Post by tav7623 on Apr 30, 2010 16:00:06 GMT -5
Hey everyone it's tav and I’m back with another movie review, this week’s review is of the 1974 cult classic Canadian horror film Black Christmas (available on Netflix Instant Watch) which was written by Roy Moore, directed by future A Christmas Story and Porky’s director Bob Clark, and stars future Lois Lane actress Margot Kidder (who is playing against type in this film), Andrea Martin who was the only cast member of the original film to comeback for the universally hated remake where she plays the role of the sorority mother Mrs. Mac, Olivia Hussey (yes you read that right her last name is Hussey), 2001: A Space Odyssey’s Keir Dellea, and finally genre vet John Saxon who is best known for his role as Nancy’s Father in three of the seven Nightmare on Elm Street films (Parts 1,3, and New Nightmare) and who also starred in Enter The Dragon where he played the arrogant white guy martial artist Roper, Dario Argento’s Tenebre, and Robert Rodriguez’s From Dusk Till Dawn. The plot of Black Christmas revolves around a sorority house being terrorized by an unseen killer during Christmas break that calls the house’s main phone usually after committing each murder and says nasty obscene things to the sorority sister who picks up the phone. This film is considered to be the influence behind John Carpenter’s Halloween (there’s a funny story Clark told during interviews where he meets John Carpenter who asks him about making Black Christmas and if he was going to do a sequel, Clark’s response "No, I don't intend to I'm not here to make horror films, I'm using horror films to get myself established. If I was going to do one, though, I would do a movie a year later where the killer escapes from an asylum on Halloween, and I would call it Halloween."…..though Clark would go on to clarify that Carpenter was already writing Halloween and that he had already settled on that as the title of his film), and a precursor to the slasher sub genre in that it contains moments that would become staples of the sub genre in later years.
Pros: Margot Kidder playing against type as the vicious drunken bitch Barbra (she even pulls a prank on a cop giving him a number that spells out fellatio aka penis…..and the poor dumb bastard doesn’t realize it until John Saxon’s character Lt. Fuller points it out to him), has elements that would become staples of the genre such as the killer’s POV shot, the methodical stalking and killing of the sorority girls one by one, and the whole the killer is calling you from within the house bit, there is a few comedic/funny jokes and moments scattered throughout the film to help even things out when things get too dramatic or boring.
Cons: The film is a bit slow in places, parts of this film hasn’t aged well particularly the POV shots which features one of the first steadicamesque rigs which was built by cameraman Albert J. Dunk (They did not call it a Steadicam and officially the Steadicam was made and patented in 1976 three years after Black Christmas was made by cameraman Garret Brown and was first officially used in Bound For Glory and then Rocky) and it shows. Also this film has a subplot dedicated to abortion (one of the girls is pregnant and wants to get an abortion, but the boyfriend/father of the child is completely against it……also this film was released one year after the Roe v. Wade supreme court decision) which makes it seem a bit preachy/unnecessarily forced into the fore front of the story to kill some time before moving on.
Overall I give this film a 7 out of 10 for being a fun (there are quite a few funny little jokes and moments littered throughout the film like the prank Margot Kidder’s character pulls on the cop Nash, Mrs. Macs numerous booze stashes ( I think the house was used in an episode of Scooby Doo), has one of the worst Santa Clause’s since The Ref and Billy Bob Thornton's Bad Santa in that he cusses and drinks loudly in front of young kids without hesitation…in fact in the same scene Margot Kidder’s character gives one of the little kids a sip of her alcoholic drink, and one of the dumbest cops (Officer Nash) on film), but somewhat slow paced slasher film that has an interesting ensemble cast that would move on to bigger and better roles as well as being one of the first films alongside Psycho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Peeping Tom to influence future slasher films. The only downside beside the slow pace is the somewhat preachy abortion sub plot and the ugly Steadicam/POV shots used in the first half of the film. I would recommend this film to anyone who is interested in seeing the early slasher films that influenced future slasher classics such as
Halloween, Friday The 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream, Silent Night Deadly Night, My Bloody Valentine, The House on Sorority Row, Terror Train, etc.
Well I hope you enjoyed my review of Black Christmas, let me know what you think, and I'll be back next week with a new review which will probably keep with my current trend of reviewing movies that are available through netflix instant watch.
Pros: Margot Kidder playing against type as the vicious drunken bitch Barbra (she even pulls a prank on a cop giving him a number that spells out fellatio aka penis…..and the poor dumb bastard doesn’t realize it until John Saxon’s character Lt. Fuller points it out to him), has elements that would become staples of the genre such as the killer’s POV shot, the methodical stalking and killing of the sorority girls one by one, and the whole the killer is calling you from within the house bit, there is a few comedic/funny jokes and moments scattered throughout the film to help even things out when things get too dramatic or boring.
Cons: The film is a bit slow in places, parts of this film hasn’t aged well particularly the POV shots which features one of the first steadicamesque rigs which was built by cameraman Albert J. Dunk (They did not call it a Steadicam and officially the Steadicam was made and patented in 1976 three years after Black Christmas was made by cameraman Garret Brown and was first officially used in Bound For Glory and then Rocky) and it shows. Also this film has a subplot dedicated to abortion (one of the girls is pregnant and wants to get an abortion, but the boyfriend/father of the child is completely against it……also this film was released one year after the Roe v. Wade supreme court decision) which makes it seem a bit preachy/unnecessarily forced into the fore front of the story to kill some time before moving on.
Overall I give this film a 7 out of 10 for being a fun (there are quite a few funny little jokes and moments littered throughout the film like the prank Margot Kidder’s character pulls on the cop Nash, Mrs. Macs numerous booze stashes ( I think the house was used in an episode of Scooby Doo), has one of the worst Santa Clause’s since The Ref and Billy Bob Thornton's Bad Santa in that he cusses and drinks loudly in front of young kids without hesitation…in fact in the same scene Margot Kidder’s character gives one of the little kids a sip of her alcoholic drink, and one of the dumbest cops (Officer Nash) on film), but somewhat slow paced slasher film that has an interesting ensemble cast that would move on to bigger and better roles as well as being one of the first films alongside Psycho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Peeping Tom to influence future slasher films. The only downside beside the slow pace is the somewhat preachy abortion sub plot and the ugly Steadicam/POV shots used in the first half of the film. I would recommend this film to anyone who is interested in seeing the early slasher films that influenced future slasher classics such as
Halloween, Friday The 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream, Silent Night Deadly Night, My Bloody Valentine, The House on Sorority Row, Terror Train, etc.
Well I hope you enjoyed my review of Black Christmas, let me know what you think, and I'll be back next week with a new review which will probably keep with my current trend of reviewing movies that are available through netflix instant watch.