And this week's Friday night movie has been... Black Christmas!
Its well documented that I have a strong distaste for slasher movies. But, for some reason I will never understand, I still ended up watching this one.
In this case, this movie has reputation for being one of the earliest entrants in the slasher genre. Some even say that the mighty Halloween owes a considerable debt to.
Watching this movie, there is a lot going for it: The 'dumb teenagers' trope that so frustrates me with slasher movies is thankfully absent. The tension is unbearable. The trick of 'what you can't see' is put to good use. And the killer is nothing less than unsettling.
The real treat however is the cast - in particular there are some names I have seen previously: Olivia Hussey (1968 Romeo and Juliet), Keir Dullea (2001: A Space Odyssey) and Margot Kidder (Superman). It is indeed a treat seeing these faces in roles completely different from what I' knew them from. Kidder in particular is a treat to see as a smoking/hard drinking curmudgeon.
So yeah, a slasher that does things differently is always welcome in my book.
Still not sold on the genre though...
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