by Colleen Wanglund for MoreHorror.com

Directed by Bob Clark and written by Roy Moore BLACK CHRISTMAS (1974) stars Olivia Hussey and Margot Kidder as sorority sisters who are just heading into their Christmas break when they become increasingly unnerved by some strange and frightening phone calls. It is the night before the girls in the house will be leaving for wherever they will spend their break and they’re having a party. Jess (Hussey) answers the phone and hears who the girls call the moaner. They’re all listening until Barb (Kidder) takes the phone and basically tells the guy where to go. Clare (Lynne Griffin) doesn’t appreciate Barb’s broad use of the English language so she goes to her room to pack; and she becomes the first victim. When Clare’s father shows up looking for her, Clare’s disappearance is reported to the police who promptly shrug it off….until a 13-year-old girl also goes missing. It is after this when Jess finally reports the harassing phone calls to the police.

Meanwhile, we discover that Jess is pregnant but doesn’t want to have the baby, much to the annoyance of her boyfriend Peter (Kier Dullea). Peter is studying to be a concert pianist and is apparently quite high-strung. When Lt. Fuller (John Saxon) orders the phone tapped so the police can trace the calls he overhears a conversation between Jess and Peter that he isn’t comfortable with. Lt. Fuller decides to look into Peter’s background and Peter then becomes a suspect. Okay back to the main storyline. While the police are tapping the phone at the sorority house they discover the body of the missing 13-year-old. A few more girls end up dead, including Mrs. Mac (Marian Waldman) the girls’ house mother, who has a love affair with alcohol. Eventually the police discover that the caller is closer than they thought and they race to save the remaining girls.

This movie actually scared the crap out of me although it didn’t start out that way. The first half hour was a bit slow and plodding after the first girl is murdered but once the proverbial poop hit the fan it held my interest until the closing credits. Also released in the USA under the title SILENT NIGHT, EVIL NIGHT and later on television as STRANGER IN THE HOUSE, regardless of title this is one creepy movie. There is just about no blood or gore to speak of but the story works and the directing and editing were pretty close to perfect. The phone calls are very disturbing with the caller using multiple voices as if possessed. The sound is reminiscent of the multiple voices heard from Linda Blair in THE EXORCIST (1973) and may have been the inspiration.

The scariest thing about "BLACK CHRISTMAS" is that the killer is already in the house. I’m not giving anything away….we see his climb up to the attic and onto the top floor through his eyes. I mean, that’s got to scare anyone. The idea of a killer in your house and you don’t even know it! Kidder’s character is a pain in the ass and Jess is definitely the smart one. Hussey plays the character flawlessly. Even when her hair is pulled at a run her reaction is completely believable. With a great twist ending and one of the spookiest credit rolls I’ve ever seen this is the horror movie to watch when you want a scare at Christmas.