It’s time to grab your loved ones, curl up near the fireplace (any source of heat will do; I’m no snob), and get ready for the bodies to hit the floor! Christmastime is the perfect time to watch Christmas horror movies. Think about it: You’ve got the cheery red blood, ol’ Saint “Knick,” festive holiday screams, and those pesky psychotic killers who can’t help but get triggered by all the caroling, Christmas spirit, and bell-ringing Santas.
If you’re still bummed Halloween is over and you’re just not feeling jolly, I have a killer list just for you. Read on for a more obscure list of the best Christmas horror movies that slay.
10. Red Christmas (2016)
What horror fan doesn’t love Dee Wallace? Written, directed, and produced by Craig Anderson, Red Christmas is an Australian horror film about love, loss, and abortions. A dysfunctional family Christmas is interrupted by a cloaked and bandaged stranger named Cletus who wants nothing more than to read a letter addressed to his mother and hear someone tell him they love him. When things don’t go as planned, Cletus reverts to his father’s way of thinking and seeks revenge on the family. This fun and gory flick has a lot of heart and one pretty interesting scene involving a blender.
9. Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)
Every Christmas needs a lot of cheese and even more controversy. Silent Night, Deadly Night is an American horror film starring Robert Brian Wilson and Lilyan Chauvin. Due to…ahem…creative ad campaigns, including movie posters and commercials featuring a killer Santa Claus, protests and boycotts abounded, with parents stating their children were now terrified of the jolly home invader.
Still traumatized from seeing his parents murdered by a man dressed in a Santa suit when he was five, 18-year-old Billy Chapman suffers a psychotic break after he is forced to wear a Santa suit one fine Christmas, and a killer Santa Claus is born. This low-budget slasher hit theaters the same day as A Nightmare on Elm Street and spawned four sequels and a 2012 remake.
8. Unholy Night (2019)
Unholy Night is a Canadian Christmas horror anthology film about a sweet, under-appreciated nurse and an elderly patient who has some delightfully twisted Christmas stories to tell from his old scrapbook. The first story includes an eccentric family, an unusual tradition, and some magic mushrooms. The second story includes two sisters, their best friend, and Drunk Dead Debbie. The third and final story brings the movie full circle with a well-constructed twist full of self-awareness and enlightenment.
7. Dead End (2003)
This dark comedy is written and directed by Jean-Baptiste Andrea and Fabrice Canepa and stars Ray Wise and Lin Shaye. Nearly all of the story takes place in a car with a family of five on its way to Grandma’s house for Christmas. The father decides to take a shortcut, and since the holidays are a great time to tell your confined family the truth, the shortcut seems to get longer and longer.
6. Anna and the Apocalypse (2017)
This John McPhail-directed British zombie musical comedy is fun, gross, and a delight to watch, with enough gore to merit an R rating but an upbeat soundtrack that is kid-friendly. A lot of heart, blood, and music is packed in this zombie holiday musical. For Christmas, Little Haven receives an apocalypse, and it’s time to dance and sing and kill the undead in a fight for survival. Do Anna and her friends have what it takes?
5. Secret Santa (2018)
From the inventive, gore-tastic minds behind Jason Goes to Hell and Texas Chainsaw 3D, this guilty pleasure of a Christmas horror-comedy is all about family and puts the fun back in dysfunctional. This is a family Jerry Springer would love, and lucky for us, someone spiked the punch with some military-grade Undisputed Truth. Hilarity ensues, with shocking secrets revealed and heated insults and accusations before delving into a family bloodbath with a perfect mix of creative one-liners and kills.
4. Black Christmas (1974)
Not to be confused with the 2006 underwhelming origin story and the 2019 female empowerment remakes, the latter of which takes a super weird turn, Black Christmas is said to have influenced John Carpenter’s Halloween and is regularly hailed as being one of the greatest horror films of all time.
Drawing from the urban legend of the babysitter and the killer upstairs, this Canadian slasher flick was produced and directed by Bob Clark and starred Margot Kidder and John Saxon. Before going home for the holidays, a group of sorority sisters receives menacing phone calls and begin disappearing. However, since it’s Christmas time and college students are returning home for the holidays, it takes a while for the young women to realize they are being stalked and murdered by a demented killer named Billy.
3. A Christmas Horror Story (2015)
Typical anthology movies include stories that have a beginning, middle, and end before moving on to the next one, often with a bigger story that plays out between the shorter ones. A Christmas Horror Story is more like Crash and 11:14 and features four interwoven tales that take place in Bailey Downs. As the movie progresses, each story starts to make more sense, culminating in a crazy yet satisfying ending that most viewers admit they didn’t see coming. It’s a difficult movie to describe without spoiling it, but definitely worth a watch during the holidays.
2. Krampus (2015)
This 2015 American Christmas horror-comedy features impeccable performances from Adam Scott, Toni Collette, David Koechner, and Conchata Ferrell. During a disastrous, dysfunctional family Christmas, young Max loses his Christmas spirit, which summons Krampus, the demonic equivalent of Santa Claus. Satisfy your killer appetite with a delicious blend of gore and humor, a dash of salt, and some spilled tea.
1. Better Watch Out (2016)
Cleverly written and very well-acted, this psychological horror flick stars Olivia DeJonge (The Visit) and Levi Miller (Pan) and is my top pick for best Christmas horror movie. For 17-year-old Ashley and her intelligent, yet immature 12-year-old charge, Luke, a creature was stirring and it wasn’t a mouse. This well-shot film is easy on the gore but creepy and tense, with good pacing and a solid story about a home invasion gone very wrong.
