Metacritic reviews

Much of the shtick used by Clark and screenwriter Roy Moore was later stolen both by countless hacks and at least one real artist (Halloween director John Carpenter), but few repeated Clark's most devious tactic, accompanying the violence with the sound of the killer's nerve-janglingly maniacal shouting.

Black Christmas just may be the perfect antidote to the saccharine sweetness of most Christmastime fare.

Not only does Black Christmas provide real chills, it introduces devices - like the opening, which is shot from the slasher's point of view - that inspired John Carpenter's Halloween and countless genre flicks to follow. [20 Dec 2009, p.61]

An interesting stop-gap in the slasher genre.

What Black Christmas retains is the competent pacing and pure chaos that’s dealt in whispers and brutality, and what it lacks is a younger audience who just can’t quite understand that some horror films require imagination, suspense, and no explanation to hold our hand with.

Although strictly standard fare, the material is elevated somewhat through Clark's skillful handling of such plot devices as obscene phone calls from the killer to the girls via the upstairs phone and a nicely handled twist ending, which provides a genuine shock.

Canadian-made unpleasantness (1975) about a psychopath stalking a college town. Bob Clark's direction is enthusiastic but sloppy-a presaging of his later Porky's. [02 Dec 2010, p.52]

Black Christmas, a bloody, senseless kill-for-kicks feature, exploits unnecessary violence in a university sorority house operated by an implausibly alcoholic ex-hoofer.

Considering the ersatz tension and plotting, Black Christmas is hardly worth the efforts of all concerned.