Friday, November 26, 2010

It Came From Netflix: Black Christmas (1974)

 By Eric Polk, host of The Audio Descent podcast
Ahh yes, it's the most wonderful time of the year. Time to kick back,relax, imbibe in egg nog, and watch your favorite yuletide cinema. Up first, it's the prototype slasher film, Black Christmas. Directed by Bob Clark(Yes, kids, the same Bob Clark who directed Porky's and A Christmas Story), this film starts out at a sorority Christmas party thrown by Ms. Lois Lane a.k.a Margot Kidder and Norman Bates' mother a.k.a Olivia Hussey.

A maniacal man calls and performs his best Margot Kidder whackjob impersonation which leads one sorority sister to leave. Unfortunately, she never makes out of the attic, and the wacky adventure begins. From there, the remaining bunch try in vein to find their missing sib, but to no avail. Meanwhile, Mr. Killer performs his craft on a few more unsuspecting victims.

An all-star cast led by legendary John Saxon provide this film a solid foundation of good acting. The movie forsakes gore for  good suspense and creepy atmosphere. The killer is way, way over the top, but it can be overlooked since this is the bridge between movies such as Psycho and its English counterpart, Peeping Tom to the original Halloween.

In the pantheon of Christmas-based horror movies, original Black Christmas makes a valid case to claim the #1 position unlike it's flaccid 2006 remake. Check it out! And remember, if this picture doesn't make your skin crawl, IT'S ON TOO TIGHT!

9/10