Jess: Black Christmas (1974)
Olivia Hussey is way ahead of her time as the lead in this holiday horror classic. Jessica “Jess” Bradford is a driven academic type, yet her boyfriend doesn’t understand why she doesn’t want to stop her education and career in their tracks to marry him and have his baby. See, Jess is accidentally pregnant (the movie was replaced two years AFTER it was legal for single women to get birth control pills) and is planning an abortion. Her boyfriend is so opposed to it, that for much of the movie, we think he might be the murderer stalking and killing girls (including a very young Margot Kidder) instead of the obscene phone caller. Jess is a heroic final girl well worth remembering.
Winnie: It’s a Wonderful Knife (2023)
Jane Widdop is pretty fun as the plucky protagonist Winnie in what is an otherwise middling holiday film. A messy plot combining the evil real estate developers of Scooby Doo with the hereditary revenge plotline of Nightmare on Elm Street. Winnie’s ruthless pursuit of the truth...and the killer...and justice itself, is a great holiday ride because we really, really want her to come out on top. Does she?
Watch and see.