Christmas and horror aren’t two words that often go together — unless you’re talking about uncomfortable family gatherings and crowds at the malls where you do your holiday shopping. Nevertheless, scary slasher flicks with characters doing things that would surely land them on Santa’s naughty list have increasingly become a popular genre of Christmas movies for viewers seeking more shrieks and shrills than good tidings and cheer. And if you’re among those who like a little Halloween gore mixed in with your winter holiday, then this roundup is for you.
These dark takes on the winter holiday feature everything from zombie elves to murderous mythical creatures and even a few killer Clauses. Not to mention pure human evil that shows up on family and neighbors’ doorsteps, which makes for the kind of present no one wants to receive on Christmas Day. But if you’re looking for a few unconventional movies to add to your normally warm and fuzzy binge list of Christmas flicks, we promise these 37 titles will do the trick.
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‘Adult Swim Yule Log’
Four renters encounter more trouble than just a double-booked reservation when they stay at a cabin with a horrifically dark past that’s ignited when a cursed yule log is set aflame.
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‘The Advent Calendar’
Image Credit: Shudder/Courtesy Everett Collection When a paraplegic girl receives a strange advent calendar as a birthday gift, terrifying surprises befall her each day, leading to a bloody Christmas.
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‘All the Creatures Were Stirring’
A couple’s awkward first date takes an even weirder turn when they find themselves subjected to watching a series of frightening holiday tales when they arrive at a strange theater on Christmas Eve in this comedy horror.
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‘All Through the House’
A killer dressed in a Santa Claus costume terrorizes a neighborhood of Christmas fanatics during the holiday season in Todd Nunes’ slasher film.
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‘Anna and the Apocalypse’
In this British Christmas musical, a young girl and her friends use violence — and their voices — to survive when a zombie apocalypse threatens their small town.
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‘The Apology’
A brutal game of revenge begins when a woman whose daughter went missing 20 years ago becomes trapped in a house with her former son-in-law during a snowstorm when he shows up unexpectedly as she’s preparing to hold a family Christmas dinner.
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‘ATM’
Brian Geraghty, Alice Eve and Josh Peck lead the cast of this thriller about three co-workers who become trapped in an ATM booth by a hooded figure after leaving their holiday Christmas party.
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‘Await Further Instructions’
A mysterious black matter traps a dysfunctional family in their home, communicating through cryptic messages that appear on their TV screen in this British sci-fi horror film.
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‘Better Watch Out’
A babysitter fights to defend herself and a 12-year-old boy when intruders stage a home invasion in their suburban neighborhood during the holidays.
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‘Black Christmas’
Image Credit: Warner Bros./Everett Collection This Canadian slasher film, inspired by the urban legend “The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs,” follows a group of sorority sisters who are stalked by a murderer during Christmas.
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‘A Cadaver Christmas’
An unlikely group of individuals bands together to save humanity when a dark force takes over a cadaver lab and an army of the living dead threatens their town on Christmas.
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‘The Children’
The kids of two families are turned into bloodthirsty killers when they contract a virus while away on a holiday vacation.
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‘Christmas Bloody Christmas’
A robotic Santa Claus goes on a violent Christmas Eve killing spree when its programming malfunctions.
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‘A Christmas Horror Story’
Image Credit: RLJ Entertainment/Courtesy Everett Collection William Shatner narrates this anthology horror, starring as a radio DJ who tells interwoven tales of fright involving a ghost, zombie elves and other mythical spirits and creatures while working a long shift on Christmas night.
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‘Dead End’
A family finds themselves being followed on a never-ending road in the middle of a forest when the dad decides to take a shortcut on what should have been a routine Christmas Eve drive.
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‘Gremlins’
Image Credit: Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection More comedy than horror, in this ‘80s unconventional holiday classic starring Zach Galligan and Phoebe Cates, creepy little creatures — except for the Howie Mandel-voiced Gizmo — wreak havoc on a town on Christmas Eve.
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‘Hosts’
Image Credit: Dark Sky Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection A family is terrorized by their seemingly sweet neighbors when they invite them over for Christmas Eve.
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‘I Trapped the Devil’
Image Credit: IFC Midnight/Courtesy Everett Collection A man and a wife pay a surprise visit to his brother to celebrate Christmas only to find him unraveling and holding a captive whom he claims to be the devil in his basement.
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‘It’s a Wonderful Knife’
Image Credit: RLJE Films/Courtesy Everett Collection In this dark take on the 1946 classic It’s a Wonderful Life, a woman finds herself wishing she’d never been born one year after saving her town from a psychotic murderer on Christmas Eve. After being transported to a parallel universe, she discovers just how many deaths she’s prevented. But in order to return to reality, she must first identify the killer.
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‘The Killing Tree’
When a spell cast by a widow to resurrect her husband, who’s been executed, goes wrong, he returns as a revenge-seeking Christmas tree.
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‘Krampus’
Image Credit: Universal Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection In this film based on the eponymous character of Austro-Bavarian folklore, the wrath of Krampus descends upon a family whose quarreling has caused a young boy to lose his holiday spirit.
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‘The Lodge’
Supernatural events surround a woman and her fiancé’s two children when they become stranded at a rural lodge during Christmas in this psychological thriller.
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‘The Mean One’
Image Credit: Sleight of Hand Productions / Courtesy Everett Collection In this horror retelling of How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, a woman tries to save her childhood town from a green figure who goes on a Christmas murder spree.
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‘Mercy Christmas’
Image Credit: Gravitas Ventures /Courtesy Everett Collection A man who thinks he’s met the perfect woman is forced to think again when he’s invited to her family’s cannibalistic Christmas feast.
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‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’
Image Credit: Everett In Tim Burton’s musical fantasy, the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, Jack Skellington, plots to take over a new holiday when he stumbles upon Christmas Town.
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‘P2’
Image Credit: Tartan Films/Courtesy Everett Collection In this psychological horror, a woman finds herself locked in an underground parking garage on Christmas Eve while attempting to flee a security guard who’s obsessed with her.
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‘Red Christmas’
Image Credit: Courtesy of Artsploitation Films A widow fights to protect her bickering family from a deranged killer who attempts to seek revenge while they’re gathered at her remote estate on Christmas Eve.
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‘Red Snow’
Image Credit: 4Digital Media/Courtesy Everett Collection A struggling supernatural romance author comes into contact with a real-life vampire over the Christmas holiday and fights to defend him, and herself, from a vampire hunter.
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‘The Sacrifice Game’
Image Credit: Shudder/Courtesy Everett Collection Two students and their teacher come face to face with a murderous cult that’s been acting out ritualistic killings across nearby towns when they stay behind at their all-girls boarding school for Christmas.
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‘Santastein’
When a man attempts to resurrect jolly old St. Nicholas from the dead after learning he accidentally killed him as a child, Santa returns as a bloodthirsty killer instead.
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‘Secret Santa’
Violent chaos ensues at a dysfunctional family’s holiday gathering when their Christmas punch is unknowingly spiked with a military grade drug.
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‘Sick for Toys’
A nice guy accepts a Christmas dinner invitation from a woman that he soon regrets as he ends the night fighting for his life.
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‘Silent Night’ (2012)
Image Credit: Anchor Bay Films/Courtesy Everett Collection Malcolm McDowell and Jaime King star in this remake of the 1984 film Silent Night, Deadly Night, about a police force who attempts to catch a killer Claus who’s offing citizens in their small Midwestern town on Christmas Eve.
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‘Silent Night’ (2021)
Image Credit: RLJE Films/Courtesy Everett Collection In this British black comedy starring Keira Knightley, a group of friends reunites for one final perfect Christmas gathering together before an apocalypse wipes out humanity.
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‘Terrifier 3’
Image Credit: Cineverse In the third of the Terrifier horror series, a teen attempting to rebuild her life after surviving the murderous villain Art the Clown is once again stalked by him and a new accomplice in the days leading up to Christmas.
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‘While She Was Out’
Kim Basinger stars in this thriller about a woman fighting to save her life while being chased by a gang whom she witnessed commit a murder on Christmas Eve.
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‘Wind Chill’
Image Credit: TriStar Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection Emily Blunt and Ashton Holmes lead this supernatural horror about two college students who become stranded in the snow when a reckless driver runs them off the road on their way home for holiday break.
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Source: Hollywoodreporter
