Horror and Comedy-Black Christmas

When under a critique, Last House on the Left is often under much scrutiny for its ill use of comedy. I am one of those, actually. I don’t agree, however, when this critique is used against Black Christmas.

I think the humor in Black Christmas actually defines the characters and doesn’t take away from the overall story. When we first see Clair, she seems little miss innocent, virginal and absent any form of real naughtiness. But when she is murdered, held in the attic, her dead body in a rocking chair, as pops in downstairs looking through her room for any signs of why she’s missing—as Ms. Mac tries to keep his focus away from that other side of his daughter he didn’t know about—and we see a poster with an old lady giving the finger and a sexual peace sign poster, both indicate that her sense of humor and personality may not be so virtuous. She seems that way until her father searches her room, uncomfortable and anxious to know her whereabouts (they were supposed to meet at the local university).

Margot Kidder’s Barb starts drinking at the beginning of the movie, and the liquor provides the proper motivation to cause her to act out in obnoxious, unpredictable ways. She feeds a kid visiting her sorority house to sit in Santa’s lap (her sorority sister’s beau) some booze, gives Fellatio as  the “new exchange” where the police station desk clerk can get in contact with the sorority house (!), goes insult to insult with the psycho on the phone, and says all the wrong things in regards to Clair as Clair’s father is in the room.

The vulgarity and cheap humor—that does tickle the funny bone in small doses—eventually, by the end of her time on screen, give way to some serious issues, like guilt for how she treated Clair prior to her vanishing and the reason for the drinking to begin with, a bad relationship with her mother. She gets off the phone at the beginning of the movie with mommy dearest, pops the top of the liquor bottle, and starts to booze.

Even the pattern of hands on Jess’ sweater going for her breasts speak of the sense of humor that runs throughout the sorority. Freedom from parental guidance gives way to liberated humor. Ms. Mac is definitely the major source of humor in the film. She has a serious drinking problem, hiding liquor bottles throughout the sorority house when needed during stressful times, has a constantly foul mouth, and really doesn’t particularly enjoy her role as denmother very much. She tries to put on a face for those outside the sorority, but we see her true self naked of the façade of mature authoritarian. If anything, Ms. Mac is just as vulgar and shares the same sort of toilet bowl humor as her girls. These are details, the humor provides insight into characteristics, personalities, and the college experience seems fun and open before Billy puts an end to it all.

I feel Black Christmas was a sign of things to come because of Porkys a few years later for Bob Clark. He wanted to inject some rather politically incorrect humor (a kid receiving liquor from a young adult when he’s supposed to be sitting on Santa’s lap telling what he wants for Christmas, such an example), morally ambiguous and trashy, while also making sure we remember there’s a killer up in the attic. While Peter and Jess’ romantic deterioration (a pregnancy/abortion debate the major wedge between them; Jess also isn’t in love with Peter, although he’d give up his career and academic life to marry her) is very serious in tone (Peter is presented as obviously disturbed after hearing the news that his girl was to abort their baby, ruining his chances of a music career in piano), all the alcohol consumption and sexual frankness in the script, presented in language and pitch with lots of aplomb, is played for as many laughs as possible before Barb has a foul breakdown, leading to her dismissal to bed.

Actually, once Barb goes to bed, and Ms. Mac is dispatched when looking for her pet up in the attic, the humor takes an exit, with Black Christmas hitting full horror mode. So I think humor was important for director Clark, although he knew when it was time to play and time to ratchet up the suspense/tension. The death of a girl during a search, her body found while the law enforcement were out trying to find Clair really places an emphasis on the seriousness of what the town was up against. I think that is what separates this film from Last House on the Left—the humor in Black Christmas doesn’t feel jarring while in Last House, it seems to interrupt the flow with each repeated intrusion of the two inept local cops. To me, Black Christmas adds personality to its characters while Last House goes from one extreme to another.