When i first saw the film ‘Black Christmas’ (1974) i knew it would be one of my favorite films of all time. It has remained one of my favorites to this day.
The film surrounds a sorority house being terrorized by an anonymous killer. This killer is frivolously knocking off the sorority sisters one by one, but that is not the only plot in the story. Simultaneously Olivia Hussey’s character, Jess, is dealing with an unwanted pregnancy and weighing her decisions much to her boyfriends discontent. I do not think this is the first film to use the camera as the ‘killer’ , only letting you see through the killers gaze and their face, but it is certainly the most effective use of this tecnique i have seen. The brilliance of this tecnique is that it proclaims that you, audience member, are the killer. Instead of locking into an instant alliance with the young & beautiful final girl of the film the audience member is identifying with the villian and heroine at the same time. You, as an audience memeber, are realizing the film through the eyes of the killer, and camera, making any connection with morality near impossible.
The film is laced with gortequley beautiful match on action shots. For example the shot of claire in the attic with plasitic wrap over her face turns into a shot of the frosty glass on the front door. Another wonderful aspect of this film is director Bob Clark’s understanding of angles. Whether its Barb getting stabbed in her bed or Claire being suffocated by the plastic wrap, the angles choosen for film create a most realistic and terrifying image for the viewer. The use of the phone is most likely not the first, but very well done. Scream (1996) borrowed alot from this film in terms of Clark’s use of the phone as an intorduction to the killer. The girls initially sense “danger” when they keep getting obscene phone calls that sound like choir of people action out a scene. The voice(s) on the other end are saying some of the most disgusting, threatening, frightening words and while some of the girls (Barb) give him a piece of their minds, the other girls (Claire, Jess) are very aggitated and concerned. The phone becomes a character, the girls interact with it, and it is a huge focal point of the first 20 minutes of the film.
The tag line of the film is “If this film doesnt make your skin crawl, its on too tight.” Brilliant. The movie is visually jarring and disrupting, but simultaneously gorgeous in its composure.
