In a Nutshell. Mini reviews of movies old and new. No fuss. No spoilers. And often no sleep.

Wednesday, 25 December 2024

Black Christmas (1974)

AKA: Silent Night, Evil Night

In terms of holiday horror movies, this one stands at the pantheon. Before John Carpenter brought us Halloween, Bob Clark (not one to confine himself within one genre) gifted us Black Christmas and helped to define the slasher genre as we know it. Taking on a whodunnit angle, a group of sorority girls are stalked by an unknown assailant over the Christmas season. What I love about this film is that it truly feels grim and morbid; there is not a whole lot of 'holiday cheer' that can be bled dry from this. You'd never know this was from the same guy who would go on to bring us the perennial family favorite, A Christmas Story.
One of the rare cult horror films not to warrant a sequel, but it was followed up by two shitty remakes in 2006 and 2019, so I guess it all balances out.

3½ obscene phone calls out of 5

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