Anyone else a fan of this? It seems to be a timely topic for this time of year..the 2006 was abominable except for all the hotties in the cast. The original is so much better and stands up well even now. The added spice to this film is that we never see the killer and he's never caught..
This predated HALLOWEEN and all the other slasher flicks that would follow by a few years in the US.
Genuinely creepy even now, this warrants a look if you havent seen it..
This was made by Bob Clark who was also responsible for such fare as CHILDREN SHOULDNT PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS(itself an overlooked gem), PORKY'S, and A CHRISTMAS STORY..
Yes, I am. Some say Psycho was the first slasher film, and I think that's true, but the first slasher in the form we know it today was Black Christmas. It does hold up well, and well worth seeing.
I never realized it was made by the same guy who did Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things... another classic!
He also directed DEATHDREAM (a movie I like a lot) and MURDER BY DECREE, and he produced DERANGED. He was quite the horror impresario in the 70s.
I watched it a couple of months ago (first time in 20 years) and was surprised not that it "held up," but how much of it I remembered.
I saw Deathdream for the first time about a year and a half ago (on a double feature with Joe Dante's Homecoming) and thought it was a great piece of low budget horror.
I saw it in the theatre when it was first released.(Yes I am THAT old !!)
Sorry to say I've never seen this, but am a huge fan of the mentioned "Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things." This Christmas has been pretty "black" with all the monster icon's deaths this year.
I love Black Christmas... a genuinely creepy thriller. Haven't seen the remake, and don't plan to.
I watched the remake of this yesterday as I had already viewed the original a few days ago. The only thing that the remake had going for it was the all the female eye-candy. Otherwise, the story was reworked quite horribly and there really wasnt any of the suspense and outright creepiness that made the original so memorable..
If you want to see this film, stick with the '74 original!
I am also a fan of Bob Clark's "Black Christmas". It has genuine suspense, great camera shots, and a creepy story that that has a great ending. Highly recommended!
However, "Silent Night, Bloody Night" predates this classic by a year and you can see the influence this classic had on favorites such as Black Christmas, Halloween and countless other lesser slasher movies. If you haven't yet, check out this creepy gothic thriller.
Lastly, I am also a fan of Clark's "Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things". Great campy zombie fun with Alan Ormsby, author of my favorite childhood monster book "Movie Monsters"!
Happy Holidays!
Quote from: BaronLatos35 on December 26, 2008, 09:11:46 PM
Great campy zombie fun with Alan Ormsby, author of my favorite childhood monster book "Movie Monsters"!
Sorry to get off topic for a minute here but that was my favorite as well. I got lucky and found a copy at a used book store a couple of years ago for $1.50.
Back to Black Christmas, I don't plan on watching the remake but I absolutely loved the original. Not only was it a great movie but there were some familiar locales as well (I did my undergrad degree at U of Toronto where all the college scenes were filmed).