History Film / BlackChristmas1974

A 1974 horror film, and one of the TropeMakers for the SlasherMovie genre. It is [[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory loosely based on]] a series of real-life killings, and also borrows elements from the {{urban legend|s}} "the babysitter and the man upstairs".

Remade twice, in [[Film/BlackChristmas2006 2006]] and [[Film/BlackChristmas2019 2019]]. Not to be confused with ''Film/SilentNightDeadlyNight''; a different Christmas-themed slasher flick. (The fact that Creator/WarnerBros released this one under the title ''Silent Night, Evil Night'' in some markets doesn't help.)

Remade twice, in [[Film/BlackChristmas2006 2006]] and [[Film/BlackChristmas2019 2019]]. Not to be confused with ''Film/SilentNightDeadlyNight''; another Christmas-themed slasher flick. (The fact that Creator/WarnerBros released this one under the title ''Silent Night, Evil Night'' in some markets doesn't help.)

The story involves a group of sorority girls who are staying over for Christmas break. Each is dealing with her own problems, and things are about to get much worse, as unbeknownst to any of them a [[AxCrazy psychotic killer]] moves into their sorority house attic and soon begins taunting the girls with [[EvilPhone terrifying phone calls]] before bumping them off one by one...

* PoliceAreUseless: [[spoiler:{{Double subver|sion}}ted.]] When Clare is first reported missing, Sargent Nash is largely dismissive of it and insinuates that she's run off with a boy. Likewise, when Jess reports Billy's obscene phone calls, he's equally dismissive. When Nash's superior, Lt. Fuller, gets wind of this, he chews him out for it and takes the reports completely seriously. He has the sorority's phone lines tapped in order to trace the calls and posts an officer outside the building for their protection. [[spoiler:Billy dispatches the officer posted outside without incident, and by the time the police realize that he's been in the house all along, it's too late for them to prevent Jess from getting attacked or her killing Peter in a panic. At the film's end, they not only fail to move Jess to a safer location, they ''put her to bed'' in a house that should be under thorough investigation as a crime scene. This in turn leads them to neglecting to check the house's attic, leaving the bodies of Mrs. Mac and Clare undiscovered and causing Billy to [[KarmaHoudini get away with the whole thing and possibly kill Jess]].]]

* PoliceAreUseless: [[spoiler:{{Double subver|sion}}ted.]] When Clare is first reported missing, Sargent Nash is largely dismissive of it and insinuates that she's run off with a boy. Likewise, when Jess reports Billy's obscene phone calls, he's equally dismissive. When Nash's superior, Lt. Fuller, gets wind of this, he chews him out for it and takes the reports completely seriously. He has the sorority's phone lines tapped in order to trace the calls and posts an officer outside the building for their protection. [[spoiler:Billy dispatches the officer posted outside without incident, and by the time the police realize that he's been in the house all along, it's too late for them to prevent Jess from getting attacked or her killing Peter in a panic. At the film's end they neglect to check the house's attic, leaving the bodies of Mrs. Mac and Clare undiscovered and causing Billy to [[KarmaHoudini get away with the whole thing and possibly kill Jess]].]]

* CanadaEh: Filmed on location in Toronto, there are plenty of characteristics 'Ehs' and 'Aboots' to go around. Chris also plays hockey, for seemingly no other reason other than it's in Canada. As noted below, the beer Barb is seen drinking and the use of snow mobiles later place this movie's setting to Canada.

** Peter surprises Jess (and by extension the audience) immediately after she receives one of Billy's phone calls. For added bonus, Peter is one of the suspects.

* ClusterFBomb: Phyl's boyfriend Patrick swears at every available opportunity. Barb as well -- she is the most foulmouthed of the girls.

** Barb doesn't take Billy's obscenity laden threats seriously and tells him to "stick [his] tongue in a wall socket". This leads to Billy delivering a death threat to her [[spoiler:that he latter makes good on]].

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Jess mistakes Peter for the killer and kills ''him''. The actual killer is still in the house and now has a prime opportunity to kill the lowered-guard Jess, though it's deliberately left ambiguous whether it indeed happens. Not to mention that the two bodies of the first victims are still hidden in the attic and they're not even known to be missing yet.]]

* HarassingPhoneCall: Billy constantly calls the girls with dirty language and wanting to do perverted things to them. It annoys the ladies until the kills start to pile up.

** At one point the movie transitions from a comical scene of Sgt. Nash being made fun of to Peter and Jess having an argument on her decision to have an abortion.
** The other way round later on. After confirmation that poor Janice, the missing thirteen-year-old, is dead -- the cops discover Barb's 'fellatio' prank on Sgt. Nash and collapse laughing in the station.
** [[spoiler:Clare's murder]] is juxtaposed with the sorority girls getting Mrs Mac a tacky nightgown as a present and begging her to put it on.

* OutlivingOnesOffspring: Clare's father and the mother of the little girl who goes missing fears (correctly) that their children have been murdered. In fact, in the final scene (when Clare still isn't accounted for), Mr. Harrison goes into shock and just faints.

* PoliceAreUseless: [[spoiler:{{Double subver|sion}}ted.]] When Clare is first reported missing, Sargent Nash is largely dismissive of it and insinuates that she's run off with a boy. Likewise, when Jess reports Billy's obscene phone calls, he's equally as dismissive. When Nash's superior, Lt. Fuller, gets wind of this, he chews him out for it and takes the reports completely seriously. He has the sorority's phone lines tapped in order to trace the calls and posts an officer outside the building for their protection. [[spoiler:Billy dispatches the officer posted outside without incident, and by the time the police realize that he's been in the house all along, it's too late for them to prevent Jess getting attacked or her killing Peter in a panic. At the film's end they neglect to check the house's attic, leaving the bodies of Mrs. Mac and Clare undiscovered and causing Billy to [[KarmaHoudini get away with the whole thing and possibly kill Jess]].]]

* ThirdPersonPerson: In all of his phone calls, Billy speaks in third person, and in fact seems to be talking as if he were other people talking about him.
* TooDumbToLive: Jess makes a few poor decisions during the climax. [[spoiler:When the police finally realize that the calls are coming directly from the house, the dispatcher calls Jess and tells her to quietly leave as soon as possible. Instead of listening, she refuses and demands to know why. When he finally relents and tells her the truth, she ''still'' doesn't leave the house, even after he urgently demands for her to leave and instead tries to wake everyone up to get them to all exit, catching Billy's attention as he's already killed everyone else still in the house.]]

* TownGirls: The main three sorority girls --- The snide, snarky, chain smoking and hard-drinking tomboy Barb, the pretty, soft-spoken and [[LongHairIsFeminine long-haired]] Jess and the geeky bespectacled NiceGirl Phyl.

* UnbuiltTrope: This movie has a lot less in common than one would think with all of the slasher movies that followed after it. The killer does not wear a mask or have any particular "gimmick" to his crimes, the killer is not a [[TheVoiceless silent murderer]] but a talkative, perverted creep, the [[PoliceAreUseless police]] respond reasonably effectively, there's much less {{Gorn}} and fewer overall murders than in many other slashers, we learn [[NothingIsScarier absolutely nothing]] about the killer's motivations, backstory, or appearance, and the FinalGirl is [[GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion definitely not]] a virgin, nor does anyone [[SexSignalsDeath die due to having sex]].

* RiddleForTheAges: So who exactly is [[BigBad Billy?]] Who’s Agnes for that matter and more importantly ''why'' is he targeting the fraternity?

* UnbuiltTrope: This movie has a lot less in common than one would think with all of the slasher movies that followed after it. The killer does not wear a mask or have any particular "gimmick" to his crimes, the killer is not a [[TheVoiceless silent murderer]] but a talkative, perverted creep, the [[PoliceAreUseless police]] respond reasonably effectively, there's much less {{Gorn}} and fewer overall murders than in many other slashers, we learn [[NothingIsScarier absolutely nothing]] about the killer's motivations, backstory, or appearance, and the FinalGirl is [[GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion definitely not]] a virgin, nor does anyone suffer DeathBySex.

'''Caller''': (''Flatly'') I'm gonna kill you. (''hangs up'')

* {{Giallo}}: You could call this movie a kind of bridge between the earlier Italian ''giallo'' films and the slashers that would follow in the later '70s and throughout the '80s. [[InterplayOfSexAndViolence Psychosexual themes]], a [[ClosedCircle somewhat secluded location]], and a [[TenLittleMurderVictims dwindling cast of characters]] are all present, but the big innovation of ''Black Christmas'' is its subversion of another of the hallmarks of the ''giallo'': TheReveal. A typical ''giallo'' follows the structure of a murder mystery (albeit an especially violent one), and the killer will usually be revealed as one of the established characters; contemporary audiences would have expected "Billy" to turn out to be an alternate persona of Peter or maybe Chris. Instead, shockingly, the killer turns out to be [[DiabolusExMachina a total stranger to his victims]]. The slasher movies that followed in ''Black Christmas''' footsteps would run with this to the point where it stopped even being a twist anymore, leading to the more monstrous, barely-human characterization of the '80s slasher.

* PunBasedTitle: It's a subversion of the song ''[[Music/MerryChristmas White Christmas]]'', here black not standing for African-American[[note]]Although it was released as ''Silent Night, Evil Night'' in some markets for fear of it being mistaken for a {{blaxploitation}} film[[/note]], but for evil... or for ''utter despair.''

* SinisterSuffocating: The first victim is Clare, who is ambushed from her closet and suffocated with plastic by the killer.

* TownGirls: The main three sorority girls -- {{Deadpan Snarker}} Barb who spends most of the time drinking, smoking, making snide comments, messing with and ragging on others is the Butch, [[FinalGirl final girl]] Jess who is [[LongHairIsFeminine long haired]] and soft spoken is the Femme and bespectacled [[NiceGuy Nice Girl]] Phyl is Neither.

* TheCallsAreComingFromInsideTheHouse: The {{Trope Namer|s}} and TropeCodifier. After spending the third act trying to trace where Billy is calling from, much to Jess's horror, the calls are traced back to the very sorority house she's in. Of course, the audience is aware from the start that Billy is already inside the house.

* BrickJoke: Barb trolls dimwitted Sgt. Nash by giving him "Fellatio" as a new telephone exchange. Later, the detectives are shown cackling with laughter after one of them looks at the number.

* FinalGirl: Of the sorority house people, only Jess is alive by the end of the film. She subverts some of the usual aspects by having an active sex life and plans to abort a pregnancy. Clare -- as the most modest and shyest of the girls would fit the trope more -- but she's the first victim! [[spoiler:And there's a very real possibility that even Jess will be killed soon after the film credits are over...]]
* FirstNameBasis: Chris calls Lt Fuller by his first name Ken, implying they know each other.

* GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion: Peter firmly believes this, insisting that Jess shouldn't get an abortion.

* HellIsThatNoise: Billy's phone calls are horrifying to listen to, replete with horrible wailing and animalistic moaning.

** Jess realizes that they've left all the doors and windows unlocked and locks them all. This means that when Billy attacks, she has nowhere to run to. [[spoiler:Peter, presumably hearing her screams from outside, is unable to get in the front door and has to break in through the cellar window, unaware that he's a prime suspect.]]

* NoodleIncident: Billy keeps mentioning an incident with a person named Agnes. Who Agnes is and what happened between her and Billy is only alluded to in the film.

* PoliceAreUseless: [[spoiler:{{Double subver|sion}}ted.]] When Clare is first reported missing, Sargent Nash is largely dismissive of it and insinuates that she's run off with a boy. Likewise, when Jess reports Billy's obscene phone calls, he's equally as dismissive. When Nash's superior gets wind of this, he chews him out for it and takes the reports completely seriously. He has the sorority's phone lines tapped in order to trace the calls and posts an officer outside the building for their protection. [[spoiler:Billy dispatches the officer posted outside without incident, and by the time the police realize that he's been in the house all along, it's too late for them to prevent Jess getting attacked or her killing Peter in a panic. At the film's end they neglect to check the house's attic, leaving the bodies of Mrs. Mac and Clare undiscovered and causing Billy to [[KarmaHoudini get away with the whole thing and possibly kill Jess]].]]
* PunBasedTitle: It's a subversion of the song ''[[Music/MerryChristmas White Christmas]]'', here black not standing for African-American, but for evil... or for ''utter despair.''

** [[spoiler:Chris]] was viewed as one by American distributors, who tried to get Bob Clark to reveal him as the killer at first.
* RefugeInAudacity: Barb trolls the incompetent Sgt. Nash by telling him that the number to the sorority house is 'fellatio' and it's a new exchange.

->''"If this picture doesn't make your skin crawl... it's on '''TOO TIGHT'''."''
-->-- '''{{Tagline}}'''

* WeAllLiveInAmerica: This Canadian-produced film makes sure to remind you that it's set in America by plastering U.S. flags all over the police station.

* NiceHat: Mrs. Mac has several.

->''"If this picture doesn't make your skin crawl...it's on '''TOO TIGHT'''."''
-->--'''{{Tagline}}'''

A 1974 horror film, and one of the {{Trope Maker}}s for the SlasherMovie genre. It is [[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory loosely based on]] a series of real-life killings, and also borrows elements from the {{urban legend}} "the babysitter and the man upstairs".

* AloneWithThePsycho: In the climax, [[spoiler: Jess realises the two friends left in the house are also dead, and she suspects Peter of being the killer. After killing him, she's left alone in the house and we discover the killer is still there with her]].

* BewareTheNiceOnes: Jess is a perfectly normal NiceGirl, but if she feels her life is in danger [[spoiler: and knows her friends have been killed]], she will defend herself with a fire poker. [[spoiler: Even if she wasn't in any danger]].

** The murders of [[spoiler: Mrs Mac and Barb]] have very little (if any) blood seen.
** For a truly spotless yet graphic murder though, we have [[spoiler: Clare's death: asphyxiation by plastic garment bag]].

* BrickJoke: Barb trolls dimwitted Sgt. Nash by giving him "Fellatio" as the a new telephone exchange. Later the detectives are shown cackling with laughter after one of them looks at the number.
* BrosBeforeHoes: Female version. It's mentioned that Phyl was originally going to spend Christmas with her boyfriend, but has changed her plans to go skiing with Barb and Jess to make Barb feel better about her mother abandoning her over the holidays.
* BullyingADragon: {{Lampshaded}}; when Barb insults Billy during his first phone call, he replies that he's going to kill her, and hangs up. The other sorority girls reprimand Barb for provoking someone who's potentially dangerous and unstable. [[spoiler:Billy later makes good on his promise to kill Barb.]]

* TheCallsAreComingFromInsideTheHouse: The TropeNamer and TropeCodifier. After spending the third act trying to trace where Billy is calling from, much to Jess's horror, the calls are traced back to the very sorority house she's in. Of course the audience is aware from the start that Billy is already inside the house.

* ChekhovsGun: There are a couple of scenes where Mrs Mac struggles to get in the front door, referencing how it jams easily. [[spoiler: The door jams when Jess tries to run from the killer, forcing her to go to the basement]].
* ClusterFBomb:
** Phyl's boyfriend Patrick swears at every available opportunity.
** Barb too. She is the most foulmouthed of the girls.

** [[spoiler: Clare and Mrs. Mac]] die looking for Mrs. Mac's perpetually lost cat, Claude.
** [[spoiler: Phyl]] is killed after spotting someone entering Barb's room.

* DeathByIrony: [[spoiler: Hard-drinking promiscuous Barb is murdered with a crystal figure of a unicorn - two symbols of purity.]]

* ExactEavesdropping: [[spoiler:The killer eavesdrops on one of Jess's conversations with Peter, where her abortion is compared to "like having a wart removed". He uses that line on the phone later, which leads her to falsely believe Peter is the killer]].

* ExtremelyShortTimespan: The film begins the night of a party in the sorority house, and finishes up the next night. The majority of the plot takes place over one evening.

* {{Fainting}}: [[spoiler: In one of the final scenes, Mr Harrison faints over the news that everyone in the house is dead]].
* FinalGirl: Of the sorority house people, only Jess is alive by the end of the film. She subverts some of the usual aspects by having an active sex life, and plans to abort a pregnancy. Clare - as the most modest and shyest of the girls would fit the trope more - but she's the first victim! [[spoiler: And there's a very real possibility that even Jess will be killed soon after the film credits are over...]]

* GenkiGirl: Barb - in a drunken, promiscuous way.

* HardDrinkingPartyGirl: Barb is the life of the party at the beginning, and continues to drink over the course of the film.
* HarmfulToMinors: Patrick and Barb swear like sailors in front of young children - Patrick even does it while dressed as Santa. A little while later, Barb gives one of the kids alcohol.

** Jess realises they've left all the doors and windows unlocked, and locks them all. This means that when Billy attacks, she has nowhere to run to. [[spoiler: And Peter, presumably hearing her screams from outside, is unable to get in the front door - having to break in through the cellar window, unaware that he's a prime suspect]].

* JerkassHasAPoint: One time Peter somewhat has a point is that Jess chooses a particularly bad time to tell him she's pregnant and planning to abort it - right before a recital he's been practicing insanely hard for and has gotten barely any sleep. It's no surprise that he botches the performance.
* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:Billy, the killer, is still alive at the end of the movie, and remains uncaught]].

* KillTheCutie: [[spoiler: Clare is the youngest of the group, and more modest than the others. She's also got a sweetheart personality, and is the first one to die]].

* MisplacedAccent: It's not entirely clear why Jess, an American college student, would have actress Creator/OliviaHussey's English accent. The accent itself is never commented upon in the film proper, and as such it isn't entirely clear whether her character is intended to be an English expatriate, or if the actress simply [[NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent isn't bothering with an accent.]] A throwaway line says that it will take her parents two hours to get to the sorority house, implying she's living in America anyway.

** [[spoiler: Clare's murder]] is juxtaposed with the sorority girls getting Mrs Mac a tacky nightgown as a present and begging her to put it on.

* NeverFoundTheBody: [[spoiler: By the end, the police haven't searched the attic of the sorority house, where Clare and Mrs Mac's bodies are. They don't even know about Mrs Mac's death either - since she told Phyllis she was going to her sister's and won't realise she's missing for likely several days]].

* NoNameGiven: The cop who laughs at the fellatio prank and the other cop getting shot in the ass is just credited as "Laughing Cop" - though Lt. Fuller calls him Buchanan in the latter scene.

** The very ending where [[spoiler:Billy continues to call a sedated Jess as the camera pans away from the house. It seems to be building up to a scream from the house where Billy makes his final strike, only it never happens. Instead the credits roll in complete silence, save for the phone continuing to ring.]]

* OutlivingOnesOffspring: Clare's father and the mother of the little girl who goes missing fears (correctly) that their children have been murdered. In fact, in the final scene (when Clare still isn't accounted for), Mr Harrison goes into shock and just faints.
* ParentalAbandonment: In the opening, Barb gets a phone call from her mother - where she's informed that for Christmas she'll be taking off with a new boyfriend and leaving her daughter alone on Christmas.
* PartingWordsRegret: Barb has a drunken rant in which she accuses people of believing she drove Clare away with her harsh words - mocking her for being wary of Billy's harsh phones. The truth is that this is what she (Barb) thinks, but doesn't want to admit it to herself. In some ways she is right; Clare goes upstairs to pack because of this and is left alone to be the first kill.

* PoliceAreUseless: [[spoiler:Double subverted.]] When Clare is first reported missing, Sargent Nash is largely dismissive of it and insinuates that she's run off with a boy. Likewise when Jess reports Billy's obscene phone calls he's equally as dismissive. When Nash's superior gets wind of this he chews him out for this and takes the reports completely seriously. He has the sorority's phone lines tapped in order to trace the calls and posts an officer outside the building for their protection. [[spoiler:Billy dispatches the officer posted outside without incident, and by the time the police realize that he's been in the house all along, it's too late for them to prevent Jess getting attacked or her killing Peter in a panic. At the film's end they neglect to check the house's attic, leaving the bodies of Mrs. Mac and Clare undiscovered and causing Billy to [[KarmaHoudini get away with the whole thing and possibly kill Jess]].]]

** [[spoiler: Peter is assumed to be killing the girls as revenge for Jess deciding to abort their baby. It turns out he's innocent]].
** [[spoiler: Chris]] was viewed as one by American distributors, who tried to get Bob Clark to reveal him as the killer at first.

* TheSeventies: And how!

* TheStoic: Mr. Harrison puts up with the wild behavior of the sorority girls with emotionless stoicism. [[spoiler: It finally catches up to him in the last scene, where he faints from shock]].

* TooDumbToLive: Jess makes a few poor decisions during the climax:
** [[spoiler: When the police finally realize that the calls are coming directly from the house, the dispatcher calls Jess and tells her to quietly leave as soon as possible. Instead of listening, she refuses and demands to know why. When he finally relents and tells her the truth, she ''still'' doesn't leave the house, even after he urgently demands for her to leave and instead tries to wake everyone up to get them to all exit, catching Billy's attention as he's already killed everyone else still in the house.]]
* TokenWholesome: Clare is the one girl in the sorority house who isn't sexually active or promiscuous, and is uncomfortable with Barb's attempts at provoking Billy. Lt Fuller asks if she's known for drinking, and Phyllis endearingly says "hardly at all".
* TownGirls: The main three sorority girls - {{Deadpan Snarker}} Barb who spends most of the time drinking, smoking, making snide comments, messing with and ragging on others is the Butch, [[FinalGirl final girl]] Jess who is [[LongHairIsFeminine long haired]] and soft spoken is the Femme and bespectacled {{Nice Girl}} Phyl is Neither.

* TropeMaker: For {{Slasher Movie}}s. This was a first for many, including the FinalGirl.
* {{Tsundere}}: Barb is mostly drunk and abrasive, but has a soft side and does care for the girls. In fact, when Sgt Nash trivializes Clare's disappearance, Barb is inspired to {{Troll}} him.

* TheUnfought: [[spoiler:As Peter is a RedHerring, Jess never has a confrontation with Billy beyond seeing his eye through a keyhole]].
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Claude the cat seals [[spoiler: Mrs Mac's]] fate when she hears him purring up in the attic, and goes to check on him. She was literally about to leave in a taxi and would have been safe from Billy otherwise.

* VasquezAlwaysDies: Downplayed. [[spoiler: Barb establishes herself as outspoken and fearless by talking back to Billy over the phone. She dies halfway through the film, leaving the much meeker Jess to face him. Downplayed because the other sorority sisters die as well]].

* {{Meganekko}}: Phyllis is smart, gentle, caring, and wears a big pair of glasses.

* RapunzelHair: Olivia Hussey's trademark waist-length hair is on full display here. Jess wears her hair down for most of the film.

* AdultFear:
** Clare's father and the mother of the little girl who goes missing fearing (correctly) that their children have been murdered is also a potent source of fear for any parent. In fact, in the final scene (when Clare still isn't accounted for), Mr Harrison goes into shock and just faints.
** Jess's arc plays on the fear of 'my boyfriend is getting extremely controlling and I'm beginning to fear for my safety whenever he's around' with how Peter takes the news of her planned abortion.

* TheUnReveal: We never know who Billy is, why he's murdering people (other than it might be somehow related to the unknown "Agnes"), or even ''what he looks like''.

* TownGirls: {{Deadpan Snarker}} Barb who spends most of the time drinking, smoking, making snide comments, messing with and ragging on others is the Butch, [[FinalGirl final girl]] Jess who is [[LongHairIsFeminine long haired]] and soft spoken is the Femme and bespectacled {{Nice Girl}} Phyl is Neither.

* TomboyishName: Phyllis is nicknamed "Phyl" by all the other girls, though she's not much of a tomboy in nature.

* CountryMatters: Billy's first onscreen call has him calling the sorority girls cunts. WordOfGod recalls modern viewers asking if they redid the audio track for that - in disbelief that such language was used in the 70s.