FemaleFirst.co.uk: DVD: Black Christmas [1974] [DVD]

Black Christmas [1974] [DVD]
enlarge	Director: Bob Clark Actors: Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea, Margot Kidder, John Saxon, Roy Moore Studio: Tartan Video Category: DVD List Price: ~~£15.99~~ Buy New: £5.01 as of 23/11/2009 01:59 GMT details You Save: £10.98 (69%) New (17) Used (13) Collectible (1) from £2.79 Seller: ehead-uk Rating: 9 reviews Sales Rank: 12443 Format: Anamorphic, PAL Language: English (Original Language) Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over Region: 2 Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Number Of Discs: 1 Running Time: 98 Minutes Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2 Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6 EAN: 5023965372222 ASIN: B000KHYKHM Release Date: December 4, 2006 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days


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Customer Reviews: Showing reviews 1-5 of 9 1 2 Next » You Better Watch Out..........! December 2, 2007 Scots Lass (Scotland) 6 out of 6 found this review helpful Made in 1974, Black Christmas was one of the first "slasher" movies and on this dvd the print has been perfectly restored with modern sound added - although purists can watch it with the original mono sound if they choose. br / br /Set at Christmas time, the story has a group of university female students living together in a house on campus where they are subjected to obscene telephone calls. Mouthy, drink loving Babs (Margot Kidder) likes to answer the caller back, but sensible Jess (Olivia Hussey) feels he should not be encouraged. br / br /Before long the girls and their house mother are being murdered one by one. The suspense which builds to the killings is truly chilling and, unlike modern films of the type, there is no reliance of blood and gore to create horror. As the police battle to trace the source of the calls the girls must stand together and face the terror which has come to their door. br / br /I suspect the 18 rating is caused by the frequent use of the C word in the obscene phone calls. There is little gore or blood and without the language this could easily have been rated 15. br / br /Well worth purchasing for fans of a well made, well paced horror drama which keeps the viewer engaged with lively characters and a suspense filled plot..... br / br /Just hope your phone doesn't ring while your watching! Dead silence is the scariest December 29, 2007 H. Vallance (UK) 6 out of 7 found this review helpful I have often wondered why there are so many bad horror movies these days. Movies that instead of focusing on suspense and real chills, just pour endless amounts of blood in your face, thinking this will do the trick, and hopefully become a cult classic. Film after film, more and more horror movies are becoming increasingly similair, and you can almost guess the whole entire plot of the movie, no more than 10 minutes into the film. Everything in horror these days is all about over the top special effects, numbingly loud thumping music, that is supposed to get you scared. Black Christmas (the original) is (IMO) one of the best and scariest horror movies ever made. Why? you ask. Let me tell you. There are so many reasons. First. In horror today, when someone (usually the pretty girl) is walking towards a door or a room (thinking someone will be there) - and they are. The film makers feel the need to spoil the moment with ridiculously loud music that is (intended) to get you all hyped up for the big surprise. When they don't realise that this spoils 99% of the scene. For instance, 10 minutes into the movie, one of the sorority girls "Claire" goes up stairs to her room, to pack some things, preparing for a trip. While entering the room she is greeted by the house cat "Claud". While packing, Claire hears a strange meow. At first she just ignores, but the meow gets more and more intense and chillingly creepy. She then notices that the meow is coming from the closet (not far from where she is standing) at the end of the room (and the closet door is open). She paces towards the closet (with a terrified stare) quickly realising that the meow is not coming from the house cat, asking "Who is that?" several times. The thing that makes this scene 'GOLD' is while walking to the closet and asking "Who is that?" there is no music! - just dead silence. This makes the scene and situation seem more real and 1000 times more scary. The viewers are at the edge of their seat, hanging on to pure silence while she walks further and further to the closet. This is far more terrifiying than continuous loud music, that spoils the moment, because you know by the music when the killer is going to approach. That scene is horror at it's best and everyone should see the film for that scene alone. Secondly, the entrance of the movie is shocking. The camera is filmed like a documentry (like the camera is the stalker, walking nearer and nearer to the house) While spying on his victims he realises he is able to climb to the top of the house where he can enter the attic. The directer's captured this amazingly and it gave off that feeling, that raw, real, scare, that this really could happen to anyone. One of the standout scares and scenes that stick in your brain are the chillingly disturbing phone call scenes. The girls recieve numurous phone calls from the same man, only there's a catch. It's not your typical Scream phone call were the killer asks "Are you alone?" and "What's your favourite scary movie?" he talks with himself, displaying what appears to be a severe split personality. The phone calls get more and more scary as the movie goes on. Especially near the end were the killer actually goes crazy portraying more than 4 different voices and characters - the horrific sound of his voice will haunt you after the movie is over (which I guess is great for the creater, as all the best horror movies make long lasting impressions). The last thing I will say is there are a lot of people, reviewers, saying the end was disappointing because they still don't know who the killer is. Huh? lets get this straight. The killer isn't a person in the movie who is coming across nice, nor is he pretending to be a close friend - infact he doesn't know any of the girls at all. He is merley a deranged, dangerous man who passed a sorority house and thought it would be fun to hide inside their attic and hack them off 1 by 1. I will not spoil the rest of the movie for those who haven't seen it. All I will say is if you want a great horror movie that when the credits role you will be affraid to walk upstairs, THIS IS THE MOVIE FOR YOU. You will also be staring at your attic door for about a week. Stalker Horror January 23, 2009 Lark (Ireland) 1 out of 3 found this review helpful This is a great film, its from an age before tedious slasher films which desensitising audiences to violence and made horror more amusing than revolting. br / br /The film is a stalker horror. A murderous pervert stalks and kills members of a serority house and there are a lot of ideas and themes which have been used in other movies since, the lurker in the attic; obscene and threatening phone calls; intergenerational conflicts but there's a real sense in which it was done here first and it was done here best. Infact alongside Hitcher, which is more action orientated, I would argue its an archetypical stalker horror picture. br / br /There is real tension throughout the movie, the gradual but incomplete revelations about the stalker character are revolting from the outside but build to a genuinely fearsome impression, resulting in a genuinely chilling final finish. br / br /None of the violence is that gratuitous or unnecessary to the point of making for disgusting viewing, it always serves the storyline. There are plenty of elements which are in tune with a classical horror theme, reflections on morality, misery, curiousity, vulnerability. Infact its as cautionary a tale in some respects as fables of trolls beneath bridges. br / br /On the trivia side some viewers will make the connection between some of the tension building sound effects and background music and surival horror games like Resident Evil. really good! January 10, 2008 G. Allan (Cupar, Fife) I watched the original when it came out at the cinema in the 70's and had me on the edge of my seat!! has just the right amount of creepiness and heart beating moments not to totally terrify you but also keeps the story! br /The new 2006(I think it is) remake is not the same. Buy this one to be as near the original!! Old Blacky Babes June 24, 2007 Jan Stephens 11 out of 11 found this review helpful Unlike some other horror movies from the 1970's (Halloween, Friday the 13th, Suspiria) Back Christmas has unfortunately become a bit of a lost gem. I must admit that I had not seen or heard of Black Christmas until very recently when recommended by a friend.. but I'm really glad I've discovered it now. It reminded me of how well they used to make horror movies in the 1970's, every shot in this lost classic keeps you well and truly on a knifes edge. The film may not be as gory as it's brothers and sisters from that decade, but it certainly makes up for it in suspense and JUMPS! and it hasn't dated to badly either after more than thirty years. From the horridly twisted telephone calls to the scary as hell eye that look's through the crack in the door.. there's plenty here for all fans of the slasher/stalker genre.. see it NOW. br / br /The Duvada also comes with some very informative documentaries that give you a detailed account as to how the film was made. Using interviews from producers and actors, even revisiting some of the main locations.. there's more here than most highly regarded horror movie packages. Showing reviews 1-5 of 9 1 2 Next »

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