RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Check out the new RT Community
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | In Theaters
  • | Opening
  • | Upcoming
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / Upcoming / Black Christmas
Black Christmas

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Buy Poster External Icon
Bookmark and Share

Black Christmas (1974)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
64 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:22

Fresh:14

Rotten:8

Average Rating:5.9/10

Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins

Genre: Horror/Suspense

US Box Office: $0

Synopsis: The few remaining residents of a Canadian sorority house are celebrating the onset of Christmas vacation when a thirteen year-old girl is found dead in the park. Soon, it is discovered that one of... The few remaining residents of a Canadian sorority house are celebrating the onset of Christmas vacation when a thirteen year-old girl is found dead in the park. Soon, it is discovered that one of the sorority sisters is missing, which triggers a terrifying chain of murders within the house. Director Bob Clark's (PORKY'S, A CHRISTMAS STORY) tense, effective film is a precursor to the slasher films that would come a half decade later, but never relies on gore. Olivia Hussy (ROMEO AND JULIET) stars alongside Margot Kidder and SCTV's Andrea Martin. [More]

Starring: Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea, Margot Kidder, John Saxon

Starring: Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea, Margot Kidder, John Saxon, Andrea Martin, Marion Waldman, Art Hindle, Lynne Griffin, Michael Rapport

Director: Bob Clark

Director: Bob Clark
Screenwriter: Roy Moore
Composer: Carl Zittrer

[See More Credits]

  • Trailers
  • Pictures
  • Trailer
    >
    Christmas Cookies
    >
    Mary Elizabeth Winstead & Michelle Trachtenberg
    >
    Lacey Chabert
    >
  • Katie Cassidy & Oliver Hudson
    >
1 - 4 of 5

See More Movie Trailers & Pictures

Reviews for Black Christmas

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Generally heralded as the first of its kind, Black Christmas may actually be one of a kind.

Full Review Source: Film Freak Central | comment Comment
12/05/08
Bill Chambers
Bill Chambers
Film Freak Central

Perhaps frightening in 1974, it really doesn't hold up today unless you can forget the 12,000 films exactly like it, which is difficult.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment 2 Comments
07/23/07
Rob Gonsalves
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com

Clark consegue crier uma atmosfera incômoda a partir de um fiapo de roteiro, sendo auxiliado também pela performance contida da bela Hussey.

comment Comment
04/13/07
Pablo Villaca
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena

...a sporadically effective slasher...

Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | comment Comment
12/30/06
David Nusair
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews

Only Marian Waldman as the house-mother comes across with any life.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
12/27/06
Variety Staff
Variety Staff
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Although strictly standard fare, the material is elevated somewhat through Clark's skillful handling of such plot devices as obscene phone calls from the killer to the girls via the upstairs phone and a nicely handled twist ending.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
12/04/06
TV Guide's Movie Guide
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The film still manages a good slice of old-fashioned suspense.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This dark holiday classic ranks as one of the screen's very first slasher flicks.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
05/26/06
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

Corrodes jolly yuletide cheer with some cruel prank calls, sexual tension and sorority girl slayings.

Full Review Source: Lessons of Darkness | comment Comment
02/16/06
Nick Schager
Nick Schager
Lessons of Darkness

No review available.

comment Comment
08/12/05
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

A whodunit that begs the question of why it was made.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
05/09/05
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The horror film that started it all....not to be missed

comment Comment
03/31/05
Clint Morris
Clint Morris
Moviehole

Like Carpenter, Clark avoids graphic gore, focussing instead on suggestion and using careful mise-en-scene, editing and use of music to build suspense.

Full Review Source: Eye for Film | comment Comment
12/12/03
Keith H. Brown
Keith H. Brown
Eye for Film

If nothing else, Black Christmas will always be remembered as the inferior older brother to Clark's other Christmas flick, the Tito of the Jackson clan.

Full Review Source: Movie Views | comment Comment
12/01/03
Ryan Cracknell
Ryan Cracknell
Movie Views

Cold, classy, and straightforward, Black Christmas also has the advantage of good acting by the female leads played by Margot Kidder and Olivia Hussey.

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/08/02
Heidi Martinuzzi
Heidi Martinuzzi
Film Threat

its progeny would improve quite a bit on the formula

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment 2 Comments
11/24/02
Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

No review available.

comment Comment
10/23/02
Mark Palermo
Mark Palermo
Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

Confused and confusing, but creepy

comment Comment
10/02/02
Ken Hanke
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

No review available.

comment Comment
07/26/02
Philip Martin
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

From the director of "A Christmas Story," but don't let that fool you!

comment Comment
07/25/02
Scott Weinberg
Scott Weinberg
eFilmCritic.com
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
all

Latest News for Black Christmas

December 25, 2008: Further Reading: Seasonal Slaying - The 12 Horrors of Christmas
Thanks to Charles Dickens and A Christmas Carol, the Yuletide season has long been associated with ghost stories -- often with hard-won uplift at the end, like Scrooge being... More...

April 04, 2007: "Christmas Story" Director Bob Clark Dies In Crash
Bob Clark, director of "A Christmas Story," "Porky's," and many other works in a career that spanned four decades died in a car crash early this morning in... More...

December 28, 2006: Critical Consensus: "Dreamgirls" Hits The High Notes; "Black Christmas" Gets A Lump Of Coal
This week at the movies, we've got the rise and fall of a girl group ("Dreamgirls," starring Jamie Foxx, Beyonce Knowles, and Eddie Murphy) and some yuletide splatter... More...

December 20, 2006: RT's Top Holiday Thrillers -- Christmas Countdown, Day Three
Welcome to Day Three of RT's Five Days of Christmas Countdown, in which we serve up a different list each day of the best holiday flicks around. Today, we've got the... More...

See All

More Movies

Coming Soon in Australia
Tomatometer Percentage Movie Date

80% 80% 2012 12/11
63% 63% The Brothers Bloom 12/11
48% 48% Dorian Gray 12/11
17% 17% Amelia 12/11
71% 71% The Boys Are Back 12/11

What’s Hot On RT

RT on DVD

RT on DVD

Transformers 2 rolls out

Prince of Persia

Prince of Persia

Watch the HD trailer premiere here

Scary Xmas Films

Scary Xmas Films

We pick 10 of the best

New Moon

New Moon

Behind the scenes with the Twilight stars.

Other News

  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • Weekly Ketchup: Abrams eyes Micronauts, Aykroyd as Yogi Bear
51
  • J.J. Abrams Producing Micronauts Movie? Source: Wall Street Journal
11
  • Peter Murphy Filming Twilight Saga: Eclipse Cameo Source: MTV
18
  • David Goyer Promises "Existential" Ghost Rider Sequel Source: MTV
156
  • Emmerich Plans 2012: The TV Series Source: Entertainment Weekly
18
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
42
  • Guttenberg Promises Three Men and a Baby Sequel Source: WENN
66
  • Berenstain Bears Going CGI for Big-Screen Debut Source: USA Today
3
  • Ian McKellen Is Excited About The Hobbit Source: Sci Fi Wire
26
  • Owen Wilson IS Marmaduke Source: Hollywood Reporter
40
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • 12 Facts About 2012
132
  • Total Recall: George Clooney's Best Movies
88
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: This Is It Tops Box Office Worldwide
55
  • Critics Consensus: A Christmas Carol Dazzles But Disappoints
40
  • Ho-ho-horror! 10 Scary Christmas Movies
36
  • Friday Harvest: Prince of Persia, The Road, and more!
21
  • Weekly Ketchup: Abrams eyes Micronauts, Aykroyd as Yogi Bear
17
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
14
  • RT on DVD: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
0
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
14
  • Richard Kelly chats about The Box
1
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
15
  • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
8
  • Wolverine Creator Len Wein Talks About the Film
28
  • Gavin Hood Talks Wolverine; Possible Sequel
28
  • Duncan Jones talks Moon, Sam Rockwell, and Mute
14
  • Emma Stone talks Zombieland - RT Interview
40
  • Michael Moore: The RT Interview
139
  • Andrea Arnold talks Fish Tank - RT Interview
4
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • Black Christmas at Rotten Tomatoes
  • Black Christmas at IGN

Fresh Links

Featured
Oscar nomination for Rockwell?
Oscar nomination for Rockwell? External Link

Join Moon director Duncan Jones' quest to get Sam a nod.

Scorsese's favourite horror movies
Scorsese's favourite horror movies External Link

What are Marty's all-time scariest picks? The Daily Beast finds out.

Werewolves Prowl the Movies
Werewolves Prowl the Movies External Link

TIME tells us the tales behind 13 of Hollywood's most famous wolfmen.

The Return of Pee-wee
The Return of Pee-wee External Link

The 57-year-old is headed back to the Playhouse. Details catches up with the iconic star.

Follow Rotten Tomatoes on Twitter
Follow Rotten Tomatoes on Twitter External Link

Get all the latest movie updates, reviews, interviews and features here.

Competitions
Win Tranformers: Revenge of the Fallen and more on DVD
Win Tranformers: Revenge of the Fallen and more on DVD External Link

The year's biggest film is here and we're giving away big Transformers prize packs -- including both movies and the animated series.

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.