Synopsis
Black Christmas (1974), directed by Bob Clark, is the Canadian horror film you can watch online on iFILM that effectively invented the holiday slasher template — obscene phone calls, a sorority house, and a killer the camera keeps finding before any character does. Olivia Hussey, Margot Kidder and John Saxon lead a cast that takes the premise seriously enough to make it genuinely unsettling.
The Pi Kappa Sigma house is emptying out for Christmas break when the calls start. They escalate fast. One girl goes missing. The police treat it as a domestic matter. Clark keeps the identity of the caller ambiguous throughout — a choice that was unusual in 1974 and still holds up — and the tension builds through what you don't see rather than what you do.
John Carpenter has pointed to this film as a direct influence on Halloween. Clark shoots it like a character study that turns into a nightmare rather than a haunted-house ride. Stream Black Christmas (1974) online on iFILM.
Starring
Comments 0