It may not be the scariest horror movie ever made but BLACK CHRISTMAS (1974) is pretty damned chilling in its own way and watching it makes you yearn for simpler times. A feeling of nostalgia informs this film which helped give birth to the modern day slasher movie. In fact, watching it is like seeing a baby take it's very first steps.
The baby is actually us, circa 1974. BLACK CHRISTMAS functions as a window into the 70's - when sexual liberation was becoming more commonplace. The daughters of the 70's and their jackass boyfriends were about to get what society felt was coming to them. They were venturing out into a world of greater sexual freedom. They experimented with drugs. They fought to maintain freedom of speech as well as freedom over their own bodies and minds. They entered this very adult world only to find psycho killers waiting for them in their bedrooms and basements. If only we could call out to them and warn them to go back, tell them not to go in that room or go back to check on their roommates or that damned cat they hear off-screen. But we can't do that can we? Kids have to learn for themselves.
Watching Margo Kidder (sorority girl "Barbie") read porno mags and talk alcoholic potty mouth smack while the father of her missing roommate stands nearby is a thing of beauty. The father represents society and Margo represents our baser, more honest and somewhat rough impulses. Dad can rather stiffly chide the sorority's den mother (a terrifically funny Marian Waldman) but his griping doesn't amount to much. His daughter is already dead and covered in a plastic bag in the attic. Dad's ability to control his surroundings is nil. Not much could be done to restrict the behavior of his daughter's generation. They were bound to go out and experience all the freedom the world had to offer. The grotesqueries that would follow in coming decades (AIDS, bigger and more powerful STD's and super viruses, and most importantly the realization that the establishment would ultimately win) make the naivete of BLACK CHRISTMAS so charming to experience, and scary to watch. This movie didn't even know what it was really about. It was the genesis, the birth of what was to come. It was so pure and that is why it is such a kick to watch today.
The cast includes a reliable and very "human" John Saxon as the police chief, Olivia Hussey as the heroine, Keir Dullea as her "did he do it or didn't he" boyfriend and its also nice to see a pre-SCTV Andrea Martin playing Hussey's nerdy sorority gal pal. Bob Clark directed (what an interesting and varied career he had, R.I.P.).
BLACK CHRISTMAS inspired and informed When A Stranger Calls and John Carpenter's Halloween in ways that will become obvious when you see it. The film takes a while to get going and it ends rather quickly once things do gel but it's very clever and very tightly constructed.
Oh, and let's not forget the early use of creepy-killer p.o.v. cam. or that terrifying shot of the killer's eye seen through the door frame of Margo Kidder's bedroom door.
Don't forget to lock up the house. You might also want to tear down that trellis leading to your bedroom window. And by all means, keep it in your pants will you...if you don't want a killer to come calling.