Split Picks gets into the yuletide spirit with an episode devoted to Bob Clark's holiday horror classic 'Black Christmas.'

One of the finest horror films America has ever produced (and not just in Canada!), Bob Clark's Black Christmas (1974) was his first timeless holiday classic. Released during the same year as Deathdream, his Vietnam-era reimagining of The Monkey's Paw, Black Christmas capped off his early run of horror films before journeying into more family friendly holiday favorites (A Christmas Story, 1983) and raunchy mainstream comedy (Porky's, 1981). The film, set in a sorority house being stalked by a disturbed killer as Christmas break begins, remains as stylistically daring, socially progressive, and chilling as ever.

But Clark's film is only the beginning for Split Picks! Craig is joined by Bennett Glace, Jim Hickcox, and Snow Lietta to discuss not only the 1974 original, but 2006's Black Xmas and 2019's Black Christmas. Over the course of this two-part episode, they break down what sets the original apart — not only from its remakes, but from most other horror films in general — and how the later films warp and repurpose the original film's ideas and characters to fit their respective eras. Check back later this week for part two!

Split Picks: 'Black Christmas' (Bob Clark, 1974)

What is a bad movie? When does the fun start? How did David Cronenberg make a room full of nineteen-year-olds cry? Who *really* killed Abraham Lincoln? Why do birds suddenly appear every time Tippi Hedren is near? The Cinesthesia Boys answer virtually none of these questions, in any way, at all. Who are the Cinesthesia Boys? They’re Jim Hickcox and Jason Michelitch! That was an easy one.

THE CINESTHESIA PODCAST

CHAPTER ONE: TOMMY WISEAU'S LINCOLN

Time travel, mouths covered in plastic, fish-based revenge and another drive-by Cronenberg mention. Join the Cinesthesia Boys, Jim Cine and Jason Sthesia, as they get more talking done about bad movies, ironic appreciation, which Nolan brother is Mama Nolan’s favorite and the ideal iteration of Jaws V: Sharks Hold a Grudge. It’s another certified classic fresh from the presses (we call our mouths “presses” because we press them against each other, when we kiss!)!!

CHAPTER TWO: KILL ME WITH YOUR FISH

The Boys have been missing in action — wandering through the submerged depths of spacetime, the dead zones of material consciousness — but they ride the bathyscaphe up through the cracks in reality's sidewalk and surface with brain bubbles full of hot takes on Cyborgs and Spielbergs. Welcome back to Cinesthesia. Get your surfboards ready: This tide is only rising. Coming Monday, Feb. 24: HALLOWEEN HANGOVER!

CHAPTER THREE: MUCH LOVE, THE SLOPPY JUSTICE ROBOTS

"Some people never got over Vietnam or the night their band opened for Nirvana. I guess Cinesthesia never got over Halloween." 
- Rob Fidelity
They just can't stop! Jim and Jason could talk about literally anything they want, but their brains are permanently trapped in the world of tricks and treats. This week, The Boys take a scattershot look at the convoluted history of one Michael "Halloween is my middle name" Halloween Myers, the once and future king of slashers, who is also maybe a puppet of Celtic witchcraft and an absentee father? Carve those pumpkins, kids, it's time for a Halloween Hangover. NEXT EPISODE: More Halloween Hangover!!! Part 2 of [??!?] WHEN WILL THE MADNESS STOP P P PPP

CHAPTER FOUR: MICHAEL MYERS SHEDS A TEAR

Split Tooth Media is an independent publication based in Portland, Oregon, that still believes in long-form journalism and in-depth podcasts about music and film. Home of "Split Picks," a head-to-head showdown series about the career trajectories of filmmakers and musicians, created by Craig Wright; Jim Hickcox and Jason Michelitch's film criticism series "Cinesthesia;" and Rob Delany and 'T' Trimble's guide to exploring the world of art cinema with "Arthouse Drive-In."

Split Picks: 'Black Christmas' (Bob Clark, 1974)

Split Tooth

Related tracks