Five decades on, the icy grip of a pioneering horror film still holds fast. For one writer, the original 1974 slasher Black Christmas is a festive fixture that lingers, not with joy, but with a profound and lasting sense of dread.
The Simple, Chilling Premise of a Horror Pioneer
Released in the early 1970s, Black Christmas follows a group of sorority sisters who begin receiving obscene and threatening phone calls from an unknown man. The situation escalates far beyond a nasty prank as the women are stalked and hunted within their own seemingly safe sorority house. The genius of the plot, as the film reveals, is that the killer is terrifyingly close all along.
The film's power lies in its masterful simplicity. It opens with deceptively cheerful scenes: a large, welcoming home adorned with twinkling Christmas lights, while a choir sings carols nearby. This festive calm is brutally subverted. The audience soon realises they are viewing the house from the killer's perspective, hearing his faint breathing and the crunch of his footsteps in the snow as he approaches the front door.
"It’s a masterclass in slow-burn suspense," the writer notes. "You know terror is looming from that very first shot. When the first body appears, the payoff is devastating." The film toys with horror conventions but feels blunt and direct, avoiding the cheap scares that would later plague the genre.
Unforgettable Performances and a Landmark Ending
The film is elevated by standout performances that defied the typical 'damsel in distress' trope. Olivia Hussey brings a compelling vulnerability to her role as Jess, the film's protagonist. Meanwhile, Margot Kidder delivers a breath of fresh air as the fiercely ballsy Barb, who brashly dismisses the obscene caller.
However, it is the film's audacious and ambiguous ending that cemented its status as a classic. After a night of extreme trauma, Jess lies resting on a bed. The police have just deduced that the killer only calls after each murder. In the film's final, chilling moments, the attic door creaks open and the phone begins to ring once more. The screen then cuts to an exterior shot of the house, its festive decorations starkly contrasting with the pitch-black darkness seen through every window.
"An overwhelming sense of fear washed over me," the writer recalls of the ending. "To end on such an ominous, unresolved note was incredibly ambitious for a horror film in 1974, when the genre was still defining itself. We are left only to guess at Jess's fate."
A Lasting Legacy: Proof That Less is More
As Black Christmas marks its 50th anniversary, its influence is undeniable. It arrived early enough to avoid cliché and instead helped create the blueprint for countless slashers that followed, including the likes of Halloween. The film proves that horror doesn't require elaborate gimmicks or excessive gore.
"Sometimes a well-paced, minimalist story and sheer suspense are all you need to create a timeless classic," the writer concludes. "Black Christmas is a potent reminder that in horror, less is often so much more." The film remains available to stream for UK audiences on Tubi and Amazon Prime Video, ready to haunt a new generation of viewers.
