Black Christmas (1974), (2006), and (2019)

Disclaimer: This article was initially posted December 9, 2021 and updated on July 8, 2025.

These days Christmas, a commercially motivated holiday, is focused on giving, joy, and often miracles thread through those more profit driven goals like gift giving and holiday event attending. From that commercial aspect grew the modern Santa Clause, a man in a sleigh who watches your children all year long then determines who is deserving and undeserving of material gifts, specifically toys. As with most things this too can have a horror spin on it however. Though the horror genre isn’t typically associated with Christmas I feel there are inherently sinister elements of the Christmas season that fit perfectly with horror. I'm a huge fan of both horror and Christmas and right after Halloween passes I look forward the holiday season with a mixture of Christmas-themed horror mixed in.

Watch Black Christmas now by clicking links below

As of updating this post Black Christmas (1974) is available to watch free with ads on Roku by clicking here, Black Christmas (2006), Black Christmas (2019) is also available for free with ads by clicking here, and Black Christmas (2019) is available on Hulu by clicking here.

Though the 3 Black Christmas movies aren't considered a series or franchise at least one of the 3 renditions typically makes any Christmas horror list. As is customary with many remakes changes to the plot and circumstances are made to modernize it for the new time period. Additionally this is a great set of movies to show trends in the horror genre throughout different eras of horror. The 1974 original is quintesential in that it innovates on the genre similarly to the other horror movies of the 70's that sought to push bounds and try new filiming techniques, methods, and technology. The 2006 remake of the original is a Rob Zombie film and is very bare bones in the plot department but over the top in distasteful subject matter, gore, and color. The most recent rendition that released in 2019 incorporates social issues surrounding gender, particularly in the college setting, and opts for a twist ending that differs from anything in the other 2 Black Christmas films.

Black Christmas movie spoilers past this point

All 3 films have the same base plot: a group of sorority girls living in a Greek house on a college campus are still there after most everyone has left for Christmas break when they start to die one by one. Each group becomes aware they are under threat in different ways but the big shock of the film that pushed the original 1974 film to it's place in horror history that the killer after them is in the house with them from the start. All take place on a snow filled and festively decorated campus with the addition of a few male characters who are either parents, boyfriends, or police.

In addition to those through threads there is a closet kill or fake out scare, prank phone calls of a creepy nature, a ski trip is mentioned, and a decorative glass unicorn figurine becmoes a weapon. The first 2 films, the first coming out in 1974 and the second in 2006, have very similar stories with the second one going more into backstory for the killer and explaining some of the vaguer plot points that the 1974 Black Christmas left that way. The 2019 remake however has a very different plot and only shares basic similarities like the setting and basic framing of the story.

Black Christmas 1974

The original movie, Black Christmas (1974), considered by some to be the first slasher POV popularly used in a horror movie. Written by A. Roy Moore and directed by Bob Clark the plot is based on an urban legend about a babysitter and the 1943 case of a 14-year-old murdering his family. On opening a group of sorority sisters and frat guys are having a holiday kick back. Nothing of note happens here except the men getting kicked out followed by a phone call. This phone call switches the tone from jovial to fear, and it's revelaed that a person who the women have named “the moaner” has been calling and saying crude and unusual things.

They explain that when they answer the moaner says things that make little to no sense and are usually sexual in nature. These statements from the moaner were added in post production to be more vile for the time without the actors knowing. One particularly iconic kill scene is filmed with a handheld camera as the killer hides in a closet and then attacks Clare. After killing her the killer places her body in the attic window like an ominous watch over to the murders of her friends. Her body, sat in a rocker, is the actress with a plastic bag over her head which seems potentially dangerous from our more safety focused perspective of today. Throughout the movie we revisit the attic and the killer at some points even interacts with Clare’s body, further driving home the psychologically disturbed nature of the murderer. The first half of the movie is following Clare’s dad trying to find out what the hell happened to Clare; it's odd to follow a male character despite the film being about a sorority house.

The other iconic scene that is usually noted is the killer, Billy, using a unicorn glass figurine to stab to death a rather interesting character, Barb, while she drunkenly sleeps. Ultimately one of the sorority boyfriends, Peter, who is a rude but not murderous guy, gets blamed for all the killings. Peter is thus taken away while the actual killer and obscene amount of bodies are still in the house, and just then the phone rings. This alludes that the killer is calling, not in the back of the police car but still on the loose, which the audience is privvy to. The ending of the first Black Christmas is intentionally vague, leaving many plot points unfinished and open to the imagination of the viewer to what will happen next. This was more common in earlier horror films, particularly in the seventies, a story could end with little resolution but just as a standalone snapshot in time. Now, audiences anticipate endings that make sense and feel easy to continue into the future and imagine what sort of life the characters could come to live.

Upon initial release Black Christmas, actually released under an alternate title to avoid accusations of Blaxploitation, something popular at the time. Initially the film received mixed reviews from audiences, some finding it to be too obscene and grotesque to be enjoyable. I can see why it would be called obscene and myself felt squeamish and uncomfortable during certain scenes filmed under the harsh lighting that really felt like you saw through the POV of a disturbed, mouth breathing individual. Despite this mixed reaction Black Christmas became the 3rd highest grossing film in Canada at the time at $2 million. Costing about $620K to make the film earned $4.1 million from the international box office by the end of the release.

A few years after the initial release in 1978 the film faced unexpected controversy around the TV premiere date about 2 weeks prior to it. The man we now know to be Ted Bundy broke into the Chi Omega sorority house in Tallahassee, Florida and murdered several women, understandably ringing a bit too close to the Black Christmas premise. In response the Florida governor requested the film not air in Florida and the network allowed Georgia, Florida, and Alabama to air an alternate movie during the time slot they planned to air Black Christmas. This makes a lot of sense and mirrors what the film industry has done in recent eras in light of unexpected disasters and horror plots that might be too similar for comfort (the first Final Destination and the 9/11 terror attacks occurring the same year).

Black Christmas 2006

The story gets weirder in the 2006 rendition however, intentionally casting many attractive young starlets to not be able to distinguish who the final girl is, eliminating that as a spoiler to who lives. Still following Billy this 2006 version makes significant changes and additions to his backstory, filling in missing plot holes from the original. These plot fills are interesting to say the least and I don’t even know how to describe how bizarre things become in this movie. From obscenely grotesque scenes to jarring acts of incest over music and tone that don't match that intense of a topic to shown assault this movie genuinely made me uncomfortable. To clarify this discomfort was more in a triggered manner than a fearful one.

Things are fairly basic A+B=C in regard to the horror elements in the story and the "Agnes" mentioned in the original movie’s phone calls is revealed to be Billy’s younger sister. This doesn't really clear things up unfortunately, as it is also revealed that Billy's sister is also his daughter whom was conceived via his mother assaulting him. He is contained to the attic for his entire life alongside Agnes, kept captive there by their mother. Billy is also yellow, like bright highlighter SpongeBob yellow but a deeper shade. He’s meant to be jaundiced but instead he looks like a Sin City character or Ralph Finneas in 28 Years Later.

Aside from being essentially glow in the dark bright Billy alongside Agnes are a killing duo in this version rather than a solo Billy. A multitude of wild murders occur, a varying level of play on the female aspects of the characters, playing into stereotypes or misconceptions. Despite believing they've defeated the killers after a battle sequence the killer duo somehow survive a fire and once at the hospital attempt to take out the final girl. The alternate ending was actually Billy being impaled by a Christmas tree, pushed while battling the final girl, and his entrails becoming stuck to the top on the star and threading the tree like additional decor as the very yellow Billy slides down. This monstrosity of a visual creation is that of the Weinstein’s and the studio that made this film, ultimately becoming the final version.

I'm less than a fan of this version, it dials up all of the qualities that I disliked about the first film and dialed back on the hidden gems. It is odd that Agnes stayed in the attic for so long without detection despite the sorority house and the activities within it commencing down below. While they explain Billy being absent from the property leading up to the events of the film, I don't recall this being explored in the detail it warranted. Regardless I found this movie relied too heavily on tropes while also seeming to believe itself above them.

Black Christmas 2019

The 3rd and most recent Black Christmas released in 2019 and takes a completely different turn than its predecessors. I often think of movies like this when I imagine what direction horror would've headed in had the pandemic and resulting strain on the film industry not occured. I wonder what projects might've come to fruition and if another Black Christmas following this story's setup would come out. The only out of the 3 directed by a woman, Sophia Takal's perspective is felt throughout the on screen action from story to costume to portrayals. It's clear that Takal took advantage of top of mind issues that college aged women were facing during the first TACO presidency and incorporated them into the horror which paid off well.

I find the 2019 remake interesting to watch from start to finish, enjoying the characters, the group of women's friendships, and the supernatural frat cult turn of the story. Feeling drawn from headlines the main antagonist is a fraternal order of men who have been taken over by the misogynistic founder’s evil spell. Their goals are to have men rule the world attack and during the Christmas break resolve to attack the house of sisters still on campus. Ultimately they hope to indoctrinate all men on campus and then the world with the aid of dark magical forces. Fortuneately this is stopped in an epic fight scene by the pissed off surviving sorority sisters. The evil is ultimately ended when the founder's supernatural bust is smashed to pieces and the frat house burns down while the sisters and the one woke guy who survives look on.

While it doesn’t have much in common with the other two movies aside from the intial circumstance of sorority sisters at their house as Christmas Break begins it treats its female plot subjects completely differently which pays off in a better film. Woman aren’t objects in the third one and not plot devices like in the first one but rather have complex and deep relationships while having one another's backs. Rather than making fun of sorority girls or enjoying evil things happening to them they are actually the subjects to root for and empathize with. While this feels normal in modern horror it is important not to forget that not long ago this was new. All the characters are multidimensional and have motivations outside of a horror movie plot, another aspect not as common in earlier horror or films. Also, not a huge fan of the Billy killer so I did not miss him in the slightest but found this to be a far more interesting antagonist for the women to battle.

This was my first time watching any Black Christmas movies and I was definitely intrigued due to the 2019 remake becoming available to watch. While I'm not a huge fan of the first 2 versions I am thankful to have them as a reference point for what I really do like and appreciate about the 3rd and most recent film. I have major respect for some of the horror techniques pioneered with the first film like the killer POV camera shots and the killer contacting the victims from inside of the house the whole time. I imagine in the seventies your home was even more of a safe space than it is now so to think to check that space seemed like an unneeded overreaction. Despite the more lax approach to the sorority sisters in the 1st movie I do think that Clark accomplished the goal of portraying young adults as more capable rather than partiers in comparison to other media at the time.