Black Christmas

"Black Christmas" (1974) starring Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea, Margot Kidder, John Saxon and Andrea Martin is a classic Canadian slasher that is low on the gore but high on the suspense.

It's Christmastime and the women of a college sorority house are getting ready for the holiday.  A few are remaining at the house while most go back home to family members.  Someone keeps calling the house and screams, talks in weird voices and generally scares the women.  There is also some unseen killer that has infiltrated the house, up the trellis and into the attic.  

This is a fun horror movie and a perfect example of the early horror slasher film that doesn't have to show every gruesome detail of the deaths to make it scary.  The characters, especially the beautiful Jess (Hussey), hilariously outrageous Barb (Kidder) and campy fun house mother, Mrs. Mac (Marian Waldman) make this a film that you can watch over and over.  It is filled with a sense of dread and suspense that will keep you guessing right up to the end.  

"Black Christmas" is a must see for horror fans, especially around Christmas!

Merry Christmas from A Haunting on the Screen!

Merry Christmas from A Haunting on the Screen!!

 'Twas the night before Christmas...

and all through the house...

not a creature was stirring...

except for a murderous wife

and a psychotic Santa!

Joan Collins gets her just desserts in this classic holiday horror story from "Tales from the Crypt".

Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?

"Whoever Slew Auntie Roo?" (1972) is a horror / thriller with hints of the old "Hansel & Gretel" fairy tale, starring Shelley Winters, Mark Lester, Chloe Franks.

The movie takes place in the 1920s in England.  Mrs. Forrest "Auntie Roo" (played by the delightful Shelly Winters) is a local widow who lives in a giant mansion that is so ornate it almost looks like a gingerbread house.  It takes place around Christmas and each year Auntie Roo invites some of the local orphans to her home to stay a few days and enjoy parties, gifts and other Christmas fun. The children love going to her house and being spoiled for once in their lives.

Auntie Roo hides some secrets though.  Her daughter who supposedly went missing is really dead and being kept by Auntie Roo in a secret attic playroom.  She also brings in a local medium to try to contact her dead daughter.  Auntie is a very lonely person and all she wants is her daughter back.  Unfortunately for brother and sister Christopher and Katy Coombs who crash the party, Auntie takes an instant liking to Katy and wants to adopt her.  Christopher, who has a vivid imagination, thinks Auntie Roo is a witch who is trying to fatten them up to cook them like the old fairy tale.  He tries to reveal the real Auntie Roo to his sister before it is too late for both of them.

This is a really good movie.  The setting in the mansion and its estate is spectacular.  Shelly Winters portrays a variety of emotions in this movie and is a very colorful and imposing figure in this movie.  Auntie Roo is a joy to watch.

Gremlins

"Gremlins" (1984) starring Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates and Hoyt Axton is a comedy horror movie i haven't seen since I was a child but just watched again when it was on cable.

It's Christmas time and Randall Peltzer (Axton) an amateur inventor is looking for a gift for his son Billy (Galligan) and finds an antique shop in Chinatown that has a very special gift.  It is a Mogwai, a cute little teddy bear like creature with big ears.  The man at the shop tells the dad there are three rules for the Mogwai named Gizmo: don't expose it to bright light, never get it wet & never feed it after midnight.

Billy loves his new pet but soon the rules get broken and after being fed after midnight and getting wet, Gizmo starts multiplying into creepy, scaly, little green creatures that love mischief and get into everything and make it go haywire.

So, on Christmas Eve, one of the Gremlins falls into the swimming pool and multiplies into thousands that wreak havoc on the small town - causing much destruction and death.

I had forgotten how crazy these little creatures were.  

From Time to Time

"From Time to Time" (2009) is a ghost story that takes place in 1944 and 1805 starring Alex Etel, Timothy Spall, Pauline Collins, Hugh Bonneville and Maggie Smith .  It is based on children's novel The Chimneys of Green Knowe.  It is directed by Julian Fellows who also directs "Downton Abbey" and has some of the same actors and grandness.

Near the end of World War II, Tolly goes to visit his grandmother, Mrs. Oldknow (Smith), for Christmas.  His grandmother lives in the old family mansion and she is just hanging on financially and may have to sell soon.  Tolly's father is missing in action and he makes sure everyone knows he is only missing and not dead.  Tolly explores the grand estate and mansion, trying to discover all its secrets.  He also listens to Granny's stories as well as those of the housekeeper, Mrs. Tweedle (Collins) and Boggis (Spall) the handyman.

Shortly after arriving, Tolly sees a ghost of a girl who he finds out from Granny is Susan, their ancestor from the early 1800s. Soon thereafter, Tolly is also pulled into 1805 and is seen by some as a ghost in that time.  As days go by, Tolly is pulled more and more into that time of his family's history and is even able to assist some of the people there.  Can Tolly discover the secrets of the mansion and his family and find out what happened to the family jewels and silver?

This is a wonderful ghost story, mystery, period piece and film that the entire family will enjoy. 

Home for the Holidays

"Home for the Holidays" is an ABC Movie of the Week that first aired in 1972.  It starred: Jessica Walter, Sally Field, Julie Harris, Eleanor Parker, Jill Haworth and Walter Brennan.

Benjamin Morgan (Walter Brennan) calls all four of his daughters home on Christmas Eve after a nine year estrangement.  He gets them home claiming his current wife is trying to poison him.  The four daughters, Frederica, Christine, Joanna and Alex arrive and try to make sense of what is happening.  Elizabeth, his wife, greets them and over dinner tells them how she had been accused of killing her first husband but was found innocent.

A very young Sally Field stars as the youngest daughter, Christine who tries to keep peace in the family. Soon the sisters start dying off and you have to guess who the killer is that wears the yellow rain slicker and red boots.

Adding to the atmosphere of the movie is the never ending storm outside.  Thunder and lightning fill the night sky and wind and rain during the day.  This storm seems to last for several days and the phones go out and the road to town washes away, effectively stranding the Morgan sisters.  I enjoyed this movie very much and will remember it when in the mood for a not so traditional holiday film.

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale

 

"Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale" (2010) starring Jorma Tommila, Peeter Jakobi and Onni Tommila is a film in Finnish with English subtitles and some English parts.  

In the northern mountains on the border of Finland and Russia, a company is excavating a mountain and have found the original Santa Claus entombed in ice.  Pietari (Onni Tommila) and his dad Rauno (Jorma Tommila) are raindeer herders who live nearby and Pietari discovers what's going on.  He does some research and discovered that the Santa Claus that we know today is nothing like the real Santa from long ago. That Santa was rather sinister and would punish bad children and even cook them up in his cauldron.  He had a bunch of creepy helpers ("the elves") who did his bidding.  Well the local Sami indigenous people of the area had enough of him and lured him into the icy tomb.

Now that he is out, Christmas Eve is not the same for Pietari, his Dad and local friends.  They all band together to make Christmas safe again for all the boys and girls.  This movie was surprisingly good.  The boy that plays Pietari does an exceptional job playing this character.  You'll never look at Santa the same again after seeing this movie!

Christmas Evil

"Christmas Evil" (1980) starring Brandon Maggart, Jeffrey DeMunn and Dianne Hull is a strange Christmas themed horror movie.

Harry Stadling (Maggart) had a traumatic incident during his childhood involving his mom and his dad masquerading as Santa.  He has had a weird obsession with Christmas ever since and as an adult his works in a toy factory.  He also keeps tabs on neighborhood children and writes down in his naughty and nice book whether they are good or bad.

Harry is a lonely man living alone with some connection to his brother and his family.  This Christmas though, he has descended full on into madness and becomes a demented Santa Claus once and for all.  He actually does some good deeds as Santa but some terrible ones too.

The movie has a few bloody scenes but not too gory. It is mainly a story of a man who becomes a very creepy and sinister Santa!