10 Most Paused Slasher Movie Moments

3. "The Calls Are Coming From The House" - Black Christmas

Cabin In The Woods
Warner Bros.

"Jess, the caller is in the house. The calls are coming from the house!"

With that, the shocking revelation at the centre of 1974's Black Christmas is exposed. After so many creepy phone calls and several dead bodies quietly amassed, this beloved picture rocks its audience to the core by revealing that the person who has been causing so much torment throughout Black Christmas is actually somewhere in the sorority house that houses the movie's protagonists.

The moment that Olivia Hussey's Jess is informed of this by a panicked Sgt Nash is horror gold, but it's the immediate aftermath of this blockbuster news that has first-time viewers reaching for the pause button.

As Jess stands frozen to the spot, phone still in hand, the camera pans over to the dark, ominous staircase that we now know houses a deranged killer just around the corner. And so, hitting pause here, horror hounds found themselves scouring every inch of the picture in wincing curiosity as to whether the film's killer can be seen.

Of course, he cannot, and Jess ends up nervously heading up the stairs to find the dead bodies of two of her friends.

The whole "the calls are coming from the house" angle would go on to become a staple of the horror genre, yet its origin point was here in Black Christmas.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.