It's just under three weeks till Christmas now, which means a lot of you will be looking to watch some festive films to get into the spirit of things. From classics such as It's A Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street, to modern favourites such as Elf and Home Alone, there's an extensive selection of Christmas movies to binge over the coming weeks. However, if the usual jovial Christmas flicks aren't your cup of tea, and you're looking to take a trip to the darker side of festive cinema, then look no further than Black Christmas.
This clever little Canadian slasher flick follows a deranged killer who takes up residence in a sorority house during the holiday season, taunting the residents with obscene phone calls before picking them off one by one. While it may sound a bit derivative in this day and age, when it was first released in 1974 the slasher genre was still only growing. While the likes of Psycho and Peeping Tom had been around for over a decade, and giallo films were flourishing across the pond in Italy, slashers wouldn't fully take off in America until after the release of Halloween in 1978. Not only does this make Black Christmas a little ahead of its time, but it also cements it as a direct influence on John Carpenter's more popular Halloween as well.
Originally written by A. Roy Moore and based on the urban legend of the babysitter and the man upstairs, the script was slightly altered by producers before director, the late Bob Clark, made further alterations to create a more nuanced film that ultimately became Black Christmas. On paper it may seem like your usual formulaic slasher, but in all honesty, Black Christmas is so much more than that. First of all, and this might seem like a no-brainer for a horror film, it's actually scary. A lot of later slashers would rely heavily on gore and to some extent, humour, and while Black Christmas has it's fair share of blood and comedy, it never loses sight of what it really is: a horror film. Clark maintains this consistently ominous atmosphere throughout, using his directorial skills and the sound design in particular, to create this cold, moody tone. The use of POV shots are particularly helpful in establishing this deep sense of dread, putting us behind the killers eyes and allowing us to be aware of his whereabouts despite the fact that our protagonists are not. This is a common trope that would be used endlessly in the slasher genre, but Black Christmas uses it better than them all (sorry Halloween).
Of course no slasher film would be complete without its killer, and the antagonist of Black Christmas is particularly terrifying. Much like John Carpenter when he made Halloween, Bob Clark was firmly in the mindset that less is more, and he could not have been more correct. Throughout the film we watch as the killer communicates with the sorority sisters through phone calls. We hear his abnormal voice, heavy breathing, and foul language, but for the most part we never actually see him. We do catch several glimpses of his silhouette, along with a few shots of his hands and eyes, but apart from that the killer of Black Christmas is relatively unseen, making the inevitable murders all the more impactful. There's a particularly shocking scene in which one of the characters is stabbed to death in her sleep with a glass unicorn, made even more unsettling by the ravenous noises of the unseen killer. What makes this scene truly unnerving however, is the way in which the brutal violence is juxtaposed with the angelic voices of the carol singers outside, performing their rendition of 'O Come All Ye Faithful'. It's a terrifying moment that truly epitomises that contrast between the joy of Christmas, and the lurking terror within the sorority house.
The film further transcends the usual slasher tropes by having an ensemble of well-rounded characters as opposed to a group of disposable individuals. Clark made sure that the characters all felt like real college students, as opposed to the sorority sister stereotype. Our primary protagonist Jess (Olivia Hussey), for example, is a strong-willed and astute young woman, with hopes and aspirations that go beyond boys and partying. Then there is her fellow sorority sister, the hard-drinking Barb played superbly by Margot Kidder. Barb spends most of the film making snarky comments and getting black-out drunk, but again she has this strong sense of independence about her that sets her apart from most supporting slasher girls. Even the house mother Mrs. Mac (Marian Waldman) stands out as her own individual character, another hard-drinker who adds an extra layer of humour to the plot. Each character has their own distinct personality that comes across as more than just a stereotype, and Bob Clark understood how necessary this was in crafting a unique slasher film. It may seem like a minor detail, but giving your characters that added sense of realism is incredibly helpful in raising the overall stakes. It's what makes the ultimate murders hit all that harder.
With it's dark tone and menacing atmosphere, Black Christmas is far from a comedy, yet somehow it manages to have a sharp sense of humour amidst all of the morbidity. Clarke creates this sense of humour that is much in tone with the film, sharp and snarky, never allowing things to feel uneven or off-tone. One of the most iconic jokes from the film involves Kidder's character convincing the gullible Sergeant Nash (Douglas McGrath) that the number of the sorority house is 'fellatio-20880', something that gives John Saxon's character a chuckle later on in the film. Clark pays close attention to dialogue in order to insert some jokes here and there, without going on too much of a slapstick tangent.
Finally, like many early slashers, Black Christmas also deals with some underlying themes beneath all of the horror. One of the most interesting, and one that I feel is still relevant today, is that of motherhood and the way in which Black Christmas approaches it. Early in the film Jess reveals that she is pregnant, but that she wishes to have an abortion, much to the dismay of her boyfriend Peter (2001's Kier Duella). Jess defends her choice, informing Peter that she has her own aspirations in life and does not feel ready to raise a child, highlighting the still ongoing debate surrounding abortion. This underlying theme, along with the more realistic portrayal of women and the maturity of the female characters has made Black Christmas a popular horror film among feminist film critics. Later slashers such as Halloween and A Nightmare on Elm Street would similarly be praised for their 'final girl' motif that is still a common trope in horror cinema. However, I feel like out of all slasher films, Black Christmas is one of most honest and level-headed in its portrayal of women, going beyond the 'final girl' to present a number of well-rounded and independent female characters.
I feel like the influence of Black Christmas is often overlooked in favour of more well known slasher films such as Psycho and the numerous Italian gialli. However, the use of POV shots, the attention to atmosphere, and the general formula were most certainly influences on John Carpenter's Halloween four years later. It's eerie, it's atmospheric, but it's also witty, and has a certain level of maturity that would be lacking in some of its later imitators. Black Christmas is a wonderfully crafted festive chiller whose influence on the slasher genre is not to be ignored. While it remains something of a cult classic, the film was a known favourite of the likes of actor Steve Martin, and even Elvis Presley himself, who supposedly watched it as a tradition every year. So if you're looking for something a little darker to watch this December, I would highly recommend Black Christmas, just be sure to check that there's nobody hiding in your house before you do.
No comments:
Post a Comment