Photo:Warner Bros.Public domain
Overview
See production notesAn unseen man climbs the exterior of a sorority house during a Christmas party and enters the attic. The house phone rings, and sorority sister Jess Bradford answers, discovering an obscene call from a previously known caller nicknamed "The Moaner". The caller rants in strange voices about someone named "Billy" and speaks vulgarities before threatening to kill them. Upset, a younger student, Clare Harrison, goes upstairs to pack, where she is attacked and asphyxiated by the intruder. The next morning, Clare's father, Mr. Harrison, arrives, concerned she missed a train. Housemother Mrs. MacHenry offers to help search for her. Jess tells her boyfriend Peter Smythe she is pregnant and plans to have an abortion, angering him. Meanwhile, Mr. Harrison and sorority sisters Barb Coard and Phyl Carlson try to report Clare's disappearance to Sergeant Nash, who brushes them off until Clare's boyfriend, Chris Hayden, storms in and demands action. That night, a search party gathers to find Clare as well as Janice, a young girl who has gone missing nearby. Volunteers locate Janice's dead body in a nearby park. Meanwhile, Mrs. MacHenry discovers Clare's body in the attic but is killed by the intruder with a crane hook. Jess receives another obscene call and decides to involve the police. Lieutenant Fuller arrives with a lineman to trace the call. After Fuller leaves, an inebriated Barb suffers an asthma attack and retires for the night. Christmas carolers distract Jess while the killer enters Barb's room and murders her with a glass unicorn figurine. Another call from the intruder echoes parts of Jess's argument with Peter. Fuller reports the trace failed, and suspicion briefly falls on Peter. Jess and Phyl lock the house, but Phyl is killed after finding Barb's body. A subsequent call is successfully traced, and Nash instructs Jess to leave immediately, realizing the calls are originating from within the house. Jess finds Barb and Phyl dead and glimpses the killer through a door crack. She flees to the basement and locks herself in. Peter breaks in, and in a panic, Jess kills him with a fire poker. Police arrive to find her barely conscious beside his body, assuming he was the killer. Believing the danger over, police leave Jess sleeping in her bedroom with an officer outside. From the attic, the killer's voice is heard, and the hatch opens, while Clare and Mrs. MacHenry's bodies remain undiscovered. The house phone rings once more.
Plot from Black Christmas (1974 film)CC BY-SA 4.0
- Original language
- English
Cast
See all credits
_logo.png){kind=link}
Gallery
Quotes
See all quotesSergeant Nash: Excuse me? Could you give me the number at the sorority house? Please? Barb Coard: Yeah, sure. It's, ah... Fellatio 20880. Fellatio. It's a new exchange, FE. Sergeant Nash: That's a new one on me. How do you spell it? Barb Coard: Capital F, E, little L, LA, TIO. Sergeant Nash: Thanks. Barb Coard: Don't mention it.
Black Christmas (1974 film), CC BY-SA 4.0
Clare Harrison: I don't think you should provoke somebody like that, Barb. Barb Board: Oh listen, this guy is minor league. In the city, I get two of those a day. Clare Harrison: Well maybe. But you know that town girl was raped a couple of weeks ago. Barb Coard: Darling, you can't rape a townie.
Black Christmas (1974 film), CC BY-SA 4.0
Clare Harrison: Could that really be just one person? Barb Coard: No, Clare, it's the Mormon Tabernacle Choir making their annual obscene phone call.
Black Christmas (1974 film), CC BY-SA 4.0
Lt. Fuller: [hands Nash a form] What's this? Sergeant Nash: Oh, that's the number of the sorority house. Lt. Fuller: Fellatio? Sergeant Nash: Yeah, it's a new exchange: FE. Lt. Fuller: [suppressing a laugh] A new exchange? Sergeant Nash: Yeah, Fellatio. One of the girls that was in this afternoon gave it to me. Lt. Fuller: [sarcastically] She gave it to you? Sergeant Nash: Yeah. Lt. Fuller: Nash, I don't think you could pick your nose without written instructions. [takes the form and walks back to his desk] Sergeant Nash: [thinks for a moment] I know. It's something dirty, ain't it?
Black Christmas (1974 film), CC BY-SA 4.0
Sergeant Nash: [Jess has managed to keep the caller on the line for almost a full two minutes, allowing the phone company to trace the call] Uh, Lt. Fuller? Lt. Fuller: Yeah, Nash, what is it? Sergeant Nash: The phone company's on the other line, sir. They say they got a trace on this one. Lt. Fuller: Yeah, let's have it! Sergeant Nash: He says the calls are coming from #6 Belmont Street. Lt. Fuller: For Christ's sakes, Nash, you got it wrong. That's where the calls are going into. Sergeant Nash: That's where they're coming from too, sir. Lt. Fuller: [pause] Oh, shit...
Black Christmas (1974 film), CC BY-SA 4.0
Sargeant Nash: [after Sergeant Nash calls the sorority house] Who is this? Jessica Bradford: It's Jess. Sargeant Nash: Ms. Bradford, this is Sergeant Nash. Are you the only one in the house? Jessica Bradford: No. Phyll and Barb are upstairs asleep. Why? Sargeant Nash: Alright. Now I want do you exactly what I tell you without asking any questions, okay? Sargeant Bradford: No, no, no... no questions. Now just put the phone back on the hook, walk to the front door and leave the house. Jessica Bradford: What's wrong? Sargeant Nash: Please, Ms. Bradford, please just do as I tell you. Jessica Bradford: Okay. I'll get Phyll and Barb. Sargeant Nash: [Raising his voice] No, no, no, don't do that Jess. Sargeant Nash: Jess, the caller is in the house. The calls are coming from the house!
Black Christmas (1974 film), CC BY-SA 4.0
Ratings
More like this
Where to watch
Where to watch is coming soon
Discuss
Discussion is coming soon