Black Christmas
Short description
Black Christmas is a Canadian horror film set in a university town during the Christmas holidays. The young women of a sorority house are getting ready to leave for the winter break when a stranger starts calling them, saying obscene things and threatening them. When one of the residents disappears, the police treat it as a low priority amid the festive season, but more calls follow and more of the women go missing. The story follows Jess, one of the sorority members, and Lieutenant Fuller as the harassment turns into something far more serious.
Bob Clark directed and produced the film, working from a screenplay by Roy Moore. It was the first title in a run of films Clark made over the following decades, ahead of Murder by Decree, Porky's and A Christmas Story. Olivia Hussey plays Jess, Keir Dullea plays Peter, Margot Kidder plays Barb, John Saxon plays Lt. Fuller, Marian Waldman plays Mrs. Mac and Andrea Martin plays Phyl, among a credited cast of thirty. The film runs 98 minutes and was made and released in Canada in 1974.
Worldwide box office came to about 4 million US dollars. On IMDb it holds 7.1 out of 10 from around 56,000 votes, and on TMDB 7 out of 10 from roughly 975 votes. A critics' rating of 6.5 out of 10 from 46 reviews places it close to the audience scores, indicating a broadly similar level of appreciation from both groups.
What's left behind the scenes
- The sorority house shown in the film was not a specially built set. It was a real building on the university campus that had to be rented for filming. It still stands on campus today and is now shown to tourists.
- According to director Bob Clark, the original script included more vivid and explicit murder scenes. Clark himself wanted them to be more 'muted' and less graphic, and it later turned out that screenwriter Roy Moore shared the same opinion.
- Oscar winner Edmond O'Brien was originally cast as Lieutenant Fuller. When they went to pick him up at the airport, they found him in a wheelchair. It soon turned out, however, that he could still walk. It then became known that O’Brien had Alzheimer’s disease. According to director Bob Clark, if it hadn’t been for the outdoor scenes filmed during the winter months, the actor probably would have remained with the film’s creative team, but as it was, co-producer Gerry Erbe was tasked with telling O’Brien that his services were no longer needed, and the actor burst into tears. If John Saxon hadn't been found urgently to play Fuller, the project would have been shut down.
- The working title of the film was "Stop Me".
- The NBC company scheduled the premiere of the film for January 28, 1978, under the title 'The Stranger in the House.' On January 15, 1978, two female students at Florida State University were murdered, and three nearby girls were injured. In light of this, NBC responded to numerous requests to pull the film from the broadcast. It later turned out that these crimes were committed by serial killer Ted Bundy.
- The screenplay was written by Canadian writer Roy Moore and was based on a real series of murders that took place in Quebec during the Christmas season. However, rumors circulate that the screenplay is based on an urban legend rather than actual cases.
- Bob Clark strictly adhered to the rule of not including any erotic scenes with the female characters in the film. He wanted the audience to see the students as real people, not as secondary characters in horror films who were destined to die, which was a staple of the genre.
- Nick Mancuso spoke in a raspy, frightening voice because he stood on his head to constrict his throat.
- As Bob Clark later stated, the scenes with the phone call were filmed before the profanity and obscenities were recorded. He didn't want the girls' reactions to be too expressive, as it would distract the audience from the shocking lines.
- For the scene in which a cat jumps onto the corpse of the character played by Lynn Griffin and begins to lick the bag over her head, catnip spray was applied to the actress's face to attract the animal.
- Albert J. Dunk strapped the camera to his shoulder and walked through the house and up the attic stairs, so that the audience would see everything as if through the eyes of his character.
- When the film was released in the United Kingdom, the British Board of Film Classification cut a number of coarse expressions used during obscene phone calls.
- There was practically no snowfall during filming, so the snow in the film is artificial. According to Albert J. Dunk, the grass grew an unusually vibrant green the following spring where the fire department foam, used to depict snow on the lawn, had been applied.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
