Ah, the holidays! ‘Tis the season of Holi, joy, fun and good news! Roast turkey for Thanksgiving, delicious ham for Christmas, twinkling lights, and… unbridled anarchy, gruesome carnage, and gruesome carnage. Oh, yes, that’s right – the holidays aren’t about family and gifts anymore, they’re about horror.
For 50 years, we’ve had excellent holiday horror movies, and within the last decade, we’ve seen an explosion in the sub-genre. Recently, Eli Roth released his long-awaited film Thank youWhich started life as a fake trailer for the 2007 cult classic grindhouse, Finally, after more than 15 years, the film became a reality. If you’re a fan of Roth’s latest bloodfest, you should also check out these other holiday horror movies.
Krampus (2015)
Before Toni Collette Becomes a Horror Legend, Thank You hereditaryHe acted in 2015 Krampus, In the film, a family who loses the Christmas spirit is visited by the ancient and famous European entity Krampus. According to folklore, while Santa rewards good children with gifts, Krampus punishes naughty children.
Unfortunately, the family faces a tough time when the Beast comes to punish them for forgetting what the holidays really mean. Armed with an arsenal of holly jolly horrors, Krampus and his companions pick off the family one by one, as a giant blizzard covers the neighborhood under an inevitable storm. Krampus An incredibly funny film that, despite all the gore, reminds us that love and family are an important part of Christmas. And in case you forgot… well, Krampus might come knocking.
Krampus is streaming on Peacock.
Silent Night (2021)
In this sadistic British holiday movie, a group of friends throw a lavish Christmas party. But something dark is looming over the celebration. A feeling of despair and dread fills the room and it is slowly revealed that a gaseous substance is slowly filling the planet’s air and causing the sixth mass extinction event.
silent Night This will look familiar to anyone who has seen Lars von Trier’s masterpiece nostalgia, It’s downright morbid to combine a horrific event like the apocalypse with the otherwise joyous atmosphere of Christmas, making the film go overboard and seem a lot scarier. Despite being a small indie film, the film features an impressive cast, including Keira Knightley, statueLily-Rose Depp, and Annabelle Wallis.
silent Night Streaming on AMC+.
Thankskilling (2007)
in a low budget film thankskilling, a group of college friends decide to go home for Thanksgiving break. But when their car breaks down in the woods, the friends find themselves fighting for their lives against a rabid and deadly turkey. Nasty, twisted and intelligent, the killer turkey is an incredibly likable villain who you spend much of the film rooting for.
Despite its low-budget origins, thankskilling The horror film was a hit at festivals thanks to its absurd and campy humor. It later became very successful in the DVD market and eventually spawned two sequels. in 2014, thankskilling It was also adapted into a musical that played Off-Broadway and in select cities across the country. For a small, low-budget horror film, thankskilling It’s had a hellish legacy, and it’s all due to its surprisingly enjoyable premise and nefariously silly lead.
thankskilling Streaming on Tubi.
A Creepshow Holiday Special (2020)
Horror movie streaming service Shudder has become a hit largely due to its series adaptation of the anthology film creep Show, While most episodes consist of multiple stories, in 2020 Shudder premiered a full-length holiday special. In this, a man begins to notice strange changes in his life and decides it is time to get help. In a moment of desperation, he anonymously attends a meeting for shapeshifters, hosted by a were-cheetah (Anna Camp). There, he finds the courage to admit that he too is a shape-changer.
At first, it’s unclear what any of this has to do with the holiday, but the mystery is soon revealed. The world’s greatest hunter is none other than Santa Claus. In addition to being hilarious and bloody, the special does a great job of making sure the audience never really knows who to support. We all love Santa, so we’ll naturally be rooting for him, but because we spend the first part of the special getting to know the monsters, we also can’t help but root for them. This is a surprisingly well-made holiday special that deserves to be seen (and re-watched).
A Creepshow Holiday Special Streaming on Shudder.
Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)
In this controversial classic, a failed store employee suffering from past trauma is driven to commit a suicide attack shortly before Christmas. The film was released on November 9, 1984, the same day as another horror film called A nightmare on Elm Street premiere, (Maybe you’ve heard of it?) What’s even more bizarre is that in its opening weekend, silent night, deadly night actually performed better Bad ExperienceGrossed over a million dollars despite a limited release.
But it was too difficult for many people during the highly conservative Reagan era to watch a man wearing a Santa costume brutally murder everyone, so the film’s production company TriStar pulled the film after its second week in theaters. Since then, it has developed a massive following thanks to its brutal and creative murders. Additionally, its notoriety for being removed from theaters has made it a favorite of hardcore horror fans. In the decades following its release, silent night, deadly night It received four sequels and a low-budget 2012 remake starring Malcolm McDowell, proving that pulling it from theaters can’t stop its popularity.
silent night, deadly night Streaming on The Roku Channel.