Welcome to The Attic, don’t answer the phone.

A friend once messaged me asking what I recommended for a horror movie to show his girlfriend around Christmas. Without hesitation, I replied ‘Black Christmas.’ When it comes to horror, Christmas isn’t the most popular setting. However that doesn’t lessen how good this Canadian independent film is.

Movie poster with the alternate title “Silent Night, Evil Night”

Released in 1974, Black Christmas was produced and directed by none other than Bob Clark, who served as producer, director, and writer to the hilarious classic, A Christmas Story, almost ten years later. It is largely considered to be one of the first true slasher films and also features two future horror icons. One is John Saxon, who would later play Nancy’s father in A Nightmare On Elm Street. The other is Margot Kidder, who would also go on to star in a classic film, The Amityville Horror, opposite James Brolin.

Black Christmas was both inspired by the urban legend “the babysitter” and a string of murders that actually took place around Christmas. A sorority house becomes the target of obscene prank phone calls. Most of them don’t think much of it until one of the girls goes missing. When her father arrives at the house to ask about her whereabouts, the other girls and housemother contact the police. They don’t take it seriously at first, assuming the girl must be off with her boyfriend. But once he too arrives at the station, angrily demanding they look for her, the force decides to treat this as a missing person case and a search party is organized. While looking for the young woman, they sadly find a little girl, murdered, in the park. The lead in this movie is Jess, who is struggling not only with the terrifying events around them, but also with the recent news that she is pregnant. Her boyfriend, Peter, finds out that she wants to have an abortion, and he is livid with her. This definitely adds another dimension to the film, not to mention a possible suspect, as the caller begins to mention “the baby” to Jess when she answers the phone.

The neighborhood search grows, and more women in the house go missing, unbeknownst to the others. The calls become more gruesome in nature with screams in the background, and more personal as the caller continues to use Jessica’s pregnancy to taunt her. Is the caller her boyfriend? Finally the cops are able to trace the phone calls, and the conclusion is what you see coming all along. Yet another wrench is thrown in at the end, and you’re left on the edge of your seat. This movie isn’t the scariest you’ll ever see, but it is original for its time. And if you’re looking for something creepy while others are watching Frosty and Rudolph, Black Christmas is the way to go.

Stay scared,
Dark Princess

Just a heads up, next week (the 29th) The Attic will be on holiday hiatus. However When I return for January 5th I may have a VERY awesome surprise… stay tuned and Happy Holidays!

Also, be sure and visit the Attic forum post here to leave some input on Black Christmas or any other scary festive movies!