Talk:Black Christmas (1974 film)

Halloween
Is there any background for the mention that Carpenter supposadly got the plot from Halloween from a theorized Black Christmas sequel? If not, I'm thinking it's purely conjectural. 68.41.137.144, 05:58, 25 March 2006
 * I just added this information into the article. It is stated in a feature on the making of Black Christmas that was broadcast on the Space Channel/CHUM series On Screen, and this is stated by Bob Clark himself. I just watched it about 20 minutes ago. 23skidoo 07:41, 28 May 2006 (UTC)

I doubt the actuality of Bob Clark's claims. Although I love Black Christmas, and I think Bob Clark could've thought of the idea of Billy wreaking havoc on Halloween (in a case of parallel thinking), I don't believe this would have anything to do with John Carpenter. It's always been maintained that it was Irwin Yablans's idea to put their film on halloween and call it Halloween. Perhaps, however, John Carpenter had been influenced by this film as evidenced by some of the qualities of Halloween (POV shot, breathing, ending, etc). The sad thing is Black Christmas as a cult film maintains it's status as predating Halloween by 4 years (as evidenced by the back of the new DVD case). I do wish it could gain a bit more of a reputation. The problem is, the dialogue is quite crude compared to the more innuendo/euphamism oriented dialogue of Halloween (I think one utterance of the word 'cunt' would turn the MPAA off). The remake didn't help; I read the long synopsis of the film, and the film seems to be exponentially exploitative compared to the original film. I missed out on it completely; it didn't really seem to stay in theaters where I live (pretty odd considering I live in NYC). Hope that clears anything up (even though it's mostly what I believe), and don't mind my rambling.

As the same person who wrote those claims directly above, I'm starting to think of it the other way. John Carpenter is apparently evasive whenever asked the question of taking Bob Clark's idea in interviews. --137.238.149.151 (talk) 14:19, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

Is Black Christmas the one that ends with a continually ringing phone?
Every synopsis of Black Christmas I've read sounds so similar to a movie I saw on cable c. 1980 that I'm guessing it has to be the same movie. Still, I'm curious, and would like to know for sure. In the movie I recall, members of a sorority disappear one by one just before the start of Christmas break. I think I recall that no one gets worried about the first couple of disappearances because it's assumed that the girls have already left to go home for the break. In addition to the murders, the house is receiving obscene phone calls. Once the police realize there are murders happening, they figure out that the killer makes an obscene phone call right after every murder. The only apparent suspect is a guy who, as I recall, might have been the boyfriend of one of the sorority sisters, but who I think was more like just a friend to all the girls without dating any of them. This guy is a little odd, which makes him seem creepy once you realize there is a serial killer on the loose. The film moves the audience back and forth between thinking this guy is the killer and thinking he's too obvious a suspect, and therefore is most likely not the killer. After the next-to-last girl is killed, and the killer makes his post-murder phone call, the police frantically call the one girl left and tell her to get out because the call came from inside the house. As she's running toward the door she encounters the odd, creepy guy, who runs after her when she runs away from him, leading you to believe that he is in fact the killer. The police arrive, and arrest him. The one last girl is still alive. There's either a doctor or nurse who puts her under sedation because she's so distraught over what has happened, then leaves her sleeping alone in the house. At this point you find out that the real killer has not been caught after all, as a killer's-eye view reveals him approaching the sleeping girl. The movie ends with a view of the front of the house, while from inside, the phone can be heard ringing--presumably it's the killer making his post-murder obscene call. Now that the last girl has been killed, the phone keeps ringing and ringing, and you neve have any idea who the killer actually is. Is this Black Christmas, Stranger in the House, etc.?

Yeah that's it. Thanks you refreshed my memory too. I wanna see it 02:18, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

Incorrect Redirect
Typing in "Silent Night Deadly Night" redirects to Black Christmas but it shouldn't. I see later in the article that the film BC was renamed Silent Night EVIL Night. That is not to be confused with the film Silent Night Deadly Night which came out 10 years later. The redirect should be corrected or removed. Kwyjibear 07:02, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

Plot Summary error?
Maybe when I just watched this, it was edited for TV, but they didn't show Jessica kill Peter. So, I don't think the plot summary should assume that she did. It's certainly a possibility, but she's just found later, unconcious with Peter dead in her arms.
 * See my note under "LEAVE THE PLOT ALONE," below. Pac if ic Bo y  19:03, 27 June 2011 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Black christmas movie poster.jpg
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BetacommandBot (talk) 05:55, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

itsmebilly.com
I've once again removed references to links to this site. Although the link claims it to be the films official website, I can't see any evidence of this on the page itself. Since the link has been removed by other users in the past I suggest it stays off the page. Davidor7 (talk) 13:01, 29 January 2009 (UTC)

LEAVE THE PLOT ALONE
Somebody needs to stop inserting "Jess killed Peter" or any other information that CANNOT be proven. Unless the film or anyone that was involved with the film says otherwise, it's best to leave it mysteriously as "Peter's bloodied body is on top of Jess" or something more sophisticated. contribs) 23:03, 18 November 2010 (UTC)
 * I just watched this movie for the first time, and there's a line in the film in which one of the cops wonders out loud why Jess would have killed Peter. Pac if ic Bo y  19:02, 27 June 2011 (UTC)

Andrea Martin
Anyone else think Andrea Martin, who played Phyll, should be included where it mentions the stars of the film? Her role was pretty major and no less important than Margo Kidder's who is listed. I mean Marian Waldman is listed and Andrea had more screen time than her. MarkMc1990 (talk) 08:57, 22 December 2010 (UTC)

Adding new sections
There should be a section added to the article that talks about the the film's writing, direction and film style since it is considered one of the first slasher films and has influenced many films.--Paleface Jack (talk) 23:08, 4 July 2014 (UTC)

Novelization
There is no mention in this article on the novelization of the film that was published.--Paleface Jack (talk) 22:52, 2 July 2015 (UTC)
 * Presumably due to how extremely obscure and rare it is. -- Lord Crayak (talk) 01:07, 3 July 2015 (UTC)

It should still be mentioned since it is a part of the film.--Paleface Jack (talk) 21:18, 3 July 2015 (UTC)

Cleanup and Citiation
This article needs to be cleaned up and much of the information in this article is, sadly, unsourced. This needs to be fixed with the usourced material given proper citations for its information. The reception section is too short and needs reviews from notable critics added to the article, something that was removed from previous versions of the article. The production section also needs to be cleaned up and possibly have more information added to it as well as giving the unsourced material proper citations. All of these changes and additions need to occur in order for this article to meet Wikipiedia's guidelines and standards of a well developed and properly sourced article.--Paleface Jack (talk) 05:42, 23 July 2016 (UTC)

More Expansion of Production section
This article is coming along great. However, there is still a bunch of information and sources that needs to be added to the production section. Information discussing the development of the film's characters such as Billy, more details on the casting, and filming also needs to be added with proper citations from reliable sources.--Paleface Jack (talk) 18:31, 31 October 2018 (UTC)

"The Moaner" listed at Redirects for discussion
An editor has asked for a discussion to address the redirect The Moaner. Please participate in the redirect discussion if you wish to do so. Shhhnotsoloud (talk) 13:55, 28 September 2019 (UTC)

Sources to Add
Doing a little research, I have uncovered some more sources that can be used in the article. I would do it myself but I am currently swamped working on getting Begotten up to FA status and working on finishing up draft articles. I will just post the sources here so if anyone wants to do it, go right ahead. --Paleface Jack (talk) 18:37, 5 December 2019 (UTC)
 * Blood Money: A History of the First Teen Slasher Film Cycle By Richard Nowell
 * Assault of the Killer B's: Interviews with 20 Cult Film Actresses By Jason Paul Collum
 * Film, Folklore, and Urban Legends By Mikel J. Koven

Article Recreation: Billy (Black Christmas)
I have been working on a revision draft for Billy (Black Christmas) for the past couple of months. I recently discovered that the original article was deleted and all names associated with the character redirected to this article and the remake article. The consensus was that there were not enough sources that constituted its own separate article and this was redirected, however, that in itself improperly reached since the original article was developed so badly, mostly consisting of a plot summary (and used a VERY low amount of sources). Since then I have been working on expanding the revision draft and have come up with 24 literary sources and twice that much in web sources, which all discuss the character, their significance, and development. I hope this will all clarify everything and help the article be reinstated in its new and improved state, please let me know if I have not covered something and I will do my best to address it.--Paleface Jack (talk) 17:28, 18 February 2020 (UTC)


 * I sent User:Paleface Jack here to let editors interested Black Christmas (1974 film) know about the development of Draft:Billy (Black Christmas). Normally, this would be done naturally by the addition of wikilinks to the new article, but this is not allowed for drafts.  I was a bit worried, because this is an extensive character article for what appeared to be a very minor character in Black Christmas (1974 film).  I see now that the character was developed in Black Christmas (2006 film) and Black Christmas (2019 film).  --SmokeyJoe (talk) 05:22, 19 February 2020 (UTC)

The character, unfortionately, wasn't in the 2019 film (one of its many faults). I get what you are saying though. The deleted article was poorly developed to the point that there was a lack of notability that made its existance as a separate article questionable. Hopefully the expansion I did helps clarify matters. we shall see.--Paleface Jack (talk) 22:51, 29 February 2020 (UTC)

Feminist film or not?
So I added Black Christmas to the category "Canadian feminist films", which is currently empty. Checking the history, it was removed claiming it's not a feminist film, but the article does describe it as such. Would this be worth re-adding? The King of Shadows (talk) 00:22, 4 November 2023 (UTC)