Xmas Double Feature

Last weekend I watched the movie Black Christmas (the original 1974 version) for the first time. It's possibly the world's first Christmas themed horror movie and is considered by many to be the very first slasher film, preceding John Carpenter's Halloween by a good four years.

Black Christmas invented most of the slasher movie genre's trappings; a faceless homicidal killer, an ever growing body count and of course a house full of nubile young female victims. Best of all it stars the incredibly hot Olivia Hussy (on the right above). Rowwrrr!

But what's most interesting about the movie is that it was directed by none other than Bob Clark. The same Bob Clark who also directed A Christmas Story. Yep, the man who gave us the tale of Ralphie and his Red Ryder carbine-action, two hundred shot range model air rifle with a compass in the stock and a thing which tells time, also directed the world's first Christmas slasher movie.

I've decided this will become a new annual holiday tradition in my home– watching a double feature of Black Christmas and A Christmas Story, back to back. To me, nothing says Xmas like the heartwarming tale of a maniac killing sorority girls, along with the story of a child's simple holiday wish– for a gun. If you have any taste, you'll adopt this tradition as well.

Now, about Bob Clark. No Hollywood director ever had as uneven a career as Mr. Clark. He directed the two highly regarded and beloved classic Christmas movies mentioned above.

Then there was the rest of his career. 

Here's just a few of the other classics of cinema directed by Bob Clark:

Yikes! Dear Lord, make it stop!

Sadly, Mr. Clark died in 2007, before he could bless the cinematic world with Baby Geniuses 3: Even Geniuser. But at least we have his two classic Christmas movies to watch back to back!