| “ | Hey quiet! It's him again; the Moaner | „ |
| ~ Jess answering another disturbing phone call. |
| “ | Phyl! Barb! Please answer me!!! Please answer me!!! | „ |
| ~ Jess panicking while calling out for Phyl and Barb. |
Jessica Bradford, more commonly known as Jess, is the main protagonist of the 1974 slasher film Black Christmas. She becomes the (possible) sole survivor of a perverted killer that's targeting her sorority house.
She was portrayed by Olivia Hussey.
Biography[]
Not much is known about Jess prior to the events of the movie. It's known that she is a member of the Pi Kappa Sig sorority and has a boyfriend, Peter Smythe. At some point of time she realized she had become pregnant, but didn't want to have a baby.
In the beginning of the movie Jess along with the other girls are having a christmas party at their sorority house. Unbeknownst to them a twisted killer (Billy) had climbed up to the attic of the house and was stalking and terrorizing the girls with obscene phone calls. Jess answers a phone ringing and says to the other girls that it is the Moaner (Billy) calling again, meaning that Billy had already at some time harassed the sorority with phone calls. Barb takes the phone and snaps at the caller, with him ending the call saying that he'll kill her. Another sorority girl named Clare Harrison is strangled in her room by Billy and taken to the attic, without the other girls noticing. Jess talks with Peter on the phone and says that she wants to talk to him about something face to face. Before going to bed she tries to check on Clare but she can't find her.
The day after Jess talks with Peter and tells him that she's pregnant and that she wants to have an abortion. Peter gets mad at her, tells her to leave and that they should talk later. At the sorority Jess hears the phone ringing and answers it. She understands that it's once again the deranged caller and hangs up. Mrs. Mac, the housemother, arrives at the house and tells Jess that Clare is missing. Disturbed by this, Jess goes to talk with Clare's boyfriend and asks him if he knows where she is. He says he doesn't and both of them together with another sorority girl named Phyllis "Phyl" joins the search party for Clare and another girl named Janice who's also gone missing. Meanwhile Mrs. Mac finds Clare's body in the attic at the sorority house but is quickly killed by Billy. Eventually the search party finds the girl Janice dead in the park. Jess arrives back home at the sorority and answers another phone call. She becomes scared when she hears that it's the crazy caller again. She tries to talk to him and get him to stop but to no avail. She hangs up, calls the police and tells them about the obscene phone calls. Peter comes down the stairs and tells Jess he's been waiting for her. Peter tells her that he wants to marry her but Jess says she doesn't want to. After talking for a while Peter becomes enraged and insults Jess. He tells her that she's not going to abort the baby and Jess tells him to leave. The police arrives and tells Jess that they'll tap the house's phone so they can trace the calls. They also ask about Clare and tells the girls that one policeman will be outside the house in case of any danger. The police leaves and Jess stays up to pick up the phone, while Barb and Phyl are sleeping upstairs. Jess hears Barb having an asthma attack; Barb claims that she had a nightmare where she saw a man walk into her room. After calming her down, Jess hears Christmas Carolers at the front door and leaves Barb unattended. Unknowingly for Jess, Billy sneaks in to Barb's room and stabs her to death with a glass unicorn figure. After the Christmas Carolers leave the phone rings and Jess reluctantly answers. She experiences another distrubing phone call where the caller restates her argument with Peter. Lieutenant Fuller phones Jess and tells her the call wasn't long enough and that they couldn't trace it. He theorizes that Peter could be the one behind the phone calls but Jess doubts it. Phyl wakes up and together they lock every door and window in the house. Phyl goes to check on Barb but gets killed off-screen by Billy.
Jess experiences another twisted phone call and the police are able to trace it. They realize the person making the calls are in the house. Sergeant Nash calls Jess and tells her to leave the house immediately because the caller is in the house with her. Concerned for Phyl and Barb she calls out for them but to no response. She panics and screams after Phyl and Barb but there's still no answer. She grabs a fire poker and goes upstairs to fetch Phyl and Barb. Jess eventually finds their bloody corpses and for the first time sees Billy, but only his eye, staring at her through a door crack. She slams the door and runs downstairs trying to get out of the front door but it's locked from the outside. Billy grabs her hair but she manages to escape and lock herself in the basement with Billy screaming and banging on the door. Eventually Billy leaves and it gets quiet. Jess tries to navigate the basement and sees a figure outside the basement window. It's revealed to be Peter and he breaks in through the basement window and finds Jess. Jess, terrified and believing that Peter is the killer, beats him to death with the fire poker. The police finds her exhausted and put her to sleep in her room upstairs. They discover the bodies of Phyl and Barb and believes that Peter was the killer and that the case is solved. Jess is left alone in the house, with a cop standing outside. Billy's voice is heard from the attic, showing he's still alive and that Peter wasn't the killer. The still-undiscovered bodies of Clare and Mrs. Mac are seen through the attic window before a phone begins to ring, leaving Jess' fate ambiguous.
Personality[]
Jess is depicted as a sweet, sophisticated and caring, yet independent and capable young girl. She cares about all of the girls at the sorority and seems to consider everyone as friends, even Barb (Barbara) who sometimes acts a bit like a mean girl. She even tries to save Phyl (Phyllis) and Barb when she learns that the caller is in the house, despite knowing that she could be in grave danger. Showing how much she cares for her friends as well as that she's very brave. Jess is the most level-headed of the girls and is able to hold herself together when she learns that the man who's making the phone calls is in the house.
In her relationship with Peter, she is the most mature one who is trying to be responsible and acting kind of as a voice of reason. Even when Peter throws tantrums about her wanting to have an abortion, she still tries to talk with him and have a normal conversation. Which shows she is considerate of others feeling but still wants to do what she thinks is the best.
Trivia[]
- According to actress Olivia Hussey there were two alternate endings being considered. One where Jess died and the one that's in the film now. The film's director Bob Clark wanted to make her fate ambiguous.
- In an interview with director Bob Clark he revealed that if he had done a sequel, Jess would have survived and become the primary target for the mentally unstable killer, who had since been apprehended and institutionalized.
- At one point in time, a sequel to Black Christmas was in the works, which would have showed that Jess survived the whole ordeal, and that she was now working as the housemother in the same sorority house.