Black Christmas (1974)

Of the scary cinematic tool kit, I find jump scares to be the least among the devices within. Cheap pop-ups or screams leave you rattled but otherwise fine. No, no: If you really want to scare a viewer, just confront them with the unrelenting misogyny that surrounds us all. As a sorority empties out before Christmas break, the threatening phone calls they’ve been receiving all semester become a physical foe as a killer stalks through the house. Written by Roy Moore as a play on the age-old campfire tale of the babysitter and the man upstairs – the call is coming from inside the house, you know – there’s a prescient exploration of men’s hatred for women within this brisk little slasher. – James Scott