Top 10 Scariest Christmas Horror Movies

When you think of Christmas, you may think of sweet family moments, tinsel and presents. The holidays don’t get as depressing and demented as in this French shocker, a film that gives new meaning to the home invasion movie. The recently widowed and extremely pregnant Sarah is home alone on Christmas Eve, trying to have a quiet evening, waiting for her water to break at any moment. Enter a deranged woman who breaks into her home, and for whom Sarah’s water breaking can’t come fast enough. She wants the child for herself, and will do anything to get it. We’ll let your imagination fill in the rest. Pregnant women should steer clear of this bizarre version of a Christmas nativity story.

A very welcome Canadian entry to the recent boom of anthology horror movies from the last decade or so, “A Christmas Horror Story” offers a diverse selection of Christmas-themed terror, all taking place in the small town of Bailey Downs. Ranging from the very scary and dark ghost story in the basement of the town’s high school, to a hilarious romp about Santa battling his elves who have turned into zombies, these tales are all framed and tied together by the hilariously drunk town DJ played by William Shatner. Stories of Krampus, changelings, vengeful spirits and zombies all scream out a jolly good time for the whole family.

You may be wondering if by “Jack Frost” we mean the Michael Keaton family drama. While that movie is pretty horrifying in its own right, we are talking about the bizarre horror film of the same name released the previous year. This movie is so weird, it’s almost impossible to take it seriously – and hell, why should we? The filmmakers didn’t seem to! The story of a serial killer, who gets into a snowy accident involving chemicals that turn him into a mutant living snowman, truly defies seriousness. While the sequel “Jack Frost 2: Revenge of the Killer Snowman” delves deeper into comedy, this low-budget but highly original film is a pure slasher flick with a bizarre holiday twist.

Predating other more popular Santa Claus killing sprees (more on that later), “Christmas Evil” has become a bit of a rare gem. Also known as “Terror in Toyland” and “You Better Watch Out”, this classic slasher film, released at the height of the genre’s appeal, follows Harry, a toy-factory worker who becomes more and more convinced that he will be the next real Santa Claus. Having been traumatized as a child by seeing his father in a Santa suit groping his mother, Harry plans his Santa transformation carefully: stalking children, making sure they are being naughty or nice, stealing toys, and killing people with axes. You know, the usually jolly old Saint Nick stuff.

One of those rare foreign films to come out of nowhere and take the world by storm, “Rare Exports” decided to break the rules, blend genres together, and rewrite Santa mythology. This dark fantasy story from Finland – one that no child who still believes in Santa should ever come across – follows a Lapland farmer on Christmas who stumbles upon an excavation team in the mountains. What they’ve unearthed is the real Santa Claus, and he’s not exactly a jolly, rosy-cheeked saint. This monstrous version of Santa has been kidnapped and held for ransom, but his elves have also woken up and are none too happy.

In the last couple of years, there’s been a surge in Krampus-related horror films. Well, we thank newborn baby Jesus that the writer of “Trick ‘r Treat” and Universal Pictures noticed the trend, and brought us the ultimate Krampus movie. With a very ‘80s creature-feature and darkly humorous vibe to it, “Krampus” may have major studio backing and an all-star cast headed by Adam Scott and Toni Collette, but this movie pulls no punches. Starting with one of the funniest opening scenes in Christmas movie history, and leading up to a non-stop barrage of terrifying surprises, “Krampus” may be the most unpredictably entertaining horror film in recent years.

The next murderous Santa on our list – but not the last – donned the red and white suit after witnessing his parents being murdered by a Santa-suited criminal. Poor Billy is traumatized for life, and the evil Catholic orphanage he grew up in doesn’t help much, either. Not to spoil anything, but he goes a little crazy. Originally titled “Slayride”, “Silent Night, Deadly Night” has now become a cult classic, spawning a bunch of sequels, including the loose 2012 remake and box-office bomb, “Silent Night”. It had received an insane amount of controversy at the time for its advertisements depicting a murderous Santa Claus, even though “Christmas Evil” had gone completely unnoticed a few years back.

Once again we have Santa Claus killing people left and right, but this isn’t the kind of evil Santa story you think: no deranged costumed killers, but the real Santa Claus. Played by pro wrestler Goldberg, Santa’s myth is again reimagined into the most ridiculous backstory you’ll ever hear. In it, the real Santa was the child of Satan, and Christmas was the “Day of Slaying”. However, losing a curling match to an angel forced him to be a charitable present-giver for 1000 years, but this contract just expired. He’s now thirsty for blood and looking for some mayhem. Full of black humour and originality, “Santa’s Slay” is a bizarre sleigh ride, and unlike any cinematic experience you’ve ever had.

From Steven Spielberg’s production team, and the minds behind “Home Alone” and “The Goonies”, the hugely successful “Gremlins” came as a breath of fresh air to the ‘80s horror genre. With monster movies having died out, and too many masked killers on the silver screen, the story of Billy taking care of little Gizmo – and discovering his mischievous secrets – gave new life to dark horror-comedies. Holiday chaos erupts when Billy receives Gizmo as a present, but sadly he doesn’t follow the rules to take care of this strange pet. The images of mogwais wreaking havoc at Christmas are as iconic as Kevin McAllister being home alone or Jack Skellington dressed as Santa.

Before we reveal our top pick, here are a few honourable mentions:

“Dead End” (2003)

“Elves” (1989)

“To All a Good Night” (1980)

Not only the granddaddy of all Christmas-themed horror films, but also considered by many as the originator of the slasher craze, “Black Christmas” is a now-respected classic in the genre. Based on a real murder spree that happened in Montreal – and directed by Bob Clark, who also brought us the classic comedy “A Christmas Story”– this very low-budget Canadian production became a major surprise hit, and directly inspired future blockbusters such as “Halloween”. The creepy story of a killer hiding in the attic of a sorority has found new life in recent years, mostly thanks to its under-appreciated 2006 remake of the same name.


Do you agree with our list? What other horror films bring you some holiday cheer? For more shocking top 10s published daily, don’t forget to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.