Canadian Horror Marathon: Black Christmas (1974)

A common theme in many movies to juxtapose a horrific event with something that isn’t horrific.  This can come in many forms including: an action sequence with a slow, emotional song; a birth with violence; or deaths on a holiday.  Each of these can help to give the idea that something terrible can happen at any time, in any place, and to any person.

Black Christmas takes advantage of this kind of contrast by setting a series of violent murders on a holiday that is normally seen as peaceful and cheery.  People say “Merry Christmas” all the time when it’s near Christmas time.  You don’t normally think about gruesome death when you think about Christmas.  Unless, of course, you’re thinking about Jesus on the cross, or a horror movie such as Black Christmas that takes place during the holiday.

The director, Bob Clark, knew that this was the case when he made the movie.  He chose the name Black Christmas because he liked how ironic it was for a festive time like the time around Christmas to be when such a morbid situation would occur.

Gremlins takes a similar sort of approach, albeit with some comedy added.  A small town Christmas being positioned against the outbreak of small, evil creatures overtaking everything helps to build the tension in the movie.  What more could you ask for as a viewer?

Tension is the heart of a horror movie.  It is the heart of Black Christmas.  It is the heart of Gremlins.  What better way is there to build tension than to set horrific events in a time where they don’t belong?  Having something unexpected happening at a time that it wouldn’t be expected makes the viewer tenser than they already were.  That’s my opinion, at least.

I don’t have too much more to say.  I’m treading water.  I have been treading water since the third paragraph.  You’ve read that.  I didn’t have too much to say about Black Christmas that hasn’t been said seven million times already.  Here comes a quick paragraph describing everything that I could have talked about but decided to gloss over.

Black Christmas is one of the first movies of the slasher subgenre and has helped influence others through various ways.  This is one of the first movies to use the call coming from inside the house plot point.  You never see too much of the killer.  You see hands, feet, and one eye.  It was remade in 2006.

There are a few other smaller things that could be said but they don’t really matter.  I’m done writing for this one.  It’s a solid movie.  I really had nothing interesting to say about it.  Oh well.  You can’t always get what you want.

Next up in the Canadian Horror Marathon is going to be Prom Night (1980).  I’ve seen it before, I think.  I’m pretty sure I enjoyed it.  I hope I enjoy it again.  And that’s all I have to say about that.