Black Christmas
| |
|---|---|
|
Teaser poster | |
| Directed by | Bob Clark |
| Written by | Roy Moore |
| Produced by | Bob Clark |
| Starring | Olivia Hussey / Keir Dullea / Margot Kidder / John Saxon |
| Music by | Carl Zittrer |
| Studio | Film Funding Ltd. / Vision IV / Canadian Film Development Corporation / Famous Players |
| Distributed by | Ambassador Film Distributors / Warner Bros. (United States) |
| Release date(s) | October 11, 1974 (Canada) / December 20, 1974 (United States) |
| Running time | 98 minutes |
| Country | Canada |
| Budget | $686,000 |
| Box office | $4 million |
Black Christmas (also released under the titles Silent Night, Evil Night, and Stranger in the House) is a 1974 Canadian independent slasher film directed by Bob Clark and written by Roy Moore. It stars Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea, Margot Kidder, Andrea Martin, Marian Waldman and John Saxon. The story follows a group of sorority sisters who are stalked and murdered over Christmas vacation by a killer hiding in their sorority house. It was inspired by the urban legend of "The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs", but was also largely based on a series of murders that took place in Quebec, Canada around Christmas time. Black Christmas is generally considered to be one of the first slasher films. Two remakes of the same name were later released, one in 2006, which Clark was involved in before his death, and another in 2019.
Plot[]
An unseen and disoriented man climbs up into the attic of the Pi Kappa Sig sorority house, where the tenants are celebrating with a Christmas party. One of the girls, Jess Bradford, answers an obscene phone call from a mentally unstable man who is implied to call the house regularly. She summons her fellow students into the room, where they listen as the caller screams and curses them on the phone. When one of the girls, foul-mouthed Barb Coard, takes the phone from Jess, she incites the caller, who in turn promises to kill her. Barb argues with a younger student, Clare Harrison, who implies that the caller could be a rapist, before Clare returns to her bedroom to finish packing for Christmas break. The disoriented man lures Clare into her closet, where he suffocates her with a plastic dress bag and carries her body up to the attic.
The following morning, Mr. Harrison arrives at the university to pick up his daughter, but she fails to show up to their agreed meeting place. He quickly makes his way to the sorority house, where the housemother, Mrs. MacHenry, is surprised by Clare's absence. Meanwhile, Jess meets her boyfriend, Peter Smythe, a neurotic music student. She explains she is pregnant and planning to get an abortion, angering Peter, who attempts to intimidate her. In town, Mr. Harrison, accompanied by Barb and one of the other girls, Phyllis Carlson, attempt to report Clare as missing, while Jess quickly tells Clare's boyfriend, Chris Hayden, about Clare's sudden disappearance. They learn that another local girl named Janice Quaife has also seemingly vanished while walking home from band practice at school.
After putting a drunken Barb to bed, Mr. Harrison, Chris, Jess, and Phyllis help search for Janice in a nearby park where she allegedly disappeared, hoping to turn up some sign of Clare. Meanwhile, Mrs. Mac plans to leave for her sister's home, only to be lured up into the attic, where she discovers Clare's body. The killer throws a crane hook into her face, hanging her. In the park, Janice's disfigured body is found by the police and Jess returns home, while the search continues for Clare. Jess answers another obscene phone call and decides to file a report with the police, only for Peter to appear and surprise her. He attempts to persuade her into marriage for the sake of their child, but Jess adamantly refuses. Peter leaves in an emotional state, while Lt. Kenneth Fuller arrives with Bill Graham, a telephone company employee, to bug the telephone.
A group of choir children arrive on the house's stoop to sing Christmas carols, distracting Jess. The killer enters Barb's room and murders her with a glass figurine; Barb's cries for help are drowned out by the singing children. One of the women in charge of the children ushers them away, having learned of Janice's murder. Jess experiences another unnerving phone call, in which the caller restates part of her argument with Peter. Lieutenant Fuller theorizes that Peter could be responsible, due to the caller's knowledge of the argument and his own mental fragility, but Jess doubts this. Moments later, Phyllis enters Barb's room and is ambushed by the killer, who murders her off-screen.
Jess gets another obscene phone call, in which the killer alludes to some sort of transgression between two children named Agnes and Billy. The call is long enough to be traced by Graham, and Sergeant Nash instructs Jess to leave the house immediately, as the calls have been traced to be coming from within the house. Concerned for Barb and Phyllis, Jess arms herself with a poker and ventures upstairs, where she discovers Barb and Phyllis's maimed figures. The killer appears and pursues Jess through the house; Jess locks herself in the basement, only for Peter to appear outside one of the windows. He smashes the window to get to Jess, who proceeds to bludgeon him with the poker, assuming he is the killer.
The police arrive moments later, alerted by Jess's screams. They discover her barely conscious in the basement, with Peter's body next to her. They put Jess to bed and discuss the murders, unaware of the bodies of Clare and Mrs. MacHenry still in the attic. Jess is left in the house to rest, with a policeman standing outside. The killer climbs down from the attic as Jess sleeps in a nearby room. The house's telephone begins to ring, leaving Jess's fate unknown as the credits roll.
Cast[]
- Olivia Hussey as Jessica "Jess" Bradford
- Keir Dullea as Peter Smythe
- Margot Kidder as Barbara "Barb" Coard
- John Saxon as Lieutenant Kenneth Fuller
- Marian Waldman as Mrs. "Mac" MacHenry
- Andrea Martin as Phyllis "Phyl" Carlson
- James Edmond as Mr. Harrison
- Douglas McGrath as Sergeant Nash
- Art Hindle as Chris Hayden
- Lynne Griffin as Clare Harrison
- Michael Rapport as Patrick Cornell
- Les Carlson as Bill Graham
- Martha Gibson as Mrs. Quaife
- Julian Reed as Officer Jennings
- Nick Mancuso as Billy / Phone Voice (uncredited)
- Bob Clark as Billy's Shadow / Phone Voice (uncredited)
- Albert J. Dunk as Billy's POV (uncredited)
Production[]
Concept and writing[]
The screenplay was written by Canadian writers Roy Moore, who based it off a series of murders that took place in Quebec around the Christmas season. However, there has been speculation over the years as to whether the screenplay was actually inspired by "The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs" urban legend as opposed to real events. Moore died in the late-1980s and was never interviewed about the film.
The script was originally titled "Stop Me" and was partially typed and partially handwritten. Moore submitted the screenplay to director Bob Clark. Clark made several alterations in dialogue, camera placement and added some notes. On the final page of the screenplay was a hand written note by Clark calling it "a damn good script". The original screenplay in its entirety was released as a DVD-ROM feature on one of the film's DVD releases.
Casting[]
Olivia Hussey, previously having garnered international recognition for her role as Juliet from Romeo and Juliet (1968), signed on to appear after being told by a psychic she would "make a film in Canada that would earn a great deal of money" and took on the role of Jess Bradford. The role of Peter Smythe was originally offered to Malcolm McDowell, but he turned it down, so instead, it was given to Keir Dullea, who Bob Clark sought based on his performance as Dave Bowman in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). The role of Mrs. MacHenry was offered to Bette Davis, but turned the role down, and Marian Waldman was cast instead. The role of Barb Coard was cast with Margot Kidder, who grew attached to the character because it was "wild and out of control" and not a "conventional, leading part." For Clare Harrison, Lynne Griffin was cast after her mother, who was her casting agent at the time, got her an audition for the role.
Gilda Radner was offered the role of Phyllis Carlson. She accepted it, but dropped out one month before filming began owing to Saturday Night Live commitments, and was replaced by Andrea Martin. The role of Lieutenant Kenneth Fuller was originally supposed to be played by Edmond O'Brien, but due to failing health, he was unable to fulfill the duties the role required. John Saxon, who Clark always intended to cast to play the character, but was unable to prior due to miscommunications between Clark and Saxon's agent resulting in O'Brien being cast, was called by the movie's producers and offered the role. He accepted, and came from New York City to Toronto last minute before filming began.
For the role of Billy, Nick Mancuso was cast as one of the main voices Billy did in the phone call sequences.
Filming[]
Filming for Black Christmas began in early-1974 over an 6-week time schedule in Toronto, Canada and several scenes were shot around the University of Toronto. The film's budget of $686,000 was shot in 35mm format by utilizing Panavision cameras. Cameraman Albert J. Dunk created the POV camera shot by mounting a camera onto his head and creeping around the house. He crawled up the housing trellis in the beginning of the film as well. According to Bob Clark, due to the surprisingly light snowfall, most of the snow scenes outside of the sorority house were made of foam material provided by a local fire department. The house used for the sorority residence was filmed on location in Toronto. The house is still standing today and has become a private residence in Toronto.
Post-production[]
The composer of the film's score, Carl Zittrer, stated in an interview that he created the film's mysterious music by tying forks, combs and knives onto the strings of the piano in order to warp the sound of the keys. Zittrer also stated that he would distort the sound further by recording its sound onto an audio tape and make the sound slower. The audio for the disturbing phone calls was performed by multiple actors including Nick Mancuso and Bob Clark. Mancuso stated in an interview that he would stand on his head during the recording sessions to make his voice sound more demented.
Distribution[]
During preparation in 1975 for the film's American release, Warner Bros. studio executives asked Clark to change the concluding scene to show Clare's boyfriend, Chris Hayden, appear in front of Jess and say, "Agnes, don't tell them what we did" before killing her, however, Clark insisted on keeping the ending ambiguous. Clark has stated in an interview that he came up with the film's official title, saying that he enjoyed the irony of a dark event occurring during a festive holiday. According to Clark as well, Warner Bros. changed the title to Silent Night, Evil Night, for the U.S. theatrical release. During later television broadcasting, the film's title was changed to Stranger in the House, however, it was cancelled due to broadcasters deeming it "too scary" for television broadcast.
Release[]
Theatrical[]
Black Christmas was officially released on October 11, 1974, in Canada through Ambassador Film Distributors, where it grossed $1.3 million, and in the United States on December 20, 1974, through Warner Bros, where it only managed to gross $284,345 due to competition from The Godfather Part II and The Man with the Golden Gun. Warner Bros. later rereleased the film in August 1975 in Los Angeles and Chicago, and ended its extended run to December with less than $1 million. The film overall grossed over $4,053,000 internationally, managing to earn more than the film's Canadian budget of $686,000. When released in the UK, the BBFC had the c-word removed, as well as several other crude and sexual references during the first obscene phone call.
Home media[]
Black Christmas has been released several times on DVD in North America, A 25th-anniversary edition was released on November 6, 2001. The release was followed by a Collector's Edition that was released on December 3, 2002, containing making-of documentaries, behind-the-scenes footage and more bonus content. Critical Mass released a "Special Edition” on December 5, 2006, before the theatrical release of the remake of the film on Christmas day, containing extra and similar bonus content to the previous Collector's Edition, including interviews with stars Olivia Hussey and Margot Kidder. This edition of the film was later released on Blu-ray on November 11, 2008.
Anchor Bay Entertainment released a Blu-ray and DVD in Canada, titled the "Season's Grievings Edition". It contains the same transfer of the film as the "Special Edition" release and all previous bonus content, plus the addition of a new documentary ("Black Christmas Legacy"), a 40th-anniversary panel from Fan Expo 2014, a new commentary track featuring Nick Mancuso as the character Billy, a new retrospective booklet written by Rue Morgue Magazine, and new packaging art by Gary Pullin, the art director of Rue Morgue Magazine. This new edition was released on Blu-ray and DVD on November 24, 2015.
In the United States, Scream Factory released the film in a Collector's Edition Blu-ray on December 13, 2016, with a new transfer and new extras. The Scream Factory release collates all of the bonus materials from the previous releases by Critical Mass and Anchor Bay, and also features the 2006 Critical Mass restoration of the film in the bonus materials. Scream Factory also released the film in a Collector's Edition 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray on December 6, 2022. Unlike the previous home media releases and like the 1986 U.S. VHS release from Warner Home Video, the Collector's Edition 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray release (Disc 1 and 2) featured the Warner Bros. logo at the beginning and end of the film.
Reception[]
The film garnered mixed to negative reception from critics upon its initial release. A writer of The New York Times scored the film a 1 out of 5, calling it "a whodunit that raises the question as to why it was made." Variety also gave the film a negative review, stating that the film was heavily clichéd and calling it "a bloody, senseless kill-for-kicks feature" that "exploits unnecessary violence", lending praise only to Marian Waldman as the secretly alcoholic sorority house mother. The film has since received generally positive reviews from modern critics. According to the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, it has a 71% "fresh" score based on 42 reviews, with an average rating of 6.4 out of 10. Heidi Martinuzzi of Film Threat called the film "innovative" and praised the leading actresses, Olivia Hussey and Margot Kidder.