Reviews
Black Christmas (1974)
Great slasher film, one of the best, but it's no Halloween...
A lot of people talk about this film like it is the true unsung hero of the stalker/slasher film genre, even over the well-known and championed Halloween. I do think this is a great film and it does put most slasher films to shame, but it never comes close to honestly beating Halloween in terms of overall product.
Some great directing and camera-work, not bad acting, bizarre and manic killer with no motive other than insanity and a few nice twists to keep the viewer interested make this a must-own film if you are a fan of the genre. However, I must insist, this is not quite as good as Halloween. Michael Myers' relentless and emotionless stalking beats the cackling, manic, obscene phone calling killer hands down. Add a superior soundtrack and you have a superior product, in my opinion.
I noticed a few people on the IMDb making such audacious comments as: 'Halloween copied/ripped-off Black Christmas'. If I may be frank, that couldn't be more wrong. The only real similarity comes with the camera-work at the beginning of the film. This camera technique employed the pan-a-glide camera and Halloween made much better use of it and the POV shot. I can't put my finger on it and don't know exactly why but there was something distinctly wrong with the shots where we are supposed to be looking through the killer's eyes. In Halloween it felt right, in this film it felt wrong. Perhaps something to do with over-use of the technique. Halloween didn't use it quite as often and didn't have to rely on it quite so much, as it has suspense coming out of its ears from the amazing soundtrack and terrifying on-screen killer. Also, Halloween used more static camera shots watching potential victims, implying Michael Myers was watching but not confirming it, whereas in Black Christmas you KNEW he the killer was watching, because you could hear his breathing and the camera moved around much more. I know this is not the same in the opening sequence of Halloween, but throughout the rest of the film I feel the techniques are superior than Black Christmas.
Still, this film IS great and if you do like Halloween, or any films of this genre, I urge you to buy this as it is brilliant.
Ultimately, I think the difference is that Black Christmas is the start of the 'slasher' film genre, whereas Halloween was more a 'stalker' film. In Black Christmas, the killer never STALKS his victims. Even the female protagonist when she runs from the killer, isn't really stalked by him as such, as she hardly even runs away until the end of the film. The killer in this film waits for his victims to come to him and the suspense works in this way, where you wait for them to walk into their demise. In Halloween, the killer is actively stalking his victims, following Laurie during the day, going to Laurie's friends houses at night and killing them. So in this respect I guess that if you are more of a fan of the 'killer hiding in the closet' type of movie, this is for you, but if you are more a fan of the stalker type of movie, you will prefer Halloween. Or ask yourself this: what do you find more scary: a killer who you never actually see, even in the final stages of the film, or a silent but deadly shape, who remains off-camera until he strikes, relentlessly stalking his victim for no other reason than that he is pure Evil?
But again, I really urge you to watch BOTH! Last note: Female protagonist in this film is FIT. MUCH fitter than Laurie Strode, so that's reason enough why you should watch this!
Believe Nothing (2002)
Just believe Rik Mayall is superb
Believe Nothing isn't necessarily a programme which breaks new ground, nor does it necessarily have an award-winning script, but one thing you would have to be a complete and total 'w*nk biscuit' (Bottom quote) to deny, is that Rik Mayall is absolutely amazing. From the facial expressions, to the delivery of lines, to his off-camera interaction with the studio audience... Rik is plain and simply a comedy genius and anyone who doesn't agree with that simply will not understand any of the style of humour Rik has used at all. You might go so far as to say he is funny even when he is being serious.
So, I would argue that even though the actual programme Believe Nothing may not be anything special on its own, with Rik Mayall as the main character, it is easily as good as anything else they are showing on British television at the moment.
Lets hope Rik is back on television TO STAY.