Ep 69 - BLACK CHRISTMAS (1974) AT 50 / SILENT NIGHT DEADLY NIGHT (1984) AT 40!!!

BLACK CHRISTMAS (1974) d. Bob Clark (Canada) SILENT NIGHT DEADLY NIGHT (1984) d. Charles Sellier (USA) It's time to celebrate the Happy HorrorDays with two Christmas classics, both of which are celebrating milestone anniversaries! Director Bob Clark's effective (and underrated) holiday thriller BLACK CHRISTMAS pre-dates the slasher film craze and its influence is felt in Halloween, When a Stranger Calls, and countless others. The simple set-up involves a college sorority house and an (unseen) homicidal killer, heightened by some of the most chilling and unsettling obscene phone calls ever recorded. Utilizing extensive handheld camerawork, this is also among the first usage of the "heavy-breathing killer's point-of-view" shots that would become a staple of the slasher oeuvre. Meanwhile, 1984's notorious ad campaign for SILENT NIGHT DEADLY NIGHT, with its iconic poster art showing Santa descending a chimney with an axe in hand, became the stuff of legend, prompting outraged parents to picket theaters and write scathing letters to distributor Tri-Star until the movie was yanked from cinemas. But what of the feature itself? It's actually pretty solid by slasher standards, with director Charles Sellier and screenwriter Michael Hickey providing plenty of gore, gratuitous nudity, and several nifty plot twists.  Grab your sleds and join AC and his dazzling panel of enthusiasts (Tim Palace, Mackenzie Parker, Chris Scales, Ian Simmons, and Ciara Wylie) as they honor the chills of the season! -------------------------------------------- TIM PALACE was born and raised on horror from an early age in Chicago, IL. A lifelong devotee to the genre and the preservation of physical media, 2024 should be the year he hits the 10,000 mark for titles in his collection. MACKENZIE PARKER is a filmmaker living in Los Angeles. He studied at Northern Illinois University and the Moscow Art Theater. He has worked on TV shows such as Sons of Anarchy and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and is currently working as a staff editor for Digital Alliance.  CHRIS SCALES is a lifelong horror fan, aspiring horror screenwriter, and horror panelist.  IAN SIMMONS runs the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel, where he posts movie reviews, interviews, and critics round tables. He is also a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association, and feels conflicted about referring to himself in the third person. https://kickseat.com/ CIARA WYLIE is a lifelong horror fan and co-creator of Deep Cuts Horror Trivia in Chicago, IL. In her free time she can be found screaming into the uncaring void about Final Destination 3.  --------------------------------------- Keep Searching, Keep Exploring, and, most of all, Keep Sharing the Scare!!