First off, do not, I repeat, DO NOT confuse this review with the incredibly lame 2006 remake of the same name. Yes, the chicks in it were extremely hot (Lacey Chabert...slobber), but there was absolutely no entertainment value past that very superficial compliment. To date, it also has the dubious honor of being the only movie that the Horror Nerd has ever walked out of while in the theater. And before anyone messages me claiming that I can't judge a movie until I've seen it in its entirety, shut up because you're a moron.Second of all, HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO YA'LL! You know, in a previous life your humble host used to work retail. At that time, I absolutely hated the holiday, because you haven't seen the truly dark side of humanity until you've seen people getting into fistfights over a position in line. Those days are long gone, and while we're still besieged by horrific stories every so often on the news (including the sad case of a Wal-Mart worker getting trampled to death), overall, I think the recession has led to one very underpublicized benefit - the calming of the whole Christmas mania. While Halloween is my favorite holiday, I'm a big fan of Christmas, as well, and therefore we celebrate the International Horror Registry with a few Yuletide-themed horror movies (of which there are plenty).
To wit - the original, unexpurgated, 1974 edition of "Black Christmas." I just watched this movie for the first time two weeks ago, and it's already getting the IHR nod due to its historical significance. I will forever maintain that Sean S. Cunningham's original "Friday the 13th" was the first true slasher film, as it was the first horror film where the focus was clearly on the killings and their extremely gory details. But there were definitely films that helped pave the way for Jason's Momma - 1978's "Halloween," for starters, along with Mario Bava's "Twitch of the Death Nerve"...and this movie. Some film historians even cite "Black Christmas" as the first slasher film, and while I wouldn't go THAT far (it's a little light on the red stuff to gain that distinction, in my book), it's certainly a very influential flick that a lot of future films owe their existence to.
The story of the movie, as it is, is really template slasher film. A group of sorority girls - Jess (Olivia Hussey) and Barb (Margot Kidder) being the best developed among them - reside in a rather regular-looking house together, and are celebrating the holidays. Near the beginning of the film, our group of central characters have a conversation about the obscene phone calls - believed to be sexually motivated in nature - they have been receiving lately. And, of course, almost on cue, the phone rings, and we hear the voice of Billy for the first time, along with the ominous words "Agnes, it's me, Billy. Don't tell them we did it!"
"Black Christmas," in addition to its main plot of one of my favorite urban legends come to life (the strange caller who turns out to be in the same house as the person terrorized by the calls), has a rather engaging subplot involving Jess and her boyfriend Peter (Keir Dullea). Jess is pregnant with Peter's baby, and the two of them have several talks throughout the film about just what Jess plans to do with the baby. This being 1974, the subject of abortion was a truly controversial topic, and I have to give the film-makers props for showing some balls in what was undeniably seen as just another cheesy popcorn horror film back in its day, and maybe even a little (politics alert) conservative commentary. Yes, folks, Jon "Horror Nerd" Lickness is a conservative and believes slasher films to be cautionary tales against premarital sex regardless of the fact that almost all of the slasher film-makers (Craven, Cunningham, Carpenter etc.) claim that all the fornicators dying in their films were "just a coincidence." Yeah, right, guys.
But, of course, you're not reading this for my political backbiting - you're reading this for the horror-tastic details. And in this regard, "Black Christmas" is some pretty gripping stuff. Billy has little trouble offing all of the principle female characters, but perhaps the best single attribute of this movie is that the stalker/killer is mysterious to the point of being impenetrable. We can surmise that Billy once had a little sister named Agnes, which he may have possibly murdered, and may be re-enacting the crime. Why he chose the sorority house as the site of his Christmas massacre is never explained. Compared to the 2006 remake, which explained EVERYTHING, the "fill in the blanks" background for the original version of "Black Christmas" is very refreshing.
This is far from a perfect movie. The ending is a little hackneyed and rushed, and while Kidder is excellent in her supporting role (she went on to be a big star in the Christopher Reeve "Superman" movies for a reason), Hussey is pretty wooden in the principle heroine role, as is "2001"'s Dullea as Peter. I believe that every great slasher film needs an equally great heroine, and the main character in this film is a bit of a let-down. Still, for one of the best Christmas-themed horror films of all time, you can't go wrong with this one, and there's no better movie to pop in the ol' DVD player on Christmas Eve night when you're sick of the "Christmas Story" marathon.
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