Also Known As: Silent Night, Evil Night
Film Funding Ltd. of Canada
Starring: Olivia Hussey, Lynne Griffin, Marian Waldman
Directed by: Bob Clark

Cat Out of the Bag Alert!  This review contains some spoilers for this film!

Synopsis: An unknown killer terrorizes a group of sorority sisters with obscene phone calls as he stalks them over Christmas break.

Featured Feline: The house mother, Mrs. Mac (Marian Waldman) owns a big white Persian cat named Claude.  Claude can first be seen early in the film sitting in the background when the girls gather to listen to another one of the obscene phone calls (although in this shot it looks like another cat altogether).

Right after the phone call happens, a girl named Clare (Lynne Griffin) goes upstairs to pack her bags.  She finds Claude sitting on her bed.

Clare picks up Claude and pets him, commenting on how Mrs. Mac has been looking for him.  Moments later she hears a meowing coming from the closet and goes to investigate.  In fact the killer is meowing like a cat to lure her to her doom.

Claude isn’t seen much in the film but is heard several times, meowing in the distance … or is it really the killer?  Mrs. Mac seems to be in a perpetual search for the cat, calling to him and then getting mad when she accidentally drops something, blaming Claude for her clumsiness and threatening to have him fixed.  We actually only see Claude one more time in the attic licking at the plastic bag covering Clare’s head (according to one report, catnip was sprayed on the actress to get the cat to climb onto her).

Final Mewsings: The killer should add cat impersonator to his resume.

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