Black Christmas is a 1974 Canadian slasher film produced and directed by Bob Clark,

and written by A. Roy Moore. It stars Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea, Margot Kidder,
Andrea Martin, Marian Waldman, Lynne Griffin and John Saxon. The story follows a
group of sorority sisters who receive threatening phone calls and are eventually
stalked and murdered by a deranged killer during the Christmas season. It is the
first film in the Black Christmas series.

Inspired by the urban legend "The babysitter and the man upstairs" and a series of
murders that took place in the Westmount section of Montreal, Quebec, Moore wrote
the screenplay under the title Stop Me. The filmmakers made numerous alterations to
the script, primarily the shifting to a university setting with young adult
characters. It was shot in Toronto in 1974 on an estimated budget of $620,000, and
was distributed by Warner Bros. in North America.

Black Christmas was released on October 11, 1974, in Canada and December 20 in the
United States under the title Silent Night, Evil Night. Upon its release, the film
received mixed reviews, but it has since received critical re-appraisal, with film
historians noting it for being one of the earliest slasher films.[3] It is also
praised for concluding without revealing the identity of its villain, as well as
serving as an influence on John Carpenter's Halloween (1978). Aside from its
earning a cult following[4] since its release, a novelization written by Lee Hays
was published in 1976.