History YMMV / BlackChristmas1974

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** Billy could arguably be a supernatural figure, since he always seems to be in the right place to attack one of the girls unseen -- and no one catches him creeping around or hears this person at all (though it is a big house). He coincidentally knows exactly what to say to get Jess [[spoiler: to believe it's Peter]], and the multiple voices would be very tricky for a normal person to do. There's also the possibility [[spoiler: there were multiple killers and Peter was one of them]].

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Barb pretty much disappears during the second act when she goes upstairs to take a nap, and [[spoiler: only reappears to be killed off]]. Due to Margot Kidder's fun performance, and the character having more than just being the aggressive {{Jerkass}}, she's a fondly remembered part of the movie.

** Jess also has to deal with an abusive boyfriend. Olivia Hussey detailed such a relationship in her autobiography, with Christopher Jones who at one point raped her. Jess also chooses to abort the baby the abusive boyfriend gives her, and Olivia's book revealed that the rape left her pregnant and she aborted it. And of course her marriage to Dean Paul Martin had fallen apart right before filming. As a result, she was likely channeling some very real emotions.

** One could argue that Billy ''himself'' is somewhere between this and a full blown WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds. He does throughout the movie show signs of being a ReluctantPsycho and when he does kill it doesn't seem to bring him any joy in fact it only seems to send him even further down [[MurderMakesYouCrazy the rabbit hole]]! Whatever his [[MysteriousPast background]] is it's clear that he's a deeply disturbed individual who's in dire need of [[ThereAreNoTherapists help that he's not getting]]! The 2006 remake is a lot more straightforward about this...

* OnceOriginalNowCommon: It was, more or less, one of the first slashers -- so the plot points of a killer picking off young women one by one, harrassing them over the phone and an obvious FinalGirl can feel a bit formulaic. Despite all of those things becoming staples of the genre, various examples of UnbuiltTrope work in its favour, retaining ''some'' of its originaity.

** [[spoiler: In the ending, Mr Harrison goes into shock and literally faints in his chair at the news that everyone in the house is dead. And Clare's body is still unaccounted for]].

** Peter quits the conservatory after his botched recital, tries to badger Jess into marrying him, and again tries to shame her out of getting an abortion. When Jess refuses, he tells her she'll be sorry and leaves angrily, but is later seen skulking around outside the house after the police leave. [[spoiler: He then breaks into the house again through the basement window, which is when Jess kills him, believing him to be the killer. In light of his abusive nature towards her and his threats, it's not hard to believe that while Jess was mistaken about him being the killer the police are looking for, [[IfICantHaveYou Peter might have breaking back into the house specifically to kill Jess.]]]]

* CultClassic: Considered one of the grandfathers of the slasher genre. Its cult status even gained it [[Film/BlackChristmas2006 two]] [[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10481868/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1 remakes]]. Olivia Hussey once had a moment where she met Creator/SteveMartin, who told her she was in one of his favorite films. She assumed he meant her most famous role ''Film/RomeoAndJuliet1968'', but he meant this!

* OnceOriginalNowOverdone: It was, more or less, one of the first slashers -- so the plot points of a killer picking off young women one by one, harrassing them over the phone and an obvious FinalGirl can feel a bit formulaic. Despite all of those things becoming staples of the genre, various examples of UnbuildTrope work in its favour, retaining ''some'' of its originaity.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: It was, more or less, one of the first slashers -- so the plot points of a killer picking off young women one by one, harrassing them over the phone and an obvious FinalGirl can feel a bit formulaic. But it is argued that Bob Clark's direction, the refreshing nature of the characters (see below) and a lack of gratuitous sex mean the film still holds up quite well.