Black Christmas is often hailed as the first Slasher, beating the other much hailed contender Halloween, by 4 years. I'm not so sure, it certainly has the 'feel' of a slasher, but it's lacking a few elements that it would need for me to class it as one; the antagonist isn't present enough for that, nor are there any actual slashings.
From the overall tone of the thing, I'm surprised it managed to avoid the Video Nasties list; I'm not saying it deserves a place there, but it's more worthy than others which did get a mention; couple that with its Christmas background, and it seems it would have been on the censors hit list in the 80s.
Our pool of victims is mostly taken from a sorority house, who's 'house mother' (is that even a thing? - a middle age lady who oversees the house) provides the comic relief, with the funny alcoholism and false 'nicey nicey' front hiding a charmingly foul-mouthed lady.
The kills are nice - particularly the first one, which comes as a great scare - but not graphic, and the suspense is well handled; but for the most part the movie is a whodunit, and as such the ending lets it down, with the reveal managing to be be both predictable and lacking in motive, and then a needless sting at the end that undoes even that. I also felt that the christmas theme was underused; this is not a christmas horror movie, so much as a horror movie which just happens to take place in the run up to christmas.
That said, it's an enjoyable enough romp in the slasher style, and it's always nice to see John Saxon (Nightmare on Elm Street, Cannibal Apocalypse) doing his bit as a cop in a horror movie.
Despite not being a slasher, I think this one will appeal to slasher fans. and I give it a cautious thumbs up.
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