Sometimes a film doesn’t need a compelling narrative to be successfully immersive. Supported by an excellent performance from Olivia Hussey in the leading role, giving the audience a strong heroine to root for amidst the suffocating tension, “Black Christmas” is an authentic Canadian masterpiece, through and through. Delving into themes of domestic abuse and the abortion dilemma, still clearly relevant today, the film has stood the test of time in more ways than one. Retroactively deemed a godfather of the slasher model and for good reason, the film set in motion the formula moviegoers all know and love today, and while that isn’t exactly news to most horror aficionados, the daring innovator tends not to receive much mainstream attention.Įven so, the beloved cult classic has been praised for being ahead of its time, not just in its style and execution, but in its subject matter. Adopting many of the sub-genre’s early tropes (POV shots, a mysterious killer, charming final girl, etc.), and using them to construct an undeniable paragon in atmospheric suspense, Clark puts forth a supremely underrated piece of festive terror. Long before director Bob Clark would bless the holiday season with his decidedly less gruesome yuletide favorite “A Christmas Story”, he gave the horror genre one of its original slashers, with the ever-chilling “Black Christmas”. These are the top ten horror films of the 1970s. Here, we attempt to select the absolute greatest and rank them to the best of our abilities. To the era that gave us John Carpenter, killer sharks, face-hugging aliens, chainsaw-wielding hillbillies, and so much more: THANK YOU. From seemingly schlocky exploitation films – turned genuine masterworks – and misunderstood gems, to instantly iconic hallmarks of the medium, the decade remains a diverse, yet largely successful time in horror history. Refining the slasher sub-genre established by Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho”, spawning the concept of the final girl, and of course giving birth to the original summer blockbuster, the 1970s were an influential period in horror that can not be overstated. Continuing to push the limits of storytelling and violence in horror cinema, the ‘70s effectively proved to further the development of the genre, taking its creativity and craftsmanship to new extremes, and leaving behind some all-time classics in the process. Coasting off the political upheaval and counterculture movement of the ‘60s, a group of young maverick filmmakers took the horror landscape by storm, arguably making the 1970s the most significant decade in the genre’s history.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |