Black Christmas

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4:04

Black Christmas

R

1974

1h 38m

Holiday

Horror

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

72%

Tomatometer

46 Reviews

76%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

As winter break begins, a group of sorority sisters, including Jess (Olivia Hussey) and the often inebriated Barb (Margot Kidder), begin to receive anonymous, lascivious phone calls. Initially, Barb eggs the caller on, but stops when he responds threateningly. Soon, Barb's friend Clare (Lynne Griffin) goes missing from the sorority house, and a local adolescent girl is murdered, leading the girls to suspect a serial killer is on the loose. But no one realizes just how near the culprit is.

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Critics Consensus

The rare slasher with enough intelligence to wind up the tension between bloody outbursts, Black Christmas offers fiendishly enjoyable holiday viewing for genre fans.

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Anton Bitel

Little White Lies

11/13/2017

Made at a time when there were as yet no fixed rules for the slasher subgenre, here anything goes, and the survival of neither virgin nor even final girl comes guaranteed.

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Variety Staff

Variety

12/27/2006

Only Marian Waldman as the house-mother comes across with any life.

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Time Out

06/24/2006

The film still manages a good slice of old-fashioned suspense.

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Arthur Steele

Birmingham Mail

Jan 15

It actually generates a real feeling of fear.

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Patrick Cavanaugh

The Wolfman Cometh

Sep 12

4/5

Just as frightening and anxiety-inducing as it was when it was first released, thanks in large part to the charisma of the ensemble cast.

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Gayle Sequeira

Inverse

Aug 26

“Silent Night” plays over the opening credits of Black Christmas, a cruel punchline for a film in which a group of women are plagued by a landline's repeated ringing — phone calls from a pervert — and any silence is eventually shattered by their screams.

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Carlos I

@carlosFibarra Jan 5

Bob Clark’s 1974 masterpiece Black Christmas is a masterclass in atmospheric dread, utilizing chilling POV shots and a truly unsettling soundscape to redefine the genre. This stood as my favorite movie for a time, so to say this is the granddaddy and my favorite of Christmas horror films is an understatement; it effectively laid the blueprint for the slasher movement while maintaining a level of sophisticated tension that many of its successors lacked. By blending a bleak, wintry aesthetic with a genuinely terrifying mystery, it remains the definitive holiday nightmare that proves some gifts are better left unopened.

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dyana

@dydy127 Dec 25

okay movie, policeman reminded me of Zac Efron ngl

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Jason H

Dec 20

A true horror classic, and one of my favorite Xmas movies.

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Ash P

@AshParth Dec 16

Overall, this was a good feminist horror Christmas movie that I was glad that I'd checked out. Sure, it's not perfect with some of my gripes. However, the atmosphere and the themes keep the movie going with a likable cast of characters and the buildup for what it delivers. It works when you get older and come out of your comfort zone with something that you'd despised in your young'un days. Worth checking out if you're interested in a different kind of Christmas horror movie. I will give the 1974 Black Christmas movie seven suffocated body on a rocking chair with the plastic bag still over her head out of ten. 7/10. Well, with this one out of the way. Time to look into the remakes.

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Daniel R.

@DansTomatoes Dec 14

A perfect holiday horror gem. It's amazing that it's been overlooked for so many years. Black Christmas is pure character-driven with terror, slow dread, and emotion, mixed with the holiday.

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Lucifer M

Dec 11

Whenever someone asks me, "what’s your favorite Bob Clark film? Lemme guess; A Christmas Story…" I say "nope; Black Christmas!" They look at me as if I was the slasher himself. This classic is an annual tradition in my family since I was a kid. Gotta love having horror fans as parents!

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Bob Clark

Director

Olivia Hussey

Jessica Bradford

Margot Kidder

Barbie Coard

Keir Dullea

Peter Smythe

John Saxon

Lt. Ken Fuller

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Black Christmas: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

As winter break begins, a group of sorority sisters, including Jess (Olivia Hussey) and the often inebriated Barb (Margot Kidder), begin to receive anonymous, lascivious phone calls. Initially, Barb eggs the caller on, but stops when he responds threateningly. Soon, Barb's friend Clare (Lynne Griffin) goes missing from the sorority house, and a local adolescent girl is murdered, leading the girls to suspect a serial killer is on the loose. But no one realizes just how near the culprit is.

Director: Bob Clark
Producer: Bob Clark
Screenwriter: Roy Moore
Distributor: Eclectic DVD Distribution, Warner Home Vídeo, Warner Bros.
Production Co: Film Funding Ltd. of Canada, Famous Players, August Films, Vision IV, Canadian Film Development Corporation (CFDC)
Rating: R
Genre: Holiday, Horror
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 20, 1974, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 13, 2016
Runtime: 1h 38m
Sound Mix: Mono
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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