Tuesday, December 28, 2021

Black Christmas (1973)

IMDb plot summary: During their Christmas break, a group of sorority girls are stalked by a stranger.
Directed by Bob Clark. Starring Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea, and Margot Kidder.

Black Christmas is a very early slasher movie about a sorority house that is getting obscene phone calls... and then its members start being murdered, one by one. This one took me a little bit to get into, but once it hooked me, WHOO did it hook me! Its exceptionally low budget is reflected in the audio and video quality of the film, but it's paced beautifully, and I love the fact that since various characters are leaving to go on holiday break, the murders mostly go unnoticed until nearly the end of the film. I also, without spoiling anything, absolutely adore the film's ending. It's handled so perfectly and is so unsettling but so well done. It's fascinating to see the moments that clearly went on to inspire others in the slasher genre, that became established tropes, and see how they could still be effective in this early film as well. It does take a little suspension of disbelief and a willingness to buy into the film despite its sketchy technical quality, but I absolutely get why this took off and I'm glad I finally got the push to watch it!

How it entered my Flickchart:
Black Christmas > Hustle & Flow
Black Christmas > Chronicle
Black Christmas < Crimes and Misdemeanors
Black Christmas > Evil
Black Christmas < A Streetcar Named Desire
Black Christmas < Days of Wine and Roses
Black Christmas < Philomena
Black Christmas > Hollywood Ending
Black Christmas < Casualties of War
Black Christmas > The Great Race
Black Christmas > Coherence
Black Christmas > Lolita (1962)
Final spot: #637 out of #3503, or 82%.

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