Winter/Christmas-Themed Horror Movies



Has enough time lapsed from Halloween that you're ready for horror movies again? I'd like to suggest Christmas and Winter-themed ones that are particularly chilling (pun intended).

Silent Night, Bloody Night
(1974) A man comes inherits a mansion that was once a mental home and begins to investigate some murders there, upsetting the locals. This was by some considered to be the first of the slasher films genre. It is extremely moody and dark and I consider it to be a classic.

Christmas Evil (aka, You Better Watch Out, 1980) Dark comedic horror about a boy who learns Santa isn’t real and then goes on to become obsessed as a toymaker, only to snap and beginning a killing spree.

Don’t Open Until Christmas (1984) Someone donning a Santa suit is going around London killing people during the holiday time.

Santa Claws (1996) A crazy guy who kills his mother and Santa (when she's making love to a man in a Santa hat), grows up to become obsessed with a porn star and begins to dress like Santa and kill people with a claw.

Gremlins (1984) A boy gets a cool new pet for Christmas only to break the special rules that come with it, resulting in a town torn apart by marauding creatures. This is total tongue-in-cheek but fun.

To All a Good Night (1980) A group of partying teens are attacked by a man in a Santa suit.

Black Christmas (1974) Girls left behind in their sorority house before Christmas Day are being tormented and killed off one by one by a psycho hiding in their house. There is a newer version of this movie, but I highly recommend this well done original. It’s much more suspenseful and has some big name actors and more mood. This is a classic and my favorite of the Christmas horror stories.

Jack Frost (1996) A serial killer dies and comes back as a maniacal killing snowman.

Santa’s Slay (2005) Santa is a demon who does his time giving toys, but when his deal is over, he goes back to his naughty ways.


Others with a winter/snow theme:


“Ghost Story” (1981) With a huge all-star cast and a moody dark atmosphere and ghost story-telling feel, this is ideal for a fireside horror movie. A classic.

”Storm of the Century”
(1999) A snowy town is being tormented by a stranger amongst them.

“30 Days of Night” (2007) A town in Alaska has 30 days of night (unfortunately because they also have vampires arriving).

“Frostbiten” (2006) Vampires terrorize a town in Sweden.

“Let the Right One In” (2008) A bullied boy in Sweden makes friends with a neighbor (vampire) girl. This is my favorite vampire movie of all time!

”Phantoms” (1998) A small town in Colorado has hundreds of dead people. What’s killing them and how can they protect themselves?

“The Shining” (1980) A man and his family take care of a remote hotel during the long winter and cabin fever ensues. A classic.

Those who use Netflix Instant Watch, these movies above are on their list: "Black Christmas" and "Let the Right One In" (both worth putting in your queue!)

Curl up with a fire in the fireplace, make some hot cocoa, and enjoy a cozy, spooky night.

Comments

  1. Great list of movies. I've been watching old movies lately. Time to switch things up. Thanks for commenting on my blog. It looks as though you and I have a few things in common.

    I'd love to hear more about the house you grew up in. I'm facinated with ghosts. I have a friend who has offered to do a reading in my home. It was built in the early 1920s.

    Anyways, have a great day. Better get off my keester and get some exercise in...

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  2. Hey Paula;
    This list of movies should get you going. The house was built in the 1750s and during the Civil War was taken over by the North and used as a field hospital and then taken over by the South and used for the same thing. I grew up digging up relics and we had a lot of news crews and mediums coming to do seances. It was quite a weird upbringing. It helped me develop the talent for touching objects and reading them psychically, a love of old abandoned places and digging up relics, and adoring writing about horror and doing ghost hunting. I still look for answers about the paranormal world.

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  3. You have a pretty good list of movies. I have seen some but there are others I just might catch from netflix. Maybe I will have a horror/Christmas movie marathon on a weekend coming up. Sounds great.....btw, Gremlins is still one of my favorites.
    ~Julie~

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  4. Julie;
    There's nothing like "Gremlins." I just love the bar scene!

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  5. You pretty much summed up my Christmas film watching for the month. Saw Christmas Evil last month and it's so bad that it has become a crappy favorite of mine. Of course Silent Night, deadly 2 rises to the top. That film is so bad that you can't help but think someone is played a joke by making/releasing that film.

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  6. Great list. I also really like the Futurama "Xmas" episodes with the killer robot Santa.
    Board up the windows, bolt the doors and load up the guns! Nothing brings a family together like standing guard all night! :)

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  7. I just thought of another one "P2." Very twisted xmas in a parking structure with a psycho. Hey Burt, my favorite boarding up and hunkering down films are "Night of the Living Dead," "Dawn of the Dead," and "Alone in the Dark" where the psychos encircle the doctor and his family's house.

    Advice: Somehow I started getting this stupid "addthis social bookmark button" link near the "comments" button on my blog. Anyone know how to get rid of this thing? I didn't ask for it to appear. Argh!

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  8. try this one Hon...."the Last of the mad Channings" ....old as all get out. Probably never find it. Saw it late one night with my mum when I was a boy of about 13....lessee..that's be about 66'....

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  9. spottedwolf; (love the name!) I can't find anything about that movie...if you ever find it online, let me know. I'm intrigued. I love the most obscure things I can find--I'm a total freak for 70s British horror. I'm waiting for them to bring back the mood and atmosphere and tension again--they do it so well!

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  10. great list, some i know and some i don't. i'll some out.
    do you remember the line "give me what i want and i will go away"?
    favorite kind of horror movie? i choose "haunted houses" of course. i hate slasher movies

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  11. I will def be picking up Frostbitten...something about vampires and the cold dark places of the world...

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  12. Sandra;
    I'm a haunted houses girl too. It's just so rare they do it right anymore! I think the reason people freaked for Paranormal Activity was that it felt like the reality ghost hunting shows and that element made it plausible. There's something about being stalked by the unseen that you can't kill...Yikes!

    Emperor;
    I just rented Frostbiten on DVD from Netflix. My favorite vampire movie ever was "Let the Right One In," so when I heard of this one, I had to see it. My grandmother was from Lapland (Norbotten) which is where the film was done and I'm thrilled to see her homeland. Every time I see Laplander film footage, I get a weird deja vu as if I've been there myself. It's like coming home. I agree that the really bleak weather and black and white world of the arctic area in the wintertime is an ideal place for such movies. There's another one called "Cold Prey" that is of a similar idea but it's absolutely abysmal, so I didn't recommend it.

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