Hello, everyone, and welcome to the first day of the 12 Days of Christmassacre. From this day until Christmas, for over twelve days, I will be talking about Christmas movies. But, I won’t just be talking about Christmas movies. Oh, no, no, no. I’m going to be talking about Christmas horror movies (Because why else would it be a Corner of Horror review?). So, with all that out of the way, why don’t we start this list off with the most well known Christmas horror movie. And that movie is Black Christmas.
Black Christmas is a 1974 horror movie, from our friends all the way in Canada. If the killer doesn’t carry an axe, I’m out. Kidding, of course. We all known Canadians can’t kill. Black Christmas takes place in another small town that is all peaceful but with a dark history or is turned upside down by murders in the small town. It follows a group of sorority sisters who just want to get drunk and have sex, but without noticing that there is a serial killer living up in their attic, sending them creepy phone calls and murdering people within the town, as the girls try to find out who in their small group of friends would be the killer. It’s one of those creepy whodunit murder stories… But with Christmas. Boy, when I’m all comfortable in my chair on Christmas eve, the first thing I think of is murder mystery. Forget Santa, Frosty, Rudolph, and that one creepy homeless man from Bully. No, murder mystery. It makes too much sense.
Black Christmas is sadly another one of those slasher movies where everyone is an idiot except for the killer, yet somehow these idiots are able to survive the full runtime of the movie. The biggest offender is the character Jess. I really hope you like someone who bickers with her boyfriend every time they’re on screen together and instead of running away from the killer, goes right toward them, because she’s our main character. Oh joy. Seriously, I couldn’t care much for some of these characters. Sure, the suspense leading up to their murder is creepy, but when you know who is going to die, you kinda lose a lot of the fear that could have gone into it. Jess is just the biggest offender of this movie. She ignores every order that could save her life, she is always arguing with her boyfriend when they meet, like about an abortion (Oh boy, just gonna throw that out there. I gotta be careful with that. People may get angry). And they have this argument twice. Fucking really? Oh, and near the end of the movie, she beats her boyfriend to death because she thinks he’s the killer. I know she was really scared of this and was going off survival instincts… But really? He was the murderer? You couldn’t just look into it more? Well… at least the actress was good
Okay, so the survivors suck. How about the killer in this movie? Oh, the killer is a much more entertaining character. He is always giving these phone calls to the girls to scare them, and always manages to kill them at the right moment. And he is just so damn creepy. You want to know how you can make something scary? Instead of using a loud music score and something with a creepy face screaming, you just show someone’s eye, no music, at all, and just show the character’s reaction to that. That is what the killer in this movie does. He just looks at the character and whispers. No music, no sound effects, no jumpscare. Nothing. And guess what? It’s horrifying. And I love that. But the best part is (SPOILERS) the ending. In the end, after the police believe that Peter is the killer (REALLY!?), they leave Jess to sleep. But, in the end, the killer says his catchphrase, “Agnes, it’s me, Billy”, and that’s it. Nothing happens to Jess, the killer is never revealed, nothing. That is how the movie ends. And that is one of the best horror movie endings ever. It’s right up there with The Shining and The Thing. Okay, maybe not that good, but as far as slasher movies go, it’s pretty damn good.
Well, I’ll definitely say that this is a real good start to the 12 Days of Christmassacre. Black Christmas is a very simple, but very effective Christmas horror movie. The survivors in it may not be the sharpest knives in the drawer (In fact, their dull as hell), but if you enjoy ambiguous storytelling, good scares, and a villain that is hidden throughout the film and mysterious, than this is the movie for you. And not that remake… Oh, I’ll talk about that one soon, don’t you worry. Take care.
Black Christmas is a 1974 horror movie, from our friends all the way in Canada. If the killer doesn’t carry an axe, I’m out. Kidding, of course. We all known Canadians can’t kill. Black Christmas takes place in another small town that is all peaceful but with a dark history or is turned upside down by murders in the small town. It follows a group of sorority sisters who just want to get drunk and have sex, but without noticing that there is a serial killer living up in their attic, sending them creepy phone calls and murdering people within the town, as the girls try to find out who in their small group of friends would be the killer. It’s one of those creepy whodunit murder stories… But with Christmas. Boy, when I’m all comfortable in my chair on Christmas eve, the first thing I think of is murder mystery. Forget Santa, Frosty, Rudolph, and that one creepy homeless man from Bully. No, murder mystery. It makes too much sense.
Black Christmas is sadly another one of those slasher movies where everyone is an idiot except for the killer, yet somehow these idiots are able to survive the full runtime of the movie. The biggest offender is the character Jess. I really hope you like someone who bickers with her boyfriend every time they’re on screen together and instead of running away from the killer, goes right toward them, because she’s our main character. Oh joy. Seriously, I couldn’t care much for some of these characters. Sure, the suspense leading up to their murder is creepy, but when you know who is going to die, you kinda lose a lot of the fear that could have gone into it. Jess is just the biggest offender of this movie. She ignores every order that could save her life, she is always arguing with her boyfriend when they meet, like about an abortion (Oh boy, just gonna throw that out there. I gotta be careful with that. People may get angry). And they have this argument twice. Fucking really? Oh, and near the end of the movie, she beats her boyfriend to death because she thinks he’s the killer. I know she was really scared of this and was going off survival instincts… But really? He was the murderer? You couldn’t just look into it more? Well… at least the actress was good
Okay, so the survivors suck. How about the killer in this movie? Oh, the killer is a much more entertaining character. He is always giving these phone calls to the girls to scare them, and always manages to kill them at the right moment. And he is just so damn creepy. You want to know how you can make something scary? Instead of using a loud music score and something with a creepy face screaming, you just show someone’s eye, no music, at all, and just show the character’s reaction to that. That is what the killer in this movie does. He just looks at the character and whispers. No music, no sound effects, no jumpscare. Nothing. And guess what? It’s horrifying. And I love that. But the best part is (SPOILERS) the ending. In the end, after the police believe that Peter is the killer (REALLY!?), they leave Jess to sleep. But, in the end, the killer says his catchphrase, “Agnes, it’s me, Billy”, and that’s it. Nothing happens to Jess, the killer is never revealed, nothing. That is how the movie ends. And that is one of the best horror movie endings ever. It’s right up there with The Shining and The Thing. Okay, maybe not that good, but as far as slasher movies go, it’s pretty damn good.
Well, I’ll definitely say that this is a real good start to the 12 Days of Christmassacre. Black Christmas is a very simple, but very effective Christmas horror movie. The survivors in it may not be the sharpest knives in the drawer (In fact, their dull as hell), but if you enjoy ambiguous storytelling, good scares, and a villain that is hidden throughout the film and mysterious, than this is the movie for you. And not that remake… Oh, I’ll talk about that one soon, don’t you worry. Take care.