For many fans of the slasher movie sub-genre Halloween (1978) is ground zero. Sure The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) kick started the gore but Halloween had it all – the 'holiday' theme, the virginal final girl, the almost supernatural killer, the elaborate kills, and the creepy point-of-view stalking camera views. However, Black Christmas came out in the same year as Halloween and has all of those slasher movie themes plus a whole lot more.
Set in a sorority house in an unnamed college Black Christmas starts with a typical college student party. It's the last few days before everyone goes home for Christmas and spirits are high. However, it is soon clear that someone is outside looking in and we take their point-of-view as they sneak into the house unknown to the girls and their dates.
The party is interrupted by a disturbing phone call – a man gurgles and screams down the phone, making sexual and pornographic statements. When the drunk Barb (Margot Kidder) challenges the caller he rings off but not before threatening to kill her. The phone call upsets Clare but Barb calls her a professional virgin and bullies her to bed. It is while she is alone in her room that the killer first strikes hiding her body in the attic.
The next day when her father comes to collect her for the Christmas holiday Barb gets the blame for bullying her and they go to the police. Meanwhile Jess (Olivia Hussey) is telling her pianist boyfriend Peter (Keir Dullea) that she's pregnant but wants an abortion.
As girls (and the house mother) begin to disappear, more phone calls are received and Peter becomes more erratic. A young girls body is found in the park and the police become more and more concerned about what is going on in the sorority house. Is it Peter driven mad at being rejected? Does the girl in the park have anything to do with the phone calls? Just who is it in the attic?
Whilst much of Black Christmas may seem old fashioned now much of it still holds up well, particularly as it pre-dates a lot of the classic slasher movies. Some of the set-pieces are predictable (when the police tap the phone they find out that, horror of horrors, the calls are coming from upstairs!) but some of the plot devices are genuinely disturbing. There is an open-endedness that many later slasher films shun. For example, it is never fully revealed whether the girls body in the park has anything to do with the murders at the sorority house and we never actually see who the killer is. He is never revealed like Jason or Michael Myers. He is just a shape that looms out of the dark and disappears at the end.
Black Christmas also foreshadows Halloween in many ways. Whilst Jess (who fulfills the role of final girls here) is not the virginal heroine of later movies, she is smart and independent while those around her are ineffective or drunk. She is also the only person to survive the killer's attack and manages to hold out until the police arrive at the end (although she is left sedated in bed as the end credits start to roll and an ominous laugh emanates from the attic again...).
Black Christmas is a ground breaking horror film. When it was made its clichés weren't clichés yet. Don't expect a modern gore filled slasher journey from Black Christmas. In parts it is laughable. But it is also creepy in a way closer to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre than Halloween. There is no psychiatrist to explain the killers motives and no neat climax. Just a killer who has his sights set on the girls of Pi Kappa Sigma.
While film classics like It’s a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Carol, or Miracle on 34th Street have their places in a movie-watcher’s seasonal calendar, there are many lesser-known holiday films to watch. Cult, camp, and independent films offer alternatives to more mainstream movies, providing balance to the holidays’ often-predictable and overly sentimental fare. In alphabetical order, here is a brief – and regrettably incomplete – list of cult holiday movies to watch.
Terry Gilliam’s dystopian satire takes place at Christmas time, and is filled with critiques of consumerism and bureaucracy. Sam Lowry, a clerk working for the Ministry of Information, attempts to correct a government mistake and gets caught in the middle of a revolution. Brazil is filled with the things one expects of Gilliam’s film: and intricate and sometimes meandering, beautiful art direction, surreal touches, odd humor, and a concern with freedom, imagination, and love.
Based on Jean Howard’s novel, this comedy centers on 9-year-old Ralphie’s attempt to convince his parents he should receive a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas. Although frequent cable showings almost undermine its cult status, A Christmas Story nonetheless deserves its place on the lists for numerous reasons: its fans make pilgrimages to Cleveland where the film was shot; the movie is filled with quotable dialogue; and a funny subplot features a lamp made of a mannequin’s fishnet-stocking leg.
Directed by John Huston, this adaptation of James Joyce’s short story stars his daughter Anjelica. Set in turn-of-the-century Ireland, The Dead focuses on an annual Christmas dinner, hosted by two spinster sisters, of conversation and music. A studied and subtle film, this haunting drama is a meditation on love and loss that manages to be both melancholy and hopeful.
Another movie whose loyal fan base has elevated its profile, Tim Burton’s and Harry Selick’s Nightmare Before Christmas is as notable for its style – stop-motion animation – as for its story. After Jack Skellington, the bored pumpkin king of Halloweentown, wanders into Christmastown, he decides to bring Christmas to Halloweentown. The outcome is hauntingly beautiful, funny, and sweet.
As the title hints, Martians kidnap Santa Claus and take him to Mars, where he conquers them by giving goodwill, fun, and Christmas cheer to their children. This film regularly makes “worst films” lists, but has became more popular after being featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000, the recommended viewing experience. Santa Claus Conquers the Martians is also known as the movie in which Pia Zadora made her debut.
This slasher b-movie is one of small number of Christmas-themed horror films, which includes Black Christmas (1974) and Christmas Evil (1980). The predictable backstory involves a boy who witnesses his parents be killed – by a thief wearing Santa Suit. After a traumatic childhood, filled with yet more bad holiday experiences, he gets a job at a toy store. But when he’s required to wear a Santa suit on Christmas Eve, he has a psychotic break and begins punishing naughty children.
The above holiday-themed films represent various styles and genres, from comedy to horror to animation. Some films have won critical praise, some have gained loyal fans and some remain mostly forgotten. At least one film is a train-wreck movie so compellingly awful that one can’t turn one’s head away. All offer welcomed variety to the conventional holiday-movie standards.
Black Christmas Plot – Spoiler Alert
Set in a sorority house in an unnamed college Black Christmas starts with a typical college student party. It's the last few days before everyone goes home for Christmas and spirits are high. However, it is soon clear that someone is outside looking in and we take their point-of-view as they sneak into the house unknown to the girls and their dates.
The party is interrupted by a disturbing phone call – a man gurgles and screams down the phone, making sexual and pornographic statements. When the drunk Barb (Margot Kidder) challenges the caller he rings off but not before threatening to kill her. The phone call upsets Clare but Barb calls her a professional virgin and bullies her to bed. It is while she is alone in her room that the killer first strikes hiding her body in the attic.
The next day when her father comes to collect her for the Christmas holiday Barb gets the blame for bullying her and they go to the police. Meanwhile Jess (Olivia Hussey) is telling her pianist boyfriend Peter (Keir Dullea) that she's pregnant but wants an abortion.
As girls (and the house mother) begin to disappear, more phone calls are received and Peter becomes more erratic. A young girls body is found in the park and the police become more and more concerned about what is going on in the sorority house. Is it Peter driven mad at being rejected? Does the girl in the park have anything to do with the phone calls? Just who is it in the attic?
Black Christmas Review
Whilst much of Black Christmas may seem old fashioned now much of it still holds up well, particularly as it pre-dates a lot of the classic slasher movies. Some of the set-pieces are predictable (when the police tap the phone they find out that, horror of horrors, the calls are coming from upstairs!) but some of the plot devices are genuinely disturbing. There is an open-endedness that many later slasher films shun. For example, it is never fully revealed whether the girls body in the park has anything to do with the murders at the sorority house and we never actually see who the killer is. He is never revealed like Jason or Michael Myers. He is just a shape that looms out of the dark and disappears at the end.
Black Christmas also foreshadows Halloween in many ways. Whilst Jess (who fulfills the role of final girls here) is not the virginal heroine of later movies, she is smart and independent while those around her are ineffective or drunk. She is also the only person to survive the killer's attack and manages to hold out until the police arrive at the end (although she is left sedated in bed as the end credits start to roll and an ominous laugh emanates from the attic again...).
Black Christmas - Slasher Movie Supreme
Black Christmas is a ground breaking horror film. When it was made its clichés weren't clichés yet. Don't expect a modern gore filled slasher journey from Black Christmas. In parts it is laughable. But it is also creepy in a way closer to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre than Halloween. There is no psychiatrist to explain the killers motives and no neat climax. Just a killer who has his sights set on the girls of Pi Kappa Sigma.
Best Cult Holiday Movies
While film classics like It’s a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Carol, or Miracle on 34th Street have their places in a movie-watcher’s seasonal calendar, there are many lesser-known holiday films to watch. Cult, camp, and independent films offer alternatives to more mainstream movies, providing balance to the holidays’ often-predictable and overly sentimental fare. In alphabetical order, here is a brief – and regrettably incomplete – list of cult holiday movies to watch.
Brazil (1985)
Terry Gilliam’s dystopian satire takes place at Christmas time, and is filled with critiques of consumerism and bureaucracy. Sam Lowry, a clerk working for the Ministry of Information, attempts to correct a government mistake and gets caught in the middle of a revolution. Brazil is filled with the things one expects of Gilliam’s film: and intricate and sometimes meandering, beautiful art direction, surreal touches, odd humor, and a concern with freedom, imagination, and love.
A Christmas Story (1983)
Based on Jean Howard’s novel, this comedy centers on 9-year-old Ralphie’s attempt to convince his parents he should receive a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas. Although frequent cable showings almost undermine its cult status, A Christmas Story nonetheless deserves its place on the lists for numerous reasons: its fans make pilgrimages to Cleveland where the film was shot; the movie is filled with quotable dialogue; and a funny subplot features a lamp made of a mannequin’s fishnet-stocking leg.
The Dead (1987)
Directed by John Huston, this adaptation of James Joyce’s short story stars his daughter Anjelica. Set in turn-of-the-century Ireland, The Dead focuses on an annual Christmas dinner, hosted by two spinster sisters, of conversation and music. A studied and subtle film, this haunting drama is a meditation on love and loss that manages to be both melancholy and hopeful.
Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Another movie whose loyal fan base has elevated its profile, Tim Burton’s and Harry Selick’s Nightmare Before Christmas is as notable for its style – stop-motion animation – as for its story. After Jack Skellington, the bored pumpkin king of Halloweentown, wanders into Christmastown, he decides to bring Christmas to Halloweentown. The outcome is hauntingly beautiful, funny, and sweet.
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964)
As the title hints, Martians kidnap Santa Claus and take him to Mars, where he conquers them by giving goodwill, fun, and Christmas cheer to their children. This film regularly makes “worst films” lists, but has became more popular after being featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000, the recommended viewing experience. Santa Claus Conquers the Martians is also known as the movie in which Pia Zadora made her debut.
Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)
This slasher b-movie is one of small number of Christmas-themed horror films, which includes Black Christmas (1974) and Christmas Evil (1980). The predictable backstory involves a boy who witnesses his parents be killed – by a thief wearing Santa Suit. After a traumatic childhood, filled with yet more bad holiday experiences, he gets a job at a toy store. But when he’s required to wear a Santa suit on Christmas Eve, he has a psychotic break and begins punishing naughty children.
The above holiday-themed films represent various styles and genres, from comedy to horror to animation. Some films have won critical praise, some have gained loyal fans and some remain mostly forgotten. At least one film is a train-wreck movie so compellingly awful that one can’t turn one’s head away. All offer welcomed variety to the conventional holiday-movie standards.
Comments