One Day to Go, One Movie to Show

Do you have a favorite Christmas movie? Here's a list of 100 to pick from: http://www.digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/movie-pages/movie_christmas.html

For many, 1983's A Christmas Story tops their list. And after 30 years, the movie's popularity show no signs of waning:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-3445_162-57560638/reliving-the-holiday-favorite-a-christmas-story/

I really enjoy director Bob Clark's A Christmas Story, but I like his other Christmas movie better. In 1974, Mr. Clark directed what is now considered to be the first slasher horror film. "Black Christmas finds a sadistic killer making threatening phone calls from -- you guessed it -- INSIDE THE HOUSE. And a sorority house at that. Still terrifying to this day, it makes Christmas the creepiest holiday this side of Guy Fawkes Night." about.com

My high school celebrated Christmas (in the 80's you could say "Merry Christmas" in a public school, and you wouldn't raise an eyebrow), and on the last day before Christmas Break we would all watch a movie in the performing arts center. Since the closest movie theater to Rock Valley was an hour away, watching a movie on a big screen was an exciting treat.

Renting an actual Christmas movie during December was too expensive for RVHS, so the movies didn't have a holiday theme, and they were all from the 50s and the 60s. But no one cared. Any movie was better than school. I remember seeing The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Around the World in 80 Days, and The Mummy. 

We watched The Hound of the Baskervilles during my sophomore year, and that was a bit of a surprise because the weekly schedule posted near the office listed the Christmas movie as Black Christmas. My sister later told me she had heard that the school had indeed rented Black Christmas, but the teachers were horrified when they previewed it.

Watch the trailer, and you'll soon see why: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfiLviAMlwU The movie's almost 40 years old, and there's no way I would show it in my classroom. But home alone (did you see what I did just there?), I find this slice of classic horror thoroughly enjoyable.

Scary Christmas movies aren't a new idea anymore, and the holiday genre is pretty derivative, but Black Christmas is one of the first and certainly one of the best. Watching it isn't a tradition I plan on sharing with my daughter, but she goes to bed at 8:00. After "Santa" fills the house with kid-friendly gifts, I'll be in my room watching this.