Black Christmas

Play trailer

4:04

Black Christmas

R

1974

1h 38m

Holiday

Horror

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

72%

Tomatometer

46 Reviews

76%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

As winter break begins, a group of sorority sisters, including Jess (Olivia Hussey) and the often inebriated Barb (Margot Kidder), begin to receive anonymous, lascivious phone calls. Initially, Barb eggs the caller on, but stops when he responds threateningly. Soon, Barb's friend Clare (Lynne Griffin) goes missing from the sorority house, and a local adolescent girl is murdered, leading the girls to suspect a serial killer is on the loose. But no one realizes just how near the culprit is.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Stream Now

Critics Consensus

The rare slasher with enough intelligence to wind up the tension between bloody outbursts, Black Christmas offers fiendishly enjoyable holiday viewing for genre fans.

Read Critics Reviews

Anton Bitel

Little White Lies

11/13/2017

Made at a time when there were as yet no fixed rules for the slasher subgenre, here anything goes, and the survival of neither virgin nor even final girl comes guaranteed.

Go to Full Review

Variety Staff

Variety

12/27/2006

Only Marian Waldman as the house-mother comes across with any life.

Go to Full Review

Time Out

06/24/2006

The film still manages a good slice of old-fashioned suspense.

Go to Full Review

Arthur Steele

Birmingham Mail

Jan 15

It actually generates a real feeling of fear.

Go to Full Review

Patrick Cavanaugh

The Wolfman Cometh

Sep 12

4/5

Just as frightening and anxiety-inducing as it was when it was first released, thanks in large part to the charisma of the ensemble cast.

Go to Full Review

Gayle Sequeira

Inverse

Aug 26

“Silent Night” plays over the opening credits of Black Christmas, a cruel punchline for a film in which a group of women are plagued by a landline's repeated ringing — phone calls from a pervert — and any silence is eventually shattered by their screams.

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

Doctor who fan 1

@Autons1970. Feb 27

A Horror Classic that need to be seen by more people as it is underrated.

See more

Anna B

@Aaiko Feb 8

É um daqueles raros filmes de terror que envelhecem com dignidade — e até com certo frescor. Não por se manter atual, mas justamente por nunca ter dependido das modas que viriam a dominar o gênero. A ambientação natalina funciona como um contraste cruel e inteligentíssimo: luzes coloridas e canções festivas convivem com a sensação constante de uma presença invisível que nunca abandona a narrativa. O horror não irrompe — ele se infiltra. Está sempre ali, à espreita, transformando o cotidiano em algo ameaçador. O filme compreende que o verdadeiro terror nasce da vulnerabilidade emocional, e não apenas do perigo físico — um gesto radical para o cinema de horror de sua época. E então há o desfecho: seco, cruel, deliberadamente ambíguo. Um verdadeiro golpe de mestre, que se recusa a oferecer conforto, catarse ou fechamento moral, prolongando o mal-estar para além da última imagem. O filme entende algo essencial: o medo mais duradouro é aquele que nunca se revela por completo.

See more

Carlos I

@carlosFibarra Jan 5

Bob Clark’s 1974 masterpiece Black Christmas is a masterclass in atmospheric dread, utilizing chilling POV shots and a truly unsettling soundscape to redefine the genre. This stood as my favorite movie for a time, so to say this is the granddaddy and my favorite of Christmas horror films is an understatement; it effectively laid the blueprint for the slasher movement while maintaining a level of sophisticated tension that many of its successors lacked. By blending a bleak, wintry aesthetic with a genuinely terrifying mystery, it remains the definitive holiday nightmare that proves some gifts are better left unopened.

See more

dyana T

@dydy127 Dec 25

okay movie, policeman reminded me of Zac Efron ngl

See more

Jason H

@RT50328122 Dec 20

A true horror classic, and one of my favorite Xmas movies.

See more

Ash P

@AshParth Dec 16

Overall, this was a good feminist horror Christmas movie that I was glad that I'd checked out. Sure, it's not perfect with some of my gripes. However, the atmosphere and the themes keep the movie going with a likable cast of characters and the buildup for what it delivers. It works when you get older and come out of your comfort zone with something that you'd despised in your young'un days. Worth checking out if you're interested in a different kind of Christmas horror movie. I will give the 1974 Black Christmas movie seven suffocated body on a rocking chair with the plastic bag still over her head out of ten. 7/10. Well, with this one out of the way. Time to look into the remakes.

See more

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

POST RATING

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

Bob Clark

Director

Olivia Hussey

Jessica Bradford

Margot Kidder

Barbie Coard

Keir Dullea

Peter Smythe

John Saxon

Lt. Ken Fuller

Marian Waldman

Mrs. Mac

Christmas Evil

57%

36%

Christmas Evil

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Christmas Evil

Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers

41%

54%

Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers

Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers

11%

36%

Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers

Watchlist

Graveyard Shift

0%

23%

Graveyard Shift

Watchlist

Night of the Demons

56%

60%

Night of the Demons

Watchlist

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

Black Christmas: Trailer 1

4:04

View more videos

View more photos

Synopsis

As winter break begins, a group of sorority sisters, including Jess (Olivia Hussey) and the often inebriated Barb (Margot Kidder), begin to receive anonymous, lascivious phone calls. Initially, Barb eggs the caller on, but stops when he responds threateningly. Soon, Barb's friend Clare (Lynne Griffin) goes missing from the sorority house, and a local adolescent girl is murdered, leading the girls to suspect a serial killer is on the loose. But no one realizes just how near the culprit is.

Director: Bob Clark
Producer: Bob Clark
Screenwriter: Roy Moore
Distributor: Eclectic DVD Distribution, Warner Home Vídeo, Warner Bros.
Production Co: Film Funding Ltd. of Canada, Famous Players, August Films, Vision IV, Canadian Film Development Corporation (CFDC)
Rating: R
Genre: Holiday, Horror
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 20, 1974, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 13, 2016
Runtime: 1h 38m
Sound Mix: Mono
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

Most Popular at Home Now