For me this is the film that is the first true slasher. It has all the tropes: a holiday, pov of the killer, a killer whose face we never see, sex, a final girl and butchering innocents for no expressed reason.
Black Christmas is a very effective film and is a telling of the old legend of an ominous prank caller in one's own house. Bob Clark directed this and he got it right.
The plot should be well known by now. I won't spend much time on it, but I love how this film ends with the police taking Jess to an upstairs bedroom to recuperate from her boyfriend who she believes is the killer. He's not and the poor bastard is killed because of this misunderstanding. Jess is resting on a bed. Mr Harrison, father of one of the sorority house girls, has fainted and is taken to a hospital. The camera never breaks frame. We see Jess lying in bed. Off camera we hear the commotion of the police and other officials milling about their business. Eventually an officer turns off the bedroom light in the room where Jess is resting. Camera never breaks frame. Then the house is silent. Evidently the officers have vacated the house thinking all is settled and well. The camera now pans right to a vacant bedroom where Barb was murdered. We see a sheetless mattress with bloodstains, still the camera pans right. Another bedroom; here we see a suitcase packed at the foot of a made bed. Camera pans right to the end of the hall. We see a wall ladder leading to the attic. Camera settles here. Suddenly we see a faint shifting of movement in the attic and a light. Now we are in the attic. We see Clare dead with a plastic bag over her face in a rocking chair. We see Mrs Mac, the house mother, dead swinging on a grab hook; we hear a voice 'it's me Billy'. Camera pans outside away from house. A serene scene. Night sky, Christmas lights, a lone police officer milling about outside the house, suddenly we hear a phone ring and ring. Credits roll.
Very effective and creepy ending. The antagonist is never caught. The case isn't settled, but the actors think it is. Bravo, well done, that's how tension and horror are produced in a film.
Black Christmas is a very effective film and is a telling of the old legend of an ominous prank caller in one's own house. Bob Clark directed this and he got it right.
The plot should be well known by now. I won't spend much time on it, but I love how this film ends with the police taking Jess to an upstairs bedroom to recuperate from her boyfriend who she believes is the killer. He's not and the poor bastard is killed because of this misunderstanding. Jess is resting on a bed. Mr Harrison, father of one of the sorority house girls, has fainted and is taken to a hospital. The camera never breaks frame. We see Jess lying in bed. Off camera we hear the commotion of the police and other officials milling about their business. Eventually an officer turns off the bedroom light in the room where Jess is resting. Camera never breaks frame. Then the house is silent. Evidently the officers have vacated the house thinking all is settled and well. The camera now pans right to a vacant bedroom where Barb was murdered. We see a sheetless mattress with bloodstains, still the camera pans right. Another bedroom; here we see a suitcase packed at the foot of a made bed. Camera pans right to the end of the hall. We see a wall ladder leading to the attic. Camera settles here. Suddenly we see a faint shifting of movement in the attic and a light. Now we are in the attic. We see Clare dead with a plastic bag over her face in a rocking chair. We see Mrs Mac, the house mother, dead swinging on a grab hook; we hear a voice 'it's me Billy'. Camera pans outside away from house. A serene scene. Night sky, Christmas lights, a lone police officer milling about outside the house, suddenly we hear a phone ring and ring. Credits roll.
Very effective and creepy ending. The antagonist is never caught. The case isn't settled, but the actors think it is. Bravo, well done, that's how tension and horror are produced in a film.