I watched Black Christmas (2019) without realizing that it was a remake of Black Christmas (1974), which was already remade in 2006 so being a completist, I requested the first two films from the library. Instead of doing my usual single day marathon, I decided to take my time, especially since the original had hours of special features. Classic horror deserves respect, and I would give it with noquestions asked.
I usually prefer originals to remakes until now! It is not that I think that Black Christmas (2019) is better, but that Black Christmas (1974) just did not do it for me in spite of having an outstanding cast. They are completely different movies with only two common characteristics-a sorority house and the Christmas season. For me, the best horror finds a way to bring out unspoken fears of its audience, and it is just fantastical enough not to seem ripped from the headlines. While I appreciate the bleakness of the original, I am not sure if I got it, or if my conclusions are accurate. My problem with the original is that it is not removed enough from reality that it just seems as if it is a sensationalized true crime drama more than a horror movie.
In real life, women are more likely to be killed when they are pregnant by the father of their child. The idea of a madman killing a teenage girl then a house full of sorority girls sounds more like Ted Bundy. While horror can be based on real life crimes, they usually get magnified in some way to not closely resemble a crime drama. To be fair, Black Christmas (1974) was made long before Bundy’s crimes were known, and its first televised broadcast was delayed because it occurred on the same night as his Florida killing spree. I am fairly certain that the filmmaker did not know about the jeopardy that pregnant women face, but I am so it does not feel like fiction to me.
I feel as if all filmmakers have a point. Black Christmas (1974) did not feel as if it had a strong protagonist. Initially I thought that Margot Kidder would be the lead, but she disappears earlier than expected in the film. Then John Saxon feels as if he is going to take center stage, but he too disappears at pivotal moments. The only person that remains a steady presence throughout the film is Olivia Hussey’s character. Hussey is a beautiful woman with a lovely voice, but not the most interesting actor to watch. It feels as if the film is about the failure of expectations and an inability to get satisfaction. Hussey’s character wears a cross and has no doubts about pursuing an abortion. She is unequivocally called a killer for this choice though there is no action. She then becomes a killer of a person that she knows is not the killer, but frightens her. While her action is understandable and reasonable given the circumstances, it vindicates her boyfriend’s accusations that she is a killer and perpetuates the narrative that women are too emotional to make reasonable life and death decisions.
She reminds me of the stereotype of the hysterical woman. Yes, she has been under incredible emotional strain for days for fielding calls from an obscene caller and an emotionally unstable boyfriend. Her friend is missing, and her other friends were killed. She is pregnant. The scene in which she kills her victim is unseen just as the killer’s murders. Her victim approaches her calmly in stark contrast to earlier encounters, but unlike the killer, she has no agency. We do not hear her talk. She is unconscious when the police encounter her. Why? Is it societal expectations for a woman to faint and/or endemic lack of medical attention to women that make the police completely unconcerned about rushing her to the hospital while taking someone else, a man? It reminded me of an alley scene at the end of The Women of Brewster Place, which is a completely different context in terms of genre, the woman’s earlier experiences and her innocent victim is truly innocent as opposed to plausibly a threat, but they felt similar in the finality of the consequence of a woman’s error in judgment due to temporary insanity.
I can handle not having a final girl and allowing the killer to successfully kill everyone without consequence, but what distinguishes Black Christmas (1974) from other slasher films is his final victim’s complicitness. To be fair, Black Christmas (1974) is about the failure of all sacred institutions. Mothers do not nurture their daughters or children. Santa curses around kids. A den mother has not guarded the sorority sisters’ sensibilities. The police officers and boyfriends are ineffective at protecting anyone. The good girl gets killed first. The city girl is not as tough as she pretends to be. Why not make a victim into a killer? I still think that the choice of which victim becomes a killer means something, and because that choice is a prominent cross wearing woman who chooses herself over marrying an abusive boyfriend and decides to have an abortion, I consider this film regressive, which means it is not my cup of tea, and I am not even someone who is stridently pro-choice, but the idea that a man who chopped up a piano and threatened his girlfriend acts against type in the eleventh hour to suddenly be seen by the viewer as sympathetic means the movie cannot win me over.
It does not mean that Black Christmas (1974) does not succeed in objective terms. The camerawork, soundtrack and obscene phone calls are deeply disturbing and chilling on an under the skin level. I do not recall ever seeing Andrea Martin as a young actor so it was a treat to see her. I was disappointed that her character’s boyfriend did not end up playing a larger role. Also even though it preceded When a Stranger Calls starring Carol Kane, because I saw Kane’s film first, I saw the twist coming in this film and rolled my eyes, but this film made that trope popular so sorry that I cannot appreciate you more because I watch too many movies. I still think that When a Stranger Calls is a better film. Is Claude OK? The first murder scene is honestly the best, and everything thereafter was less evocative and felt a bit much. The hook and unicorn glass figurine felt gimmicky to me. I loved the idea that so many people are around and interacting, but they are still in danger.
Black Christmas (1974) is not my cup of tea, but it was great to see Margot Kidder in her prime. I wanted to like it, but I just did not. It is a horror classic so I hesitate definitively advising that you skip it, but I wish that I had. Maybe I’m wrong.