The story of Black Christmas has been told in three different, unrelated horror films, and here’s how they measure up, from 1974 to 2019. A precursor to the slasher genre that would dominate the 1980s and part of the 1990s, Black Christmas plays off old urban legends about someone receiving creepy phone calls from an intruder inside their own home. This setup was also utilized by 1979’s When a Stranger Calls, a movie often compared to Black Christmas.
Black Christmas, directed by Bob Clark, would establish many slasher movie tropes that would be utilized to great effect by Halloween, Friday the 13th, and more. Black Christmas even directly inspired Halloween, thanks to a conversation between Clark and John Carpenter. There was a time when Black Christmas often got overlooked, but thanks to the rise of the internet and worldwide exchanges of information, more and more horror fans have been turned on to the many delights of the film that boasts the classic tagline “if this movie doesn’t make your skin crawl, it’s on too tight.”
Black Christmas never did receive a sequel, but it’s been remade, however loosely, twice. The first remake came in 2006, directed by The X-Files vet Glen Morgan. The second is in theaters now, directed by Sophia Takal, and sporting an overtly feminist message. Without any further decking of the halls, here’s all Black Christmas movies, ranked worst to best.
3. Black Christmas (2006)
With the critical and commercial failure of Black Christmas 2019 fresh in fans’ minds, many might be surprised to not see it in the bottom spot. Those people have likely just forgotten how bad Black Christmas 2006 turned out. While a great young cast of sorority sisters (Katie Cassidy, Michelle Trachtenberg, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and Lacey Chabert) does their best to make things watchable, this first remake removes the mystery killer element and replaces it with a ridiculously over the top origin story for “Billy,” involving him making cookies out of his mother’s flesh. There’s a lot of gore, but that’s about all the film has to offer, and it’s rightly faded into obscurity.
2. Black Christmas (2019)
Compared to the 2006 version, Black Christmas 2019 is slightly better, although not by much. Imogen Poots steals the show as lead character Riley, a sexual assault victim who ends up leading the charge against a fraternity murder cult. The first act of the film, featuring a terrific public takedown of Riley’s rapist, shows promise, but unneeded and convoluted supernatural elements take the story off course, and render its initially timely and realistic arguments against misogyny and sexism hard to really relate to amidst the chaos.
1. Black Christmas (1974)
As if this ranking could end any other way. Black Christmas, the original recipe, is a classic for a reason, and deserves every bit of praise it gets from horror devotees. It’s suspenseful, well cast, and balances making its kills violent and upsetting without being a mindless gore fest. Black Christmas probably isn’t as good as Halloween, but it’s close, and it’s always a worthy watch, especially for those looking for an alternative to the usual Christmas movie fare.
More: Black Christmas 2019 Ending & Real Killers Explained
