All 3 ‘Black Christmas’ Movies in Order
When the holiday season hits, there’s nothing sweeter than cozying up with a cup of tea and watching a nice Christmas movie. However, there are layers to the genre – and one of those layers is a holiday horror sub-genre, started by ‘Black Christmas’ in 1974. Many consider ‘Black Christmas’ not only one of the first holiday-horror flicks but one of the first real slashers in history. So far, three ‘Black Christmas’ movies have been made, but only one really lived up to the cult-classic status the franchise has. Today, we’re here to tell you all you need to know about ‘Black Christmas,’ the best order to watch the film series, and where to watch it, all in one place.
‘Black Christmas’ movies in order by release date
As we’ve mentioned, there are three’ Black Christmas’ movies made so far over the course of around 45 years. The cult-classic franchise quickly became a horror, and holiday must-watch, though the rest of the franchise wasn’t as successful. If you want to dive right into the film, here’s how to watch it by release order:
- Black Christmas (1974)
- Black X-Mas (2006)
- Black Christmas (2019)
The second movie was also known under the title ‘Black Christmas’ later, but many use the ‘X-Mas’ version of the title to distinguish between the film. There aren’t the same levels of connection between the films, so I’m here to explain how these movies are connected and also how to watch them today if you wish.
Bear in mind, though, that minor spoilers could be present throughout the rest of the article.
Are all ‘Black Christmas’ movies connected? What’s the best way to watch them?
All three ‘Black Christmas’ movies have a similar backstory, happen around the same time of the year – Christmas time, of course – and take place in a college sorority whose members are hunted down by a psychopathic serial killer. However, none of them are actually connected to one another plot-wise.
Instead, the 2006 and 2019 versions of ‘Black Christmas’ are kind of loose remakes of the original film that didn’t quite hit the mark as the first film.
The first movie – the 1974 version of ‘Black Christmas’ – became a cult classic for a reason. As I’ve mentioned a few times, not only did the movie open up a brand new holiday horror subgenre – but many consider it to be the first blueprint slasher horror film that served as a major inspiration for later slasher franchises that became even more successful.
I mean, think about it – a psychopathic murderer who lived an awful life and killed complete strangers with no real motive other than being absolutely clinically insane due to his unfathomably troubled and traumatic life ever since his childhood days. Ringing any bells? Mike Myers, Jason Voorhees, Leatherface… shall I go on?
‘Black Christmas’ gives you just enough of a backstory to understand the motivations of the antagonist, who is completely devoid of any humanity but not too much to destroy the mystery. The murders are random and violent, making you think anyone could be next, but not too gory or violent to turn into a grotesque.
It hit the money right into that sweet middle, and although movies such as ‘Halloween’ are arguably better in a lot of ways, they simply are upgrades over the ‘Black Christmas’ blueprint.
The same can’t be said for the 2006 and 2019 versions. ‘Best X-Mas’ tried to hit that middle, too, but failed utterly miserably. There’s this prolonged origin story for ‘Billy’ that is just way over the top, and then the rest of the movie provides nothing else other than a gore-fest.
The 2019 is even worse – it’s the only movie in the franchise that’s rated PG-13 – yes, you read that correctly. Instead, about half an hour of the movie was cut to meet the PG-13 standards, as they wanted to market the film for ‘teenage girls interested in the horror genre.’
Instead of a slasher horror flick, they put in this poorly executed social commentary on misogyny and feminism that would be great in another movie – but in this one, it felt totally out of place and hard to engage in with all the murdering happening kind of ‘on the side.’
What’s the best way to watch the ‘Black Christmas’ movies?
So, the best way to watch these movies is simply to go through them in release order. You want to get the original first, as it is by far the best movie of the franchise. If you’re a fan of slasher films, it will be very cool for you to see essentially where it all began.
The second and third movies can be on your list simply to compare the two loose remakes to the original. Don’t expect anything special from these two films, though, other than providing clarity to what worked in the first film and why it was so good.
‘Black Christmas’ movies in chronological order
If you want to watch the ‘Black Christmas’ movies in chronological order, it’ll be kind of hard since they aren’t really related to one another plot-wise. Instead, the 2006 and 2019 movies are loose remakes of the original that didn’t really stand the test of time – or any other test, for that matter.
The only thing that all of these movies have in common is the subject of a psychopath killing sorority girls during Christmas time. Apart from that, they all happen in their own timelines, in their own colleges, in their own respective sororities, with their own version of the killer.
That being said, you can’t really patch these movies up chronologically, so I suggest you should just watch them by release order and then compare them to yourself.
Where can I watch the ‘Black Christmas’ movies?
The first ‘Black Christmas’ movie, being the most popular, can be found on most platforms. You can stream it on FuboTV, Peacock, the AMC+ Avazon Channel, The Roku Channel, Kanopy, Redbox, Screambox Amazon Channer, and Tubi TV.
The second film an also be found for streaming on AMC+, Vudu, The Roku Channel, Kanopy, and Freevee, whereas the 2019 version of ‘Black Christmas’ is available on Netflix.
If you want to buy/rent any of these movies instead of streaming them online, you can find them on Apple TV, Amazon, Vudu, Microsoft Store, DIRECTV, YouTube, and Google Play.
Will there be more ‘Black Christmas’ movies?
Although the first ‘Black Christmas’ movie will forever remain a cult classic in both the holiday and slasher genres, it’s very doubtful that another ‘Black Christmas’ movie will be made – at least not in the foreseeable future.
There have been two attempts to do a remake of sorts, and both times, the projects fell flat, with poor reviews, even poorer ratings, and the poorest box office draw. The 2019 version of the film had a 3.5/10 rating on IMDb – yes, 3.5 – so I doubt any producers would be willing to spend money on another film that’s bound to lose cash like the previous two.
Never say never, though, as there have been two major gaps between these three films we already have – a 32-year gap between the first and second film and then a 13-year gap between the second and third film.
So, who knows, perhaps we’ll look back in a decade and see news about a fourth movie coming out to try and revive the franchise. Only time will tell, I guess. In the meantime, who’s ready for some psycho-killer Christmas vibes?
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