Stalker film that predates even Halloween and remains one of the more effective of its kind. Obviously very influential on the flood of stalker films that followed in the 80's in the wake of John Carpenter's Halloween. Black Christmas can claim to be the granddaddy of the 80's stalker genre, still going strong in the 90's with the Screams and I Know What You Did Last Summer etc.

It's the festive season and while most students have made their way home for the vacations, several of the inhabitants of this one sorority are staying put for one reason or the other. A maniacal killer slips through a window like Santa Claus and shacks up in the attic from where he begins to terrorize the inmates. This film is a revelation because it is shocking how innovative it is and moreover how some much more famous movies have clearly borrowed from it.

Though we are loathe to admit it, John Carpenter's classic Halloween bears striking similarities to Black Christmas with similar use of the killers point of view as the lenses perspective as well as the muted breathing of the psychotic killer. When a Stranger Calls, itself a superior slasher film, and Wes Craven's Scream liberally borrow their finest ideas from Bob Clark's unsung effort. This therefor is absolutely essential for anyone who is remotely interested in the "stalker, slasher" genre.

The acting is suitably impressive from a distinguished cast. This is one of those movies that somehow got away, but upon discovering it, one can see that it is several cuts above others of its kind AND that it was easily ahead of the game by at least a couple of years. No one can accuse this of being an imitation of any sort! Chilling, scary fun.