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Kick Off the Season with 1974’s ‘Black Christmas’

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Before Jason, before Freddy, before even Michael, we had Billy.

In 1974, Bob Clark unleashed a dark, foreboding piece of horror that quietly snuck into our homes in the middle of the night and brought death instead of presents. Mixing Clark’s trademark black humor (the man would go on to direct A Christmas Story, after all) and a mix of psychological horror with urban legend, Black Christmas is an often-overlooked yet fantastic piece of horror cinema. So why isn’t it always remembered as such?

To discuss this, we’ll need to talk about the events that transpire throughout the duration of the film. So if you haven’t yet watched it, go see it and then return to the article. It’s Christmas horror at its absolute finest.

If you simply need some refreshing, the basic storyline is this: A deranged psychopath named Billy begins making obscene phone calls to a sorority house. After one of the sisters goes missing, a hunt is on for the identity of Billy. A young girl has also been killed in town, and to complicate things, our protagonist Jess (Olivia Hussey) is pregnant and wants an abortion. Her boyfriend, Peter (Keir Dullea) does not. All signs point to Peter, and it seems quite clear that Peter is actually Billy.

Warner Bros.

But here’s the thing: He isn’t. Billy and Peter are two separate people, and Mr. Clark has been trailing us along the whole time. In fact, we never see more of Billy than his silhouette and his right eye. Black Christmas even teases us throughout by showing the killer’s point of view. We are able to see through his eyes, but we never even get to know what he looks like, or why he’s doing this.

Therein lies the greatness of the film. At the end, nothing is resolved. We’re left unsatisfied. Why did Billy kill these girls? And he never left the house, so who killed the young girl in town? What made Billy so deranged?

The simple takeaway that I had always left the film with is that life is not so black and white. Some things we will never get to know. Sometimes, horrible things happen to good people for absolutely no reason, making it all the more tragic. It’s one of the scariest concepts I could think of, and it’s disturbing to this day.

Yet, unfortunately, so many of us have been catered to with over-explanation and brainless exposition throughout the years. We’ve been spoiled rotten with too much backstory and too much resolution. In knowing everything, we the viewer become satisfied, despite the fact that maybe our beloved characters have been brutally murdered right before our eyes. So maybe everyone dies, but hey, at least we know why.

Warner Bros.

It could ruin a film, as well. Though Alexandre Aja’s High Tension has been widely regarded since its release due to the revelations in the film’s twist, I believed it to be way too blatant. When the reveal happens, all the mystery of the film is gone. There’s nothing left to wonder about because we’ve had everything explained to us in an effort to make the viewer happy. It’s a good feeling when we can sit back and say, “Oh, so that’s what this means!” But in a horror movie, I don’t always believe that to be the best route. Black Christmas understands this.

Many horror films set around Christmas tie the killer in with some sort of holiday theme. Silent Night, Deadly Night, Krampus, A Christmas Horror Story all do, and they’re great for what they are. Black Christmas is simply set during the holiday period and that’s about it. There are no killer Santas or Yuletide demons. It’s just that much more tragic when these events unfold during such a joyous holiday.

Black Christmas exists to paint a picture of mystery, terror, and despair and excels at it. It’s possibly the greatest Holiday horror film of all time, and if you don’t believe me, maybe you need a second watch. If you still don’t agree, that’s fine, but there’s one thing I won’t leave up for debate, and that is the fact that it holds the title for the greatest tagline of any horror movie ever:

“If this movie doesn’t make your skin crawl…it’s on too tight!”

Warner Bros.

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Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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Part Concert, Part Horror Movie M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Trap’ Trailer Released

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In true Shyamalan form, he sets his film Trap inside a social situation where we aren’t sure what is going on. Hopefully, there is a twist at the end. Furthermore, we hope it’s better than the one in his divisive 2021 movie Old.

The trailer seemingly gives away a lot, but, as in the past, you can’t rely on his trailers because they are often red herrings and you are being gaslit to think a certain way. For instance, his movie Knock at the Cabin was completely different than what the trailer implied and if you hadn’t read the book on which the film is based it was still like going in blind.

The plot for Trap is being dubbed an “experience” and we aren’t quite sure what that means. If we were to guess based on the trailer, it’s a concert movie wrapped around a horror mystery. There are original songs performed by Saleka, who plays Lady Raven, a kind of Taylor Swift/Lady Gaga hybrid. They have even set up a Lady Raven website to further the illusion.

Here is the fresh trailer:

According to the synopsis, a father takes his daughter to one of Lady Raven’s jam-packed concerts, “where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.”

Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Trap stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Allison Pill. The film is produced by Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and M. Night Shyamalan. The executive producer is Steven Schneider.

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Woman Brings Corpse Into Bank To Sign Loan Papers

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Warning: This is a disturbing story.

You have to be pretty desperate for money to do what this Brazilian woman did at the bank to get a loan. She wheeled in a fresh corpse to endorse the contract and she seemingly thought the bank employees wouldn’t notice. They did.

This weird and disturbing story comes via ScreenGeek an entertainment digital publication. They write that a woman identified as Erika de Souza Vieira Nunes pushed a man she identified as her uncle into the bank pleading with him to sign loan papers for $3,400. 

If you’re squeamish or easily triggered, be aware that the video captured of the situation is disturbing. 

Latin America’s largest commercial network, TV Globo, reported on the crime, and according to ScreenGeek this is what Nunes says in Portuguese during the attempted transaction. 

“Uncle, are you paying attention? You must sign [the loan contract]. If you don’t sign, there’s no way, as I cannot sign on your behalf!”

She then adds: “Sign so you can spare me further headaches; I can’t bear it any longer.” 

At first we thought this might be a hoax, but according to Brazilian police, the uncle, 68-year-old Paulo Roberto Braga had passed away earlier that day.

 “She attempted to feign his signature for the loan. He entered the bank already deceased,” Police Chief Fábio Luiz said in an interview with TV Globo. “Our priority is to continue investigating to identify other family members and gather more information regarding this loan.”

If convicted Nunes could be facing jail time on charges of fraud, embezzlement, and desecration of a corpse.

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