And now for the true holiday classics... These are the Christmas themed horror films I've enjoyed watching during the Holiday seasons.









Black Christmas '74- Sorority sisters are terrorized by phone calls that may be coming from inside the Sorority House.

Directed by Bob Clark who would go on to direct the classic family Christmas movie- A Christmas Story.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysBKrRtBuag






Silent Night, Deadly Night '84- A boy seeing his parents murdered by a man dressed as Santa, grows up and goes on a killing spree while dressed as Santa.

The most controversial of all the Christmas themed horror flicks. Parents protested the film because of it's depiction of a killer Santa- though it wasn't the first to have this theme.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ph2qpWw7nZI






Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toy Maker '91- Totally unrelated to the original SNDN, I listed this one because it's the only sequel in the franchise I enjoyed. And elderly toymaker(Mickey Rooney)makes killer toys.

From IMdB- Mickey Rooney wrote a letter of protest against the first Silent Night, Deadly Night stating that the "scum" who made it should be "run out of town" for having sullied the sacredness of Christmas. And yet he co-starred in this fifth installment in the gory horror series.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDLLVtYn6k0





Silent Night, Bloody Night '74- A killer stalks those trying to sell and old mansion. Very effective little horror flick.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOXx7Q0UfH4





Christmas Evil '80- aka You Better Watch Out. As a boy he learned Santa wasn't real(by seeing his mom being seduced by a man dressed as Santa), now as an adult he's donning the Santa suit and deciding who is naughty, and who is nice.

Brandon Maggart who plays the killer Santa is the father of singer Fiona Apple. Maggart also played Santa in an episode of ER.

I highly recommend listening to John Water's DVD commentary for this.

Clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCAm6zo1mqw





Elves '89- Department store Santa(Dan Haggerty) may be the only one who can save the world from Nazi elves. Great cheesy Christmas fun.

Clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxRgAbhZYqI&feature=related




Dead End '03- On their way to visit family on Christmas Eve, a family makes the mistake of taking a shortcut.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH8MTQ6ferY




Don't Open Till Christmas '84. Instead of the killer dressing up as Santa, those who dress as Santa are getting killed.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAWTX-2ahSg




To All A Goodnight '80- A Santa suited killer crashes a party.

Directed by David Hess who played Krug in Wes Craven's Last House On The Left.

Clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9o-2Ftj8ys





Jack Frost '97- A dead serial killer comes back to life as a killer snowman.

One year later Michael Keaton would star in the sappy family film of the same name about a father who dies and comes back as a snowman- except he doesn't kill anyone, he just wants to be with his family...bleh.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dt-1dNLfi6Q





Santa's Slay '05- Santa Claus was a demon who lost a bet to an angel, so Santa spent 1000 years giving toys and joy. But now 1000 years have passed, and Santa is back to his old evil ways.

Bill Goldberg plays Santa.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=camndOJGmSM




Tales From The Crypt '72- In the segment '...And All Through the House' Joan Collins is terrorized by a man dressed as Santa.



This segment was redone years later in the Tales From The Crypt TV series:



Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnxFio89IU0




And just for Red



Black Christmas '06- Remake of Bob Clark's Christmas horror classic.

From IMdB- Andrea Martin, who played Phyllis in Black Christmas (1974), said in an interview that she hadn't thought about Black Christmas for 32 years and it "came out of the blue" when Glen Morgan offered her the role as the house mother in the movie.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3_ds1XCsiM

And a Happy New Year.....



Bloody New Year '87- Weird and cheesy British horror about a group of people shipwrecked on an island where they find a haunted house.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBznwOKBCAM




New Year's Evil '80- For every time the clock strikes 12 in each timezone, someone is murdered.

Stars Roz Kelly who played "Pinky" Tuscadero on Happy Days.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euuX0aGvZ2o




Terror Train '80- College students celebrating a New Year's costume party aboard a train, are stalked by a costumed killer.

Magician David Copperfield's only acting credit.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnOw-Uvs6w0

Actually saw Silent Night, Deadly Night...from what I remember, it really creeped me out. And who hasn't seen Terror Train.

SNDN has always been one of my favorite 80's slashers...part 2 suffered that sequel syndrome where the majority of the movie is just flashbacks of the first.


Terror Train is very underrated. Unlike most slasher films where you wonder why they don't just leave, the characters in Terror Train have no choice. I also liked that everyone is dressed in costume so they never know who the killer is.

Not sure I could watch SNDN again, creepy slasher Santa! But who knows, might find it hilarious the second time around.

Yeah, loved not knowing who anyone was on the train! Anyone could be the killer, and yes, no one could leave! Loved that. Plus magicians...nuff said

Sorry, but if your imagination was overactive as mine was. This was creepy for an Xmas flick.

I'm just imagining the weird sound effects and then coming out of the darkness into the street lights. Creepy lil bastards

I knew I'd forget one, Gremlins is definitely a yearly tradition for me.

Hee.

Santa Claws 1996



A young man finds his divorced mother having sex with a man in a Santa Clause hat and shoots them both dead. Years later, now thinking he is Santa Clause, the man develops an obsession with an erotic horror film star named Raven and begins stalking her. Incidentally, if you have not seen a Debbie Rochon movie (B-Movie actress extraordinaire) you need to see this film.

The Nightmare Before Christmas 1993



This one has been a favorite of mine ever since I watched it, though most people won't consider The Nightmare Before Christmas a horror movie. But it has all the horror tropes a horror movie lover will recognize. (Including vampires, mad scientists, werewolves and zombies.) Yet, despite these elements, it's a heart warming, feel-good classic that leaves you humming the songs long after the film is over.

Child's Play 1988



I think this one can be included because it takes place during Christmas. It's a good horror movie with plenty of cheesy moments to roll your eyes at.

L'ultimo treno della notte 1975



An Italian movie that may be difficult for others to digest, and would remind some of the movie Last House on the Left, this is a dark tale from Italian cult horror director Aldo Lado. Vacationing friends Margaret (Irene Miracle) and Lisa are forced to change trains due to a bomb threat. But their second train is just as dangerous: They get stuck in a section with cold hearted thugs Blacky (Flavio Bucci) and Curly (Gianfranco de Grassi), who begin to terrorize the girls.

I forgot that Night Train Murders took place during Christmas. I really liked this movie.

Wind Chill '07- Two college students on their way home for Christmas break become stranded in their car. But they are not alone.

Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney are two of the producers.

Trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiwyITqDZlk

Have you also seen Aldo's other film, Who Saw Her Die? I like Aldo's work, because the story line he uses 'can easily travel down the route of sleaze and can quite often have too much of an exploitative feel to it – leaving the viewer feeling dirty while watching, but he sidesteps all of this and is able to craft a classy film regardless of the subject matter.'

(IMDb)Chopping Mall 1986



In this insignificant, but nevertheless fun 80's low-budgeter, the sex-hungry teenagers for once aren't chased around by a killer wearing a ridiculous mask but by a troop of malfunctioning and heavily armed security robots! Four couples that work in various stores at the Park Plaza shopping mall secretly throw an after hours party during the same night when a lightening storm completely disorientates the 3 brand new "Protector" robots and get killed off one by one. "Chopping Mall" (how can you not love that title?) is a lot of fun to watch and it's easily Jim Wynorski's best effort out of more than 60 directed films. Despite the fact that "Chopping Mall" doesn't take itself too seriously and mainly focuses on satire, there really are some tense moments and properly mounted suspense sequences. The laser head-explosion sequence is famous and there are multiple other cheese-highlights. But what is perhaps the most surprising, are the engaging acting performances and the welcome amount of tasteful nudity. The most familiar cute face in the cast is Barbara Crampton who stars as a screaming beauty in between her two greatest films "Re-Animator" and "From Beyond". Truly ingenious are the endless references towards Roger Corman's repertoire, especially illustrated through cameos of Paul Bartel, Dick Miller and Mary Woronov. Unquestionably, "Chopping Mall" is a righteous guilty pleasure of many, many horror fans.

P2 (2007)



It's the night before Christmas, and workaholic Angela Bridges (Rachel Nichols) is late for her family holiday party. She tries to leave the office, but her car won't start and her cell phone won't work -- and then she meets the too-friendly security guard Thomas (Wes Bentley). After Angela turns down his dinner invitation, the twisted Thomas spends the rest of the night terrorizing her as she tries to escape the now-infamous parking level P2.

Watch at your own risk.

One Hell of a Christmas



"One Hell of a Christmas" is a dark and action packed comedy that takes place in a modern city as well as in a fearful underworld. When Carlitos is released after doing 2 years of "hard time", he attempts to redeem himself and sets an example for his 5 year-old son. However, when a friend confronts him with a very dark and horrifying scam for some quick dough and good times, he declines, but never the less he soon finds himself entangled in a web of sex, drugs and Christmas carols.

Watch at your own risk.

Nutcracker



It's another crazy Christmas and psychotherapist Dr. Carlton Fairfax, Jr. is losing control of his patients and his sanity - then he meets one particularly mysterious patient who sees to it that he definitely continues down that road.

Watch at your own risk.

The Christmas Season Massacre



Tommy is a loser. He wears a pirate eye-patch, a Christmas gift he was given as a child. It is a symbol of the humiliation Tommy endured in high school. Tommy was the subject of so much torment from his classmates that he became a bloodthirsty maniac! Tommy disappeared, vowing to eventually slay all of his schoolyard tormentors. Over the years, he has slaughtered all but six of them. Now, these six former schoolmates unite to end Tommy's reign of terror. Will they put Tommy six feet under? Or will Tommy win by slicing and dicing the six remaining on his victim list?