|
To All a Goodnight 1980
Some female students that opt to stay at their finishing school during Christmas break have to deal with their house mother as they try to sneak their boyfriends in. Eventually, they're all attacked by someone dressed as Santa Claus.
This is the one of the weirdest slashers ever to come out of the '80s. The dialogue makes no sense despite you understanding that they're saying words you recognize. The characters are also so odd even for the era. However, the mess of it all makes it a sort of entertaining watch. The Blu-ray does a great job of fixing the video so you now can see what's happening during previously too dark scenes. However, they also forgot to fix the scenes set at night yet filmed during the daylight hours. The movie is notable for featuring late '70s porn star Harry Reems as the pilot. |
|
Gremlins 1984
For his son's Christmas gift, an inventor buys a strange animal called a mogwai from a Chinese shopkeeper. There are special rules for raising a mogwai, all of which are broken in due time. Soon, the mogwai, named Gizmo, gives way to more mogwais. However, these new ones are more sinister in nature than Gizmo. The town becomes infested with these creatures, all of which grow into deadlier ones dubbed "gremlins."
Joe Dante's classic creature feature gave us Gizmo, the cutest little monster to ever grace the silver screen. The movie itself is fun even if it is a bit strange and possibly offensive if you read into things. For those that want a slightly subversive Christmas-themed family movie, Gremlins is the one to watch. The sequel Gremlins 2: The New Batch, which was a flop at the box office, is cheesier yet entertaining. |
|
Silent Night, Bloody Night 1972
After inheriting a house that was once an asylum, a man is stalked by a killer on Christmas Eve.
This proto-slasher is bogged down by story and pacing problems, but there is an undeniably eerie atmosphere throughout the movie. Adrienne King from the original Friday the 13th starred in the critically panned 2009 remake Silent Night, Bloody Night: The Homecoming. |
|
Black Christmas 1974
The remaining sisters at a sorority house during the Christmas holiday are terrorized by a deranged killer on the telephone.
This classic Canadian slasher has it all: laughs, scares, and memorable characters. |
|
Don't Open till Christmas 1984
Scotland Yard hunts for a killer targeting men in Santa suits during Christmas.
This sleazy British slasher exaggerates the hatred many people feel toward the holiday. |
|
Home for the Holidays 1972
A gravely ill father invites his four daughters home for Christmas so that they can help him prove that his second wife is poisoning him. In the meantime, someone in a slicker and armed with a pitchfork preys on the daughters.
Aaron Spelling produced this TV-made predecessor to the slasher boom. It stars Sally Field and Jessica Walter. Home for the Holidays isn't as exciting as actual slashers, but it's a good mystery from that era. |
|
The Legend of Hell House 1973
A week before Christmas Eve, a group of investigators enter a house supposedly haunted by the victims of a notorious serial killer.
Hell House is considerably more of a slow burn than contemporary haunted house movies, but it has its moments of delight and spookiness. |
|
Christmas Evil 1980
A mentally disturbed man remembers how his mother ruined Christmas for him as a child by accidentally revealing the truth about Santa Claus. Now as an adult, he dresses up as Santa and goes on a killing spree during Christmas.
While Christmas Evil sounds like a slasher, it's more of a character study and psycho-thriller, believe it or not. Watch with an open mind. |
|
Elves 1989
A woman and her friends are trapped in a department store with killer elves, which are part of a Nazi experiment to create supermen.
There is a reason why this movie has yet to be released on a format other than VHS. The mother here is a trip, and the demonic elves are laughable-looking. |
|
Night Train Murders 2008
A pair of young women travelling through Germany on Christmas Eve by train are attacked by three criminals.
This uncomfortable movie can be compared to the original Last House on the Left. The brutality of some scenes does not make up for the barely there story, though. |
|
The Dorm That Dripped Blood 1982
When a small group of students stay behind over Christmas to clear out a dorm scheduled for renovation, they are stalked and killed by an unknown assailant.
Derivative yet acceptable low-budget slasher from 1982, a year when the subgenre thrived. |
|
Krampus 2015
A dysfunctional family is visited by an ancient demonic spirit on Christmas.
Director Michael Dougherty (Trick 'r Treat) taps into the mythology of Krampus for this 2015 horror comedy. The tone is jarring at times, but Krampus is an imaginative and spooky alternative to the usual Christmastime movies. |
|
Rare Exports 2010
A group of mountain dwelling residents discover the dark secret about Santa Claus.
This fun horror fantasy from Finland is both imaginative and ambitious. |
|
Dead End 2003
The patriach of a family traveling on Christmas Eve takes a detour on a road that never seems to end - literally.
Dead End is a quaint indie horror comedy with with a lot of colorful characters, including the parents played marvelously by Lin Shaye and Ray Wise. The ending is built on a horror cliché, but the rest of the movie makes up for that flaw. |
|
Inside 2007
A pregnant woman home alone on Christmas Eve defends herself from a psychotic woman wanting to take her baby.
This new wave French torture flick is gory and hard to watch at times. |
|
P2 2007
On Christmas Eve, a businesswoman is trapped with a psychotic security guard in her work building's parking garage.
This torture movie deserves more attention just for the fact that it actually has a non-vague ending that is both cathartic and satisfying. |
|
The Children 2008
During the a family's winter stay at an estate, the children contract a disease that turns them into psychotic killers.
Although the plot sounds cheesy, The Children succeeds more than fails thanks to a big budget aesthetic and ludicrous kid mahyem. |
|
Santa's Slay 2005
Santa Claus reverts to his former demonic ways and spreads terror for the holidays.
Here is one of the strangest Santa-themed horror movies to come about. It's actually more of a dark comedy. Now, if only they could have afforded to have Fran Drescher in the whole movie. |
|
Night of the Comet 1984
Days before Christmas, a rare comet either kills people or turns them into zombies. Two valley girls are forced to defend themselves in this new post-apocalyptic world.
This sci-fi horror is cheesy and very much a product of the '80s. It drags at times, but there is a charm in Night of the Comet that justifies its status as a cult classic. Apparently, this movie influenced the creation of the iconic character Buffy Summers. |
|
Saint 2010
When a celebration in his honor coincides with a full moon, Sinterklaas goes on a rampage.
If you're familiar with Dick Maas' other ridiculous horror movies Amsterdamned and The Lift, then you know what you're in for with Saint. |
|
Maniac Cop 2 1990
The killer zombie cop returns in time for the Christmas holidays.
If you liked the first Maniac Cop, you'll probably enjoy the first sequel. |
|
Whisper 2007
Kidnappers make the mistake of abducting a young boy with a penchant for evil.
Josh Holloway of Lost fame leads a cast of fools in this demonc child flick. It doesn't really bring anything new to the table, but it's watchable. |
|
A Christmas Horror Story 2015
A collection of scary stories set at Christmas: a couple's son starts to exhibit strange behavior after they illegally chop down a Christmas tree; teens searching for the supernatural in their school basement get more than they bargained for; a family upsets Krampus; and Santa Claus fights his elves after they turn into zombies.
This Christmas-themed anthology has more going for it than against it. At least three of the stories could have been expanded into feature films. |
|
Salvage 2009
A divorced mother and her daughter spend their Christmas in fear as something evil invades their cul-de-sac.
A modest, chaotic bottle horror from the UK that plays on paranoia and family drama. Salvage is more thrilling than you'd expect. |
|
Silent Night 2012
A killer in a Santa Claus suit terrorizes a small town on Christmas.
This is a very loose remake of the 1984 Silent Night, Deadly Night. The new events in the movie are partly inspired by the Covina massacre, which involved Bruce Jeffrey Pardo dressing as Santa and murdering people at a Christmas Eve party. Silent Night plays it completely straight so it doesn't have that campy feeling from the original movie. If you want a gory, totally serious Christmas slasher, this one is for you. |
|
Better Watch Out 2016
A babysitter and her charge are under attack when someone invades the house during the Christmas holidays.
Also known as Safe Neighborhood, this Australian-American 2016 horror comedy didn't get widespread distribution until 2017. It has a twist that isn't too difficult to figure out if you've seen the trailer. That being said, it's well-acted and fairly engaging. Two of the actors starred as the siblings in The Visit. |
|
Tales from the Crypt: ... And All Through the House 1972
After a woman kills her husband on Christmas Eve, she learns that a maniac is on the loose. And he happens to be outside her house, dressed as Santa Claus. The woman also cannot call the police as she just committed murder.
If the story sounds familar, that's because it's based on the same comic later used in the Tales from the Crypt TV series. This vintage adaptation with Joan Collins doesn't have the camp value of the TV retelling, but it's still worth checking out. |
|
Holidays!: Christmas 2016
The hot new item to buy for Christmas is virtual glasses. However, Pete is unable to buy a pair. Outside a store, he spots a man, who bought a pair, in need of medical assistance. Pete takes the glasses instead of helping, though. The scene is captured in the glasses' memory, though, and now Pete must hide the secret from his family.. or does he?
Overall, Holidays! was a disappointment. One of the above average segments was this Christmas one starring Seth Green. It's not evocative or memorable, and the ending is the epitome of "Oh, okay." |
|
XX: The Box 2017
The contents of a stranger's red box sets off a dangerous chain of events for a family around Christmas.
This is the best story in the overall dismal anthology XX. It was based on a story by Jack Ketchum. Something about "The Box" will leave you thinking long about it after the movie ends. |
|
Black X-Mas 2006
On Christmas Eve, a killer returns to his childhood home, now a sorority house.
If you can somehow separate this from the original Black Christmas, this trendy slasher has some merit. The body count is high, and the kills are graphic. The characters are all insufferable so you might see their deaths as "rewards" for your patience. |
|
While She Was Out 2008
A stressed out mother crosses paths with dangerous youths while shopping on Christmas Eve.
It's a pity that Kim Basinger starred in something like this. |
|
A Christmas Tale 2005
Some children blackmail a robber dressed as Santa Claus, who is stuck at the bottom of a hole in the woods, into giving up the money she stole. Once she's out of the hole, though, she comes for the kids.
This enjoyable and nutty Spanish language entry was part of a series of TV-made movies collectively called Films to Keep You Awake. |
|
Deadly Games 1990
A deranged vagabond tracks down the young boy he spoke to over a Minitel on Christmas Eve. He then stalks the child and his grandfather around their mansion.
This may sound like Home Alone (the director/writer even tried to sue), but the similarities end there. It's a bizarre and fun French thriller. |
|
Jaws: The Revenge 1987
Widowed Ellen Brody believes that a great white shark is seeking vengeance against her family. After one of her sons is killed close to Christmas, she visits her other son in the Bahamas, where the shark follows.
The horrible effects in the finale of this turkey need to be seen to be believed. |
|
The Canal 2014
A husband becomes paranoid that his wife is cheating on him after they move into a supposedly haunted house by the canal.
This movie borrows rather blatantly from the ending of The Ring, but it's not a wholly bad movie. This wintry Irish ghost story drags at times, though. |
|
Spellbinder 1988
A lawyer falls in love with the mysterious woman he saves from an abusive ex. Little does he know, the woman is on the run from a witch's coven wanting to sacrifice her.
This average erotic thriller, starring Tim Daly and Kelly Preston, is set near the winter solstice. So it takes place close to Christmas. |
|
Wind Chill 2007
A college student accepts a ride home for the holidays from another student that she doesn't know. They later get stranded in the snow, though, after getting lost in an area with little to no traffic. The two soon learn that they are not alone.
If the characters weren't so grating, this ghost story would almost be worth seeking out. |
|
The Night Listener 2006
A radio show host is obsessed with the memoir of a teenager that was abused at a young age. He is now adopted by a social worker. The more the host gets to know the teen, he starts to wonder if he really exists, or if the social worker is pretending to be him.
This Robin Williams led thriller didn't get the attention it deserved. Toni Collette effectively plays creepy as the social worker, too. |
|
Night Train 2009
Near Christmas, a conductor and two passengers discover a corpse with valuable diamonds in one of the cabins. The three decide to keep the jewels for themselves rather than report the death. However, they first need to dispose of the body.
After working on Joy Ride together, Steve Zahn and Leelee Sobieski reunite in this adequate homage to train thrillers such as Murder on the Orient Express. |