***Historical slasher with John Saxon, Olivia Hussey and Margot Kidder*** It’s the Christmas season at a sorority house in the Northeast wherein an ambiguous psycho hiding in the attic makes crank calls to the girls and slays them one-by-one. John Saxon plays the local detective. “Black Christmas” (1974) obviously influenced “Halloween” (1978), e.g. the closet scene, but was influenced itself by psycho…

Black Christmas is what happens when a director decides to make a slasher but also decides to make a good movie. Each character has a purpose. By that, I don't mean simply to drive the plot along. Each character is a person, and they each have their own unique personalities and motivations. Barb isn't just the drunk and morally abrasive stereotype; she's driven by her jealousy and likely by issues from her…

One of only two films in my adult life to have been in any way involved in giving me a sense of genuine fear. _Final rating: ★★★½ - I strongly recommend you make the time._

Black Christmas decorates traditional festivities with blood, suffocation and disturbing phone calls. Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas! And have a slashin’ good time! The slasher sub-genre was most proficient during the mid-to-late 70s, with ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’, ‘Halloween’ and a plethora of spicy Argento features to add a worldly aesthetic. However, one film that innovated the tropes and traits commonly found in…