Just watched both movies tonight with friends and I was suprised that SNBN is vastly more re-watchable every year than Black Christmas. It's not really a better movie, but there's a greater story to tell and I can never quite remember it as clearly each year so it's always suprising. Black Christmas, I just noticed, gets really bogged down with police procedure, phone tappings, side-line humor etc.
shareKudos, Craig, for understanding the difference between the two films. To me, "Black Christmas" is empty and the phone calls are cringe-inducing. I know, but to me all the smut lowers the bar.
shareI agree, BLACK CHRISTMAS is much more puerile and clearly conceived to be more commercially marketable, and the humor goes way too far, to the distracting and superfluous detriment of the film and its horror, which I also think mars Bob Clark's DEATHDREAM in many ways as well. I think the best instance of the humor, despite being over the top, working really well in a Clark horror film was CHILDREN SHOULDN'T PLAY WITH DEAD THINGS.
I also feel that BLACK CHRISTMAS is very unsatisfying in terms of inconsistency in tone, the humor mentioned comprising a portion of that poor balance. I am also not that crazy about the Kier Dullea and Olivia Hussey romantic pregnancy, deteriorating relationship subplot, though in light of the situation's particulars, Dullea turning out to be the killer is somewhat amusing. Hussey is also EXTREMELY annoying in her role and badly cast, I think. Dullea is quite good, though as is the rest of the cast. The entire cast in SILENT NIGHT is fabulous!!!!!!! SILENT NIGHT's dialogue and even minor characterizations are also very strong. The atmosphere is so palpable and genuine, really plausible and effective, the characters are very much a part of the elemental atmosphere of the film.
I also think that there are many striking similarities between stylistic aspects of both films, the phone calls (Wilfred Butler's harsh whisper and demeanor are far creepier than the silly, sexually puerile/infantilistic "Billy" voice which is also clearly achieved by multiple voices even unrealistically mixed atop and concurrent with each other at some points), the stalking point of view shots, wide angle photography stylization and use, the use of prepared piano/orchestral dissonance within the two film's scores....SILENT NIGHT is a far more mature and complex tapestry of a film, it is, of course, MUCH lower budget than BLACK CHRISTMAS so it has more rough edges, though this is exacerbated by all the poor video transfers being circulated within the public domain, alas.....I think SILENT NIGHT is infinitely superior to BLACK CHRISTMAS, though I do enjoy BLACK CHRISTMAS, still.....I even think many aspects of HALLOWEEN were clearly derived from SILENT NIGHT, look at the Hospital for the Criminally Insane escape sequence, for example...Though HALLOWEEN is derivative of tons of films, and is vastly inferior to both SILENT NIGHT and BLACK CHRISTMAS.....
I don't get how some people think Black Christmas had too much humor in it. There is only one humorous scene and it worked, it made the movie feel more real because it made the characters seem more like people and not just characters in a movie. And it certainly didn't go too far like you think. It had nothing to do with the rest of the movie, so how could it have gone too far? unless you also are counting some of the stuff the characters say as "humor". Besides, like I said before it makes the character seem more real, therefor makes you care more about them.
shareDullea's character was not the killer. The killer is still alive and in the attic in the end.
I found a bird closing her eyes, one last time, and I wonder if she dreamed like me
I disagree. Silent Night, Bloody Night, while it has some interesting ideas, ultimately failed to engage me and was actually pretty dull. Black Christmas, on the other hand, is genuinely scary. The fact that we never find out exactly who Billy is(if you ignore the unfortunate remake) only adds to the menace. And the phone calls freaked me out!
shareI know people can have different opinions, but I really DO NOT understand how anyone could possibly like Silent Night Bloody Night better than Black Christmas. Especially for the reasons you said. I agree that Silent Night Bloody Night had a greater story to tell, but they did a HORRIBLE job of telling it, the acting sucked, you didn't give a *beep* about the characters and it had such a low budget you could barely tell what was going on half the time. You could tell the director didn't know what he was doing and probably didn't have that much experience.
Now black Christmas, it was the exact opposite of Silent Night Bloody Night, they tell the story better, the acting is better and the characters are actually human beings and not just people you're waiting to see get killed. Everything you said about Black Christmas, "police procedure, phone tapping, side-line humor", I think helped the movie a lot, a movie needs more than just people talking and getting killed. That's what I hated about silent Night Bloody Night, it got soooo damn boring in some parts. There is really only about 15 minutes of the movie that is even worth watching.
SNBN was a much more artistic film than Black Christmas. A far superior film. Black Christmas became boring.
Law? WHERE'S THE LAW NOW!!??!!-Burt Reynolds; Deliverance.
Both films are very good, but I must say Black Christmas is slightly better. I think this film is quite underrated and doesn't get the recognition it deserves. Both movies are perfect for horror fans to watch around the Christmas season.
I've been waiting for you, Ben.
Black Christmas *beep* all over this...
shareCan't say I agree. "Black Christmas" does indeed get sidetracked in subplots, but I think "Silent Night, Bloody Night" lacked momentum despite some decent visuals. 6/10 stars from me.
shareSNBN is a beautiful sleeper slasher, but Black Christmas is incomparably greater visually and tonally.
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