During Christmas, there are many memorable films to watch. Most of these are light hearted or heart-warming family flicks. However, there are many horror films that celebrate the holiday season with blood and gore. This list features ten of the most entertaining Christmas horror films ever produced, either through disbelieving laughter or true terror.
10. Jack Frost
Jack Frost is perhaps the most bizarre of the movies on this list; it features a serial killer reanimated as a snowman! Featuring a young, pre-American Pie Shannon Elizabeth, this movie never takes itself seriously and is more fun than terrifying. Any horror movie that defeats the killer by anti-freeze is worth a watch.
9. Feeders 2: Slay Bells
Directed by infamous micro budget identical twins, Mark and John Polonia, this is an alien invasion movie set during Christmas where Santa saves the day using laser guns and bombs! Bad acting, awful special effects, and hilariously bad dialogue make this one of the funniest of all Christmas horror films.
8. Silent Night, Deadly Night 2
Though incredibly inferior to the original film, this film has something that the original doesn't have: laughs. This sequel features the brother of the original killer losing his mind and beginning a killing spree of his own. Featuring a lead actor who overacts to epic heights, to a
7. Don't Open Till Christmas
This British flick goes a different route than other Christmas horror films. Instead of a killer Santa, we have a killer killing Santa's! The killer in this movie is sick of the commercialization of Christmas, so he decides to kill the ultimate symbol of that commercialization. This movie is fairly seedy, including castrations, porno booths and immolation. It would be higher on the list if it was scary instead of over-the-top silly.
6. Santa's Slay
This more recent horror movie was played mostly for laughs, featuring professional wrestler Bill Goldberg as Santa Claus aka the son of Satan. After a thousand years of playing gift giver, he's back to his former brutal ways. Featuring an all-star cast and truly funny jokes, this horror film makes excellent Christmas day viewing
5. The Nightmare Before Christmas
This movie has become incredibly popular lately and for good reason. The stunning puppet work, incredible songs, and menacing atmosphere make it one of the finest Christmas movies ever. The monsters who run Halloween try to run Christmas to disastrous results. Though the horror in this film is minor, but there are some gut wrenching moments. The movie has a brooding atmosphere throughout that help it make it high on this list.
4. Christmas Evil
This 1980 flick is one of the earliest Christmas themed horror films. In this film, a strange foreman of a toy factory decides to dress up like Santa and go out on Christmas to reward and punish the good and bad people he runs into. Highlights of the film include a truly surreal ending featuring the man flying off into the night in his van, as if he were Santa. It's also notable as the film tries to be sympathetic to him, and gives him moments of tenderness.
3. Gremlins
When this film came out in 1984, people expected a light hearted family comedy. The cute Mogwai named "Gizmo" seemed to seal the deal. However, a third of the way through the film, ugly and violent creatures called "Gremlins" appear, and they terrorize the town. This film is the finest balance of comedy and horror on the list as belly laughs alternate with truly scary moments.
2. Black Christmas
This film is the earliest Christmas horror film that I know. Filmed in 1974 by Bob Clark (the man who brought us "Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things" and the Porky trilogy) this film is not light hearted like some of the other films on this list. It features a college sorority house getting murdered during Christmas, featuring Margot Kidder and John Saxon. Bob Clark, who later garnered great fame for his light hearted and popular Christmas movie "A Christmas Story," was at the height of his horror movie skills and he produced a brutal and efficient Christmas horror movie.
1. Silent Night, Deadly Night
The grandest Christmas horror film ever produced. Though its sequel, Silent Night Deadly Night 2, produced better laughs, this movie is brutal and humorless. This movie depicts a man driven to murder after, as a young boy, seeing his parents brutal murder by a man in Santa suit. Though most other Christmas horror movies enjoy the silliness of the premise, this movie is more brutal and bloody and occasionally difficult to watch.
