Black Christmas (1974)

Black Christmas begins with a party inside a sorority house right before Christmas break. A demented man climbs up into the attic from outside. The girls receive a call from someone breathing heavily, moaning, yelling, and casting his voice as a woman and child. The girls become frightened. One girl, Clare, goes to her room and is attacked and killed by the man. Meanwhile, Jess meets her boyfriend, Peter, to tell him that she is pregnant and wants an abortion. Peter becomes very distraught. Jess continues to receive phone calls from the “the moaner”. The police track the calls and they are coming from inside the house. Jess goes upstairs to find two of her friends slaughtered. The killer attacks and chases Jess to the basement. Peter then shows up outside the basement. He breaks in and approaches Jess. She thinks that he is the killer and kills him. The police find Jess in shock and sedate her in her room. They assume the killer was Peter and never investigate the attic where the real killer hides.

One thing that I really like about this film is the killers POV. You never see the killer except for his eye when he is hiding behind the door in Barb’s room. The camera was mounted on one of the cameramen as he climbed into the attic and when he stabbed Barb to death. When we see the killer’s POV, we can hear his breathing and his whispering under his breath. It really added to his creepiness and made him even more demented. Also, the score used in the film was very effective in adding to the suspense. I have read that the composer “created the film's mysterious music by tying forks, combs and knives onto the strings of the piano in order to warp the sound of the keys.” This was a very creative and effective method. I also liked the way the camera seemed to be looking down on the girls when they were by the phone and the stairs. It made the sorority girls seem small and scared. Since the killer was mostly upstairs you always had the feeling that you were watching the girls in a devious manner.