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BLACK CHRISTMAS (1974)
Directed by Bob Clark
Critical Mass Releasing, Inc. DVD
Reviewed 12.21.06
Review by Joseph A. Ziemba
THE FILM
God bless Françoise Hardy.
God bless Groucho Marx. And yes,
God bless Black Christmas.
Popular culture owes a lot to common
sense. For the little people (that's
you and me), the personalities,
entities, and artistries that comprise
our relaxing hours are the twinkle
of life. They make us feel great.
We immerse ourselves in these works.
It’s true love forever. No
more fooling around.
"I’ll stick my tongue
up your pretty pink pussy. I’m
going to kill you.”
This one's for us.
Black Christmas makes me
feel alive. It's scary and dirty,
yet strangely festive. I could belch
out a heap of facts, praise, and
contextual details about the ground
that was broken (and rarely equalled)
with the release of this film, but
I have yet to watch To
All A Goodnight this year.
Black Christmas wastes
no time, so I can only afford it
the same consideration. The Christmas
Eve chimes are ringing, so we've
got to be quick. Ol' Saint Billy
may be on his way as we speak.
Very few trashers, slashers, and
weirdo smut films have the skill
to ignore their seeming novelties
and reach a much higher level of
admiration beyond the usual genre
shackles. Black Christmas
makes it happen. Margot Kidder,
Olivia Hussey, Andrea Martin, our
crooked friend Billy, and a gift
bag full of Holiday no-nos are only
half of the story. It's no coincidence
that Bob Clark filtered Jean Shepherd's
wonderful "memoirs" into
the equally loveable A Christmas
Story a decade after the release
of Black Christmas. Both
films are steeped in low-key filmmaking
impeccability, the pull of popular
culture, and how that pull tends
to emotionally peak during the Christmas
season. Only, Black Christmas
is our dirty little secret. No 24
hour marathons. No relatives reciting
lines badly over Christmas dinner
(I hope). No novelty merchandising.
Just the skewed comfort that can
only be admired by a lover of slasher
cinema and his or her loved ones,
year after year after year. Isn't
common sense wonderful?
Françoise Hardy once breathed,
"Only you can do it; only you
can do what you're doing to me."
I know Black Christmas
is listening.
AUDIO AND VIDEO
License to confuse. A few years
back, Canadian company Eclectic
released a sparse, open matte DVD
of Black Christmas, titled
"The 25th Anniversary Edition".
It looked nice; like my beloved
VHS, but cleaner. Soon after, Critical
Mass introduced the film in a flat
letterbox format for the first time,
with the extras-crammed "Critical
Mass Collector's Edition."
I bought that one and the transfer
was wonderful. Critical Mass has
now issued this version of the film,
billed simply as "Special Edition".
A toss-up between the company's
previous DVD in terms of quality
(it’s brighter, but the blacks
aren’t as deep and original
film grain is more apparent), this
version is anamorphically enhanced
at the correct 1.85:1 matted theatrical
ratio. I've seen Black Christmas
on many different formats. If there
are any discernable differences
between all of these DVD releases,
you've got one on me. Thankfully,
the original English (or French)
mono sound track is included here,
as well as a newly mixed 5.1 surround
version.
EXTRAS
Unfortunately, no one was up for
consolidation. None of the excellent
supplements from Critical Mass's
previous release have been ported
over. So you don't get the flurry
of trailers and TV spots, two commentary
tracks from director Bob Clark,
actor John Saxon, and actor Keir
Dullea, the 36 minute “Black
Christmas: Revisited” documentary,
that cool reversible cover art,
the John Saxon Canadian TV interview,
or the brief alternate title sequences.
The new stuff is fine, but not as
thorough as the "Collector's
Edition" material. Weird.
With this release, we've got a smattering
of newly produced extras. Starting
out, there are a couple of alternate
sound sequences (two scenes from
the film with newly uncovered audio)
and a few 20 minute interviews with
stars Olivia Hussey (Steve Martin
LOVES Black Christmas),
Margot Kidder (She slept with Brian
DePalma and partied a lot), and
Kris Hindle (He drove a porsche).
Each interview features awkward
photography, but the information
is solid and the actors have terrific
attitudes. Margot still rips it
up and Hussey remains fetching.
Next up is a 20 minute "Midnight
Q&A" with director Bob
Clark, actor John Saxon, and sound
man Carl Zittrer. This is a videotaped
audience chat, which followed a
screening of the film at the NuArt
theater in Los Angeles. It's comfortable
and laid back; great questions,
great answers, but nothing you haven't
heard (or read) before.
Finally, "The Twelve Days Of
Black Christmas" is a 20 minute
documentary which recycles all of
the star interviews and adds a few
bits from other participants. John
Saxon narrates. Again, like the
other supplements, it's enjoyable,
but not all that riveting. The previous
documentary took care of business
in that department.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Noel, c'est l'amour! Black Christmas
will enrich your life. If you have
yet to purchase a copy, buy this
DVD. It's less expensive than the
more obscure, out of print previous
editions. The quality will suit
you fine. However, if you already
own the superior "Collector's
Edition" DVD and aren't a freak
about extra-extras, there's no point.
Anamorphic or not, the film itself
is what really matters. |
Smut talk
Exactly
Hi, Agnes
She's gonna be famous
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