Saturday, April 16, 2011

Unfulfilling Christmas

Black Christmas left me feeling very unsatisfied. I wanted to know who the killer was! Usually I don't mind ambiguous endings,in fact I usually prefer things to be left to personal interpretation, but this one just seemed senseless. There was so much build up and suspense leading up to discovering the murderer but in the end, none of that mattered. It wasn't Peter like we all thought. I would have liked some sort of hints into the mind of the real killer. I thought the movie spent way too much time developing this red herring plot-line that led nowhere. I wanted there to be some sort of screwed up psychological reason as to why the killer was so, well, screwed up. They show a scene where he is rocking the body of his first victim in a chair while she is holding a baby doll. I was sure that this scene was of some symbolic importance as to why the man became a killer and when it didn't follow through, I was disappointed.

That being said, the movie was so-so. It was quite corny but it definitely had its moments of shock value. The relationship between Jess and her boyfriend was a well-thought-out commentary on the progressive role of women during this era, but again I was disappointed that it concluded so senselessly. Aside from the progressive social commentary which I give this movie credit for, I really didn't enjoy how unrealistic it was. Slasher films have never been on the top of my list for this reason. Stupid, irrational characters just make me angry and annoyed because I know that people are not quite that dumb in real life. I like some realism in my films!

1 comment:

  1. I agree with your frustration about the ending of Black Christmas. Although I see what the purpose of it was, I was so mad that they left the girl in the house! This is the reason I don't really enjoy slasher films that much, they just always seem too ridiculous to be true. While I know the movie isn't supposed to be realistic, I feel like it would be way scarier if the characters had any capability for rational thought. What police officer would leave a traumatized woman (who is in shock) in the same house where numerous people had just been murdered? And did they just give up looking for the others who had gone missing? Maybe I'm being too critical but I feel like the ending was a bit of a letdown.

    Another thing that confused me...who attacked Jess after she found out that the phone calls were coming from upstairs? We never see the killer but I thought she would have at some point. Despite the criticism, I thought the movie also had a lot of funny moments. It also showed the common stereotypes people had about sororities back when the movie was made.

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