the drama and horror as it unhinges from above, with reference to the now famous line “The caller is in the house. The calls are coming from inside the house!” which if you haven’t already seen the movie When a Stranger Calls — which came a few years after Black Christmas — this revelation soon became a common film trope, right up there with “I can see you, can you see me?” And “I know where you live.”
Black Christmas tells of the horror that occurs in the run up to Christmas at a sorority house run by the liberated Mrs MacHenry played by Marian Waldman. The sorority ring leader is Barbara, played by the smart mouthed Margot Kidder. They receive a phone call from a heavy breather. This seems to be a regular occurrence as the guy has the nickname “The Moaner” and the girls let the call play out and then carry on with the festivities. A killer finds his way inside the building during their Christmas party and kills one of the girls and then sets up his killer camp up in the attic. From that moment on, the phone calls increase and become more and more sinister.
Olivia Hussey assumes the lead role as Jess — after breaking out years previously as Juliet in Franco Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet, although her character was somewhat straight and lacking the energy that we saw from Margot Kidder, and the loveable comedy relief Marian Waldman who has a taste for tonic of any given kind. It might just be the case that the part was underwritten for a reason, and like Jennifer Connolly in Labyrinth, she is the straight up, no nonsense kid of whom has her own personal problems that stir up a B plot.
Kier Dullea (who looks deceptively younger than his character in 2001: A Space Odyssey) plays Peter Smyth, Jess’s piano playing boyfriend who throughout the movie becomes a focus of suspicion, and John Saxon plays the Lt in charge of solving the crime. It’s a solid ensemble, and is made stronger with the presence of Doug McGrath as Sergeant Nash whose nerves under pressure come through extremely well.
Black Christmas is believed to be the first successful and traditional slasher movie. It gets under your skin, but isn’t afraid to give your feet a little tickle with a feather.
The film is unique in that it never actually reveals who the killer is. We know of the name, Billy, and that seemed to be more than enough to roll on with the credits. It’s still satisfying to have an unresolved ending and it teaches us that we don’t always have to have the blow out shooting of the killer at the end of the movie. Unfortunately, the remake in 2006 decided to expand on the killer and made him less of an enigma. Who knows, I could be wrong, but life doesn’t always come with such back story or conclusion. Perhaps also, the horror comes from the thought that things are simply not over. It worked for Halloween, but then, did we really need a Halloween 2, 3 etc…? Black Christmas worked as a standalone, and for that we are grateful. Season’s greetings everyone.
Written by: Stephen Radford
website: stephenradford.com
Next: 13th October: Feeding Frenzy
