Movies - Black Christmas

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	Movies - Black Christmas

Black Christmas is a 1974 Canadian horror film, directed by Bob Clark (A Christmas Story
, Porky's
). Black Christmas stars Olivia Hussey as a young college student who must deal with a deranged killer lurking in her sorority house. It also features Margot Kidder and Andrea Martin, before either had gained fame in the United States, John Saxon and Keir Dullea round out the cast. The film makes use of dark corners, off-kilter camera angles, and uses its score by Carl Zittrer sparingly to create a claustrophobic and frightening experience.

Working from a budget of $620,000 and an eight week shooting schedule, the film was shot in and around Toronto during the winter of 1974. When originally released in the United States, Warner Bros, fearing that audiences might confuse it for a blaxploitation movie, changed the title to Stranger in the House. It performed poorly until its title was changed back to Black Christmas.

Though John Carpenter's Halloween (1978) is generally credited with popularizing the main motifs of the contemporary slasher film genre, many genre afficianados will contend that Black Christmas invented many of them four years ealier. For example, the film features shots from the perspective of the killer, replete with muffled breathing noises. Also, it is a slasher film centered around a holiday, much in the manner Halloween was.

Trivia

First horror film to use the "the calls are coming from inside the house" plotline. Later used in When a Stranger Calls
.
John Saxon
's scenes were filmed separately from the leads, yet they appear to be in the same room.
A remake
, directed by Glen Morgan
, may go into production in 2006.
Edmund O'Brien was originally supposed to play the character that Saxon played.
Originally scripted as THE BABYSITTER, then title changed to STOP ME, and eventually produced as BLACK CHRISTMAS, the film predates Halloween by 4 years.
The original script was written by Canadian Roy Moore who had read about a similar story happening in major cities around the world in a 12 month period. This was never proved. Apparently the Rosemont section of Montreal was the closest story to home.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Black Christmas ]

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Movies - Black Christmas

Trivia

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