Bob Clark's Other Christmas Story

Remember that horror movie released back in the 1970s that incorporated the name of a famous American holiday into its title? The one that was obviously shot on a low budget and which included scenes shot from the killer's point-of-view? The one that featured a future movie star in its cast?

You know which movie I'm talking about, right?

Bob Clark's 1974 classic Black Christmas.

What? You don't remember Black Christmas?

Okay, that is not surprising. I did not remember Black Christmas either -- and I was alive in the 1970s. Of course, there was another horror film released in December of 1973 that seemed to get the lion's share of media attention. And, of course, the summer of 1975 gave us Jaws -- which definitely eclipsed most of the horror film competition.

Of course, I was only about thirteen when this film came out so it was very unlikely that I would have gone to see it anyway. And there's a good chance that if I did go, I would not appreciate it. The film starts off slow, takes its time telling its story and ends on a rather quiet and ambiguously disturbing note.

At least one movie -- When a Stranger Calls -- and one TV show -- Twin Peaks -- owe a debt to this movie for key plot elements. Indeed, the film seems to deliberately defy the rules followed by more recent slasher movies. Instead of a serial killer with a genius-level IQ, for example, we get a killer who appears to be borderline retarded. Instead of having the first female victim turn out to be a sexually active teenager, the first victim is actually a sorority girl who is described by one of her cattier sorority sisters as a “professional virgin.” Instead of stupidly defying authority, the sorority girls actually do the right thing and call the police at the first sign of trouble. Alas, it does not help them. Even a trap set by the police to catch the killer ends up backfiring.

The only scene that seems all that off is the scene in which the sorority house receives what appears to be an obscene phone call from an unknown caller -- and instead of hanging up on the guy instantly or getting him a quick dose of his own medicine, the girls just hang on the line until the caller has had the chance to creep them all out. Granted, the director was still young and had a lot to establish in that scene. But would a real-life group of sorority girls in that situation have stayed on the phone for that long?

The movie ends with more than a few questions left unanswered. And it is to Mr. Clark's credit that when I had the chance to hear Mr. Clark's answers to these questions on the commentary part of the DVD, I actually did not want to hear them. For that matter, I would have preferred a much happier ending but alas, happy endings were not all that popular among filmmakers in the early 1970s -- which might explain why the one major horror film in the early 1970s that had a happy ending basically stole poor Bob Clark's thunder. Whatever possessed the makers of that movie, I will never know.