Black Christmas Review

Written by: RyHo Magnifico   

Where's Agnes, Billy?  This film was one of the forerunners of the horror genre.  Last House on the Left may have blown people away in 1972 but this film did no less.

Directed by Bob Clark and filmed in Canada, this movie really instills one of the most upsetting, dark, and certainly shocking of feelings in whoever watches it.  It works on the old urban legend.  The babysitter is in the house, she gets a phone call.  Turns out, the caller... was in the house.  Clark and co., however, take that to a whole new level in Black Christmas.

Filmed in 1974, BC broke the mould and pushed the envelope just a little further than people were used to with such moments as Margot Kidder joking about fellatio or two turtles screwing.  Most disturbing, however, is the calls left by the movie's psycho, Billy.

The movie is centered around a sororiety house during the Christmas holidays.  They receive obscene phonecalls from an unknown pervert.  These calls are horrific, to say the least.  Not only does the caller, later to be known as Billy, make some pretty crude statements about female genitalia, he also seems to have a knack for speaking in different pitches.  It almost sounds like he's speaking in tongues, and having conversations with himself.  I'm telling you, watch this movie alone in the dark and try and tell me you don't get a chill down your spine from these calls.

After the sororiety girls notice one of the friends has gone missing all hell breaks loose as it's discovered that there is a killer in the town, and no one is safe.

Although the kills aren't all that gruesome in the film, not to mention few and far between, in 1974 this really was one of the more shocking films.  Not until maybe 1978, with Halloween, would we find something must more disturbing.  An interesting trick to the film, as well, is that you never see the killer.  The most you glimpse is one of his eyes, but filled with lunacy it bores into your gut and really makes you cringe.  For the most part whenever Billy is on screen, you see from his point of view, which was a risky move on Bob Clark's part, but one that worked well. 

With the maniacal Billy, sorting out his troubled past, the dark and menacing scenes within the old sororiety house, and the amazing acting from the likes of Olivia Hussey and John Saxon, this movie is really a blockbuster in terms of horror.  It should be a prerequesite for all horror fans to watch, in my opinion, right up there with Friday the 13th, Halloween and Night of the Living Dead.  I'm giving it an 8 out of 10.  It really is worth the watch people, you will agree.  This movie is a classic and has cult following and is sure to scare.  Lates.