Black Christmas (1974)
Directed by Bob Clark
Clark’s other Yuletide classic is a giddy original of the slasher sub-genre (no BB guns here). Drawing from giallo and urban legend, Clark and screenwriter A. Roy Moore crafted an atmosphere of vulnerability and faceless dread, four years before Halloween made its landmark debut. But unlike its successors, Black Christmas adds comedy to the mix, lightening the mood just as the terror settles in. Up to his old tricks, “the moaner” harasses Margot Kidder (fun as an earthy lush) and the rest of the motley ladies of Pi Kappa Sig, phoning in during the holidays with more obscene calls. But everything changes when the “the moaner” climbs into their attic in an eerie POV scene. Close to home and Christmas time, some girls start to go missing. Jeremy Polacek (Dec 5, 6, midnight at the Nitehawk)