Post by klep on Dec 14, 2020 9:21:02 GMT -6
MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 12/14: Black Christmas (1974)
HOLIDAY WEEK!
Released in 1974, Bob Clark's Black Christmas was one of the earliest entries in a horror subgenre that was only just then beginning to be defined: the slasher flick. Slashers are characterized by a remorseless, implacable killer slowly picking off a cast of victims until one or none are left. It's a subgenre that's acquired a reputation for a Puritan morality, as the deaths of the slasher's (frequently nubile) victims generally seem to meet their ends as a consequence of indulging the desires for sex or alcohol.
But Black Christmas is a bit different. Inspired by the urban legend of the babysitter who keeps getting threatening phone calls from a man who proves to be upstairs calling from a second line, it's centered around a sorority house right as everyone is preparing to leave campus for the holiday. As it opens, the sisters are having a party with Barb (Margot Kidder) operating as something of a master of ceremonies - easily the loudest and most gregarious of the group. In first-person, handheld shots we witness a man climb up the side of the house into the attic. They get another in a line of obscene phone calls they've been receiving. And it's not long before one of the women - Clare (Lynne Griffin) - separates from the others and the killer has his first victim.
When Clare's father (James Edmond) shows up looking for her, we start to get more of a sense of the womens' lives. And they're basically normal college students - they have boyfriends, they have sex, they drink, they have risqué art, and they're lucky enough to have a House Mother Mrs. Mac (Marian Waldman) who lets them be themselves (and in the film's best gag, keeps pulling flasks out of every corner of the house when she needs a swig). Most importantly though we learn that Jess (Olivia Hussey) is pregnant, and wants to have an abortion.
So there's plenty of reason to think the film will be punishing the victims' hedonism, but that's far from the case. Instead it leans into the idea that the sisters' behavior is entirely unremarkable, and repeatedly highlights the ways it's difficult for the women to feel safe. Jess' boyfriend Peter (Keir Dullea) is accurately portrayed as dangerous and predatory largely because of his insistences that Jess keep the baby. It takes a man - Clare's boyfriend Chris (Arthur Hindle) - showing up at the station to get the police to take Clare's disappearance seriously, and if she hadn't disappeared no one would ever have done anything about the obscene phone calls.
Black Christmas does a great job with its various kills. There's never a moment that feels gratuitous or unearned, and there are a number of misdirections and side beats that keep the tension high and the viewer guessing. Beyond the red flags that Peter throws up, a number of other characters can be seen wearing threatening full face masks at various points - even if a goalie playing hockey or a search party member out in the snow has a very good reason to be wearing one.
But the real killer is never revealed. The police find a dead Peter with a Jess in shock and as she sleeps it off, they feel confident that Peter lost his marbles and started offing women as part of the quarrell over Jess' intended abortion. Repeatedly society has failed to keep these women safe, and the lesson hasn't been learned. The police haven't even found all the bodies, apparently never thinking to look in the attic. They leave Jess alone and sedated. The cop on the stoop lights his cigarette, and the phone starts to ring.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 12/21: The Warriors
NIGHT WEEK!
Night is when all the miscreants and ne'er-do-wells come out to play, as is the case in this Walter Hill classic film about a gang war in New York. Join us next week for our discussion of The Warriors, available for rent in the usual places.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 12/15: The Secret of Roan Inish
This week the podcast begins a pairing on Irish folklore with John Sayles' The Secret of Roan Inish, about a young girl who learns of a strange family legend. Come join us Wednesday for our discussion of this film, available for rent in the usual places and free for Prime subscribers.
HOLIDAY WEEK!
Released in 1974, Bob Clark's Black Christmas was one of the earliest entries in a horror subgenre that was only just then beginning to be defined: the slasher flick. Slashers are characterized by a remorseless, implacable killer slowly picking off a cast of victims until one or none are left. It's a subgenre that's acquired a reputation for a Puritan morality, as the deaths of the slasher's (frequently nubile) victims generally seem to meet their ends as a consequence of indulging the desires for sex or alcohol.
But Black Christmas is a bit different. Inspired by the urban legend of the babysitter who keeps getting threatening phone calls from a man who proves to be upstairs calling from a second line, it's centered around a sorority house right as everyone is preparing to leave campus for the holiday. As it opens, the sisters are having a party with Barb (Margot Kidder) operating as something of a master of ceremonies - easily the loudest and most gregarious of the group. In first-person, handheld shots we witness a man climb up the side of the house into the attic. They get another in a line of obscene phone calls they've been receiving. And it's not long before one of the women - Clare (Lynne Griffin) - separates from the others and the killer has his first victim.
When Clare's father (James Edmond) shows up looking for her, we start to get more of a sense of the womens' lives. And they're basically normal college students - they have boyfriends, they have sex, they drink, they have risqué art, and they're lucky enough to have a House Mother Mrs. Mac (Marian Waldman) who lets them be themselves (and in the film's best gag, keeps pulling flasks out of every corner of the house when she needs a swig). Most importantly though we learn that Jess (Olivia Hussey) is pregnant, and wants to have an abortion.
So there's plenty of reason to think the film will be punishing the victims' hedonism, but that's far from the case. Instead it leans into the idea that the sisters' behavior is entirely unremarkable, and repeatedly highlights the ways it's difficult for the women to feel safe. Jess' boyfriend Peter (Keir Dullea) is accurately portrayed as dangerous and predatory largely because of his insistences that Jess keep the baby. It takes a man - Clare's boyfriend Chris (Arthur Hindle) - showing up at the station to get the police to take Clare's disappearance seriously, and if she hadn't disappeared no one would ever have done anything about the obscene phone calls.
Black Christmas does a great job with its various kills. There's never a moment that feels gratuitous or unearned, and there are a number of misdirections and side beats that keep the tension high and the viewer guessing. Beyond the red flags that Peter throws up, a number of other characters can be seen wearing threatening full face masks at various points - even if a goalie playing hockey or a search party member out in the snow has a very good reason to be wearing one.
But the real killer is never revealed. The police find a dead Peter with a Jess in shock and as she sleeps it off, they feel confident that Peter lost his marbles and started offing women as part of the quarrell over Jess' intended abortion. Repeatedly society has failed to keep these women safe, and the lesson hasn't been learned. The police haven't even found all the bodies, apparently never thinking to look in the attic. They leave Jess alone and sedated. The cop on the stoop lights his cigarette, and the phone starts to ring.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 12/21: The Warriors
NIGHT WEEK!
Night is when all the miscreants and ne'er-do-wells come out to play, as is the case in this Walter Hill classic film about a gang war in New York. Join us next week for our discussion of The Warriors, available for rent in the usual places.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 12/15: The Secret of Roan Inish
This week the podcast begins a pairing on Irish folklore with John Sayles' The Secret of Roan Inish, about a young girl who learns of a strange family legend. Come join us Wednesday for our discussion of this film, available for rent in the usual places and free for Prime subscribers.