Black Christmas (1974)

What to Expect

Black Christmas is widely believed to be the very first slasher movie, years ahead of Friday the 13th. It was also the first movie to film from the viewpoint of the killer and also believed to be the first to introduce 'œthe call is coming from inside the house' trope. This all deserves kudos. That aside, it's really slow. I actually like slow burns, when the timing is used to develop story and suspense which both culminate in dread and terror. Not the case here. It was half soap opera and half is listening to really long obscene phone calls, like really long. We get it, he's a creep'¦ but then he just keeps going and going. And the girls are just as freaked out the 15th time they answer his call as they were the 1st. And the loud old fashioned phone is literally ringing through the entire movie. There's a scene with Christmas carolers, pretty nice actually for the first couple of minutes. But they keep singing and singing and singing. You can fast forward, grab a bite to eat, and they'll probably still be singing when you get back. Solid classic Christmas horror, just slow.