Christmas is a special time to decorate a tree, spend time with those you care about, and run away from crazed killers swinging a bloody axe. At least, that’s the case in Christmas horror movies. Once a fairly slim category, filmmakers have become more enthusiastic about crafting holiday horror for audiences who enjoy their candy canes sharpened to a deadly point.
Whether they star killer Santas or vengeful holiday spirits, numerous horror movies use Christmas as their setting. So to help get into a very particular holiday spirit, we present the ten greatest Christmas horror movies. While many great horror movies take place on or near Christmas, this list looks at the movies that truly incorporate the holiday into all the bloodshed and terror, creating unique experiences that are impossible to forget.
10
‘Krampus’ (2015)
A family that feels more beaten down by Christmas than inspired faces a night of holiday-themed horrors in Krampus. When the Engel family’s youngest son, Max (Emjay Anthony), completely loses his Christmas spirit, he summons the frightening and vengeful Krampus. Now trapped in their home due to an unusual winter storm, the Engels will have to rely on one another to battle all manner of Christmas monsters.
Krampus isn’t necessarily a scary horror movie, but it fully incorporates Christmas into its plot. The story sometimes struggles to shift between horror movie and satirical comedy, but despite the uneven tone, Krampus is a good choice for an audience wanting a milder horror experience. Plus, having a cast that includes Oscar nominee and bona fide horror icon Toni Collette, Adam Scott, and David Koechner ensures the movie is well-acted, even in sillier moments.
9
‘Anna and the Apocalypse’ (2018)
Zombie mayhem and musical numbers are not mutually exclusive in the genre mashup Anna and the Apocalypse. The musical zombie film follows Anna (Ella Hunt), a high school student whose relationship woes and concerns about her future take a backseat when a zombie apocalypse casts a shadow on the upcoming Christmas festivities. Alongside her best friends, Anna will avoid being bitten by the undead while occasionally taking a break to sing a song or two.
Anna and the Apocalypse easily could have been a mess of a film, because it throws a little bit of every genre into the mix, ranging from teen drama to slapstick comedy, while using standard zombie tropes as guideposts for the plot. Rather than being an overly busy movie, though, Anna and the Apocalypse is a briskly paced, surprisingly emotional zombie musical that seems tailor-made for theater lovers seeking a bit of an edge in their movies.
8
‘Christmas Evil’ (1980)
An underrated but exceptionally creepy horror Christmas movie is the psychological nightmare Christmas Evil. The film follows Harry Stadling (Brandon Maggart), a lonely man fixated on Christmas, who attempts to become Santa by imparting and enforcing the moral values St. Nick judges children. Unable to separate his fantasy from real life, Harry delivers toys to those who were good while murdering the people who have belittled him.
Imagine Taxi Driver if Robert De Niro’s Travis Bickle slowly became Santa Claus, and that will serve as a decent frame of reference for Christmas Evil. Indeed, this one is not the by-the-numbers slasher film it was marketed as or the title would lead one to believe, but rather a morose character study about a broken man finding solace in a delusion. An eerily whimsical score against a downbeat story makes Christmas Evil a horror movie that feels tragic and grimy at the same time.
7
‘The Advent Calendar’ (2021)
The Advent Calendar proves that, yes, anything can be turned into a horror movie. The French-Belgian film tells the story of Eva (Eugenie Derouand), a paraplegic woman who feels trapped in her body and in a state of emotional isolation. When she receives the gift of an unusual Advent calendar, Eva notices things beginning to work in her favor with each door she opens, but all good things come at great cost and sacrifice.
The Advent Calendar cleverly uses the fixed 24-day countdown to build the tension and escalate the level of sacrifice Eva must embrace if she wants to grasp the thing she’s coveted for so long. The movie rests on Derouand’s shoulders, and she carries it aptly, shifting between embracing and rejecting the power she’s given through the calendar. The Advent Calendar succeeds at being more than a run-of-the-mill holiday horror movie by exploring disappointment, regret, and the necessary acceptance of both to live an enjoyable life.
6
‘Better Watch Out’ (2017)
A holiday babysitting job becomes a fight for survival in Better Watch Out. The film follows Ashley (Olivia DeJonge), a teen hired to watch Luke (Levi Miller), a 12-year-old boy who has a secret crush on her. Their night starts simply enough, but when a staged attack by a masked intruder is quickly discovered, Luke will take control of the night in a way Ashley could never have predicted.
It’s best to view Better Watch Out knowing as little as possible, but even if that’s not possible, the movie is still very enjoyable due to the performances from DeJonge and Miller. Better Watch Out ties tension and black humor into one messy but effective ribbon, and fans of other timeless holiday classics will enjoy the nods to their famous scenes. Although Better Watch Out didn’t enjoy financial success, the film has built up a cult following that appreciates the film’s wit and clever plot.
5
‘Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale’ (2010)
In Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale, a drilling team uncovers the frozen body of the true Santa Claus in a remote Finnish area. Unlike the stories, this Santa is an evil being that must never be set free, with only the young boy Pietari (Onni Tommila) understanding the danger his town is in. With the help of his father, Rauno (Jorma Tommila), Pietari will stop Santa from escaping his icy prison and terrorizing the world.
Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale is one of the most inventive and original Christmas-themed horror movies. Oftentimes, this singular project has a darkly humorous tone, but it also manages to hit creepy moments while playing fast and loose with the lore of Santa Claus. There isn’t another movie in the very niche category of holiday horror that captures the dark fairy tale spirit of Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale, and fans of offbeat storytelling will love this story.
4
‘Silent Night, Deadly Night’ (1984)
Silent Night, Deadly Night is a film more widely known for the controversies it caused than the plot itself. The slasher follows Billy Chapman (Robert Brian Wilson), a young man who was traumatized at an early age after watching his parents murdered by a man in a Santa outfit. At 18, Billy attempts to lead a normal life, but memories of his parents’ death, along with the abuse he received at the orphanage he was raised in, cause him to go on a murderous spree based on who is naughty or nice.
There’s a seediness to Silent Night, Deadly Night that will make you want to take a shower and call a loved one, but that’s also part of its disturbing, distinct charm. It’s a down-and-dirty B horror movie that goes for the jugular with kills that explore Billy’s skewed relationship with virtue. For a truly shameless, unhinged viewing experience, also check out Silent Night Deadly Night 2, a sequel that recycles roughly 40 minutes of footage from the original film, because why wouldn’t it?
3
‘Terrifier 3’ (2024)
The third installment of the Terrifier series shifts its focus away from Halloween to spread some Yuletide terror. Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton) puts himself back together in order to chop and torture a new line of victims. Meanwhile, one of Art’s only survivors, Sienna Shaw (Lauren LaVera), is cleared to leave a psychiatric facility, setting up another showdown between the two.
The spirit that made the first two Terrifier films stand out, their enthusiasm to take practical effects to the extreme, continues with Terrifier 3. By the third feature, though, the storytelling has become much stronger, and the characters have more to do than wait for their turn to be murdered. The promise of Art in a Santa outfit, gleefully smiling as he caused widespread death and destruction in new and creative ways, lured fans to the theaters, breaking box office records for a non-rated movie.
2
‘Gremlins’ (1984)
Destructive green monsters take over a small town in the cozy holiday horror movie Gremlins. In the film, Billy (Zach Galligan) receives an exotic pet called a Mogwai for Christmas. A Mogwai requires special care to maintain, so when Billy doesn’t follow the instructions he was given, a slew of monsters are unleashed into his quiet home of Kingston Falls. Billy must team up with his new pet to undo the destruction he’s caused and save his neighbors before they fall victim to the small scaly creatures.
If Christmas is about spending time with loved ones, then Gremlins is the horror movie the whole family can watch. Even though the antagonists are funny puppets, Gremlins can still go to some dark places in its runtime. Whether you see it for the first time as a child or an adult, there is a unique quality to the film’s unique mix of light horror-inspired mischief and holiday adventure that universally appeals to audiences who can’t help but fall in love with the lore. As expected, it launched a franchise, but none of the sequels or side projects have ever matched the original.
1
‘Black Christmas’ (1974)
In the classic horror movie Black Christmas, a group of young college students is terrorized by an obscene caller at their sorority house. Unbeknownst to them, the caller is inside the house, proceeding to kill them one by one without making the others aware. As the body count begins to rise, Jessica (Olivia Hussey) begins to suspect the perpetrator may be someone she knows.
Black Christmas is not only an outstanding Christmas horror movie, but it also played a large role in creating what we know as the modern slasher movie. Predating John Carpenter’s Halloween by roughly four years, Black Christmas incorporated concepts such as the stalker’s point of view and tense kill scenes, things that would be commonly found in future staples of the subgenre. What slashers didn’t borrow from Black Christmas was the well-developed characters and scares found in the atmosphere instead of gore, making it a film worth revisiting any time of year.
Source link
-
-
-
-
-
