Christmas Horror Movies: Wreck The Halls With Our Holiday Horror Advent Calendar

December 5 is Krampusnacht, so what better time to kick off our holiday horror advent calendar? Michael Dougherty's 2015 gem tackles ancient European folklore with the tale of Krampus. The great horned beast punishes naughty children at Christmastime, which makes this one perfect for watching with the kids! When a squabbling family headed by Toni Collette loses the Christmas spirit, Krampus unleashes a wintery hell. Snuggle up with a Krampus pie tonight with this recipe by The Homicidal Homemaker.

Goodnight Mommy directors, by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, offered up another feel-good family tale in 2019's The Lodge. Starring It's Jaeden Martell, Lia McHugh, and Riley Keough, a family retreat to a remote winter cabin over the holidays becomes a nightmare when the father has to unexpectedly leave for work. Leaving his two children in the care of his new girlfriend, the trio end up isolated and alone when a blizzard traps them inside the lodge for Christmas. To make matters worse, the situation begins unlocking specters from Grace's past. Dark and unsettling, it makes for a great watch as we settle into the holiday fears. Featured in FANGORIA Vol 2 Issue #5.

Fango contributor Samantha McLaren shared this Norwegian horror in our most recent global horror roundup, writing:

"The film’s bonkers premise sees an American family returning to their roots after inheriting a remote cabin in the mountains of Norway. Little do they expect a bad-tempered elf to be living in the barn—or the bloody havoc it wreaks when they get on its bad side. Pour yourself a stiff glass of eggnog and check out the latest trailer here."

Angry, potentially evil (?) elves... what's more festive than that?

The Christmas Killers are on the loose, and the holidays have come early in Jenn Wexler's The Sacrifice Game. The film is set at a girls' boarding school over Christmas break in 1971. Samantha and Clara, two students staying behind for the holidays, must survive the night against uninvited visitors. Now streaming on Shudder.

Tragedy Girls' Tyler MacIntyre and Freaky's Michael Kennedy are ringing in the festive season with "blood, guts and mayhem" (rejoice, it's R-rated!) as director and writer respectively. If you couldn't tell by the title, It's A Wonderful Knife is a subversion of a beloved Christmas family classic, given the slasher treatment.

A year after saving her town from a psychotic killer on Christmas Eve, Winnie Carruthers’ life is less than wonderful — but when she wishes she’d never been born, she finds herself in a nightmare parallel universe and discovers that without her, things could be much, much worse. Now the killer is back, and she must team up with the town misfit to identify the killer and get back to her own reality. The movie's Killer Angel is also our FANGORIA #22 subscriber exclusive cover!

Our very own Michael Gingold originally had this to say about this creepy Christmas horror: "[The Children] is the real thing, a film that evokes true terror from the premise of our own offspring turning against us. In fact, never mind comparisons within its limited subgenre; this British production is one of the most effective fright features in recent years, period."

As two families gather at an upscale English estate in late December for a weekend of bonding and winter fun, one of the children becomes sick, and all of the children begin to exhibit strange behavior. The adults don't realize the disturbing truth until it's too late: The children have contracted a disease that has turned them into brutal, psychotic killers! Fun winter fun for the whole fam.

Chaos and camp, Gremlins is an annual must-watch around these parts and a formative film for so many of us. Fango even put director Joe Dante and one of the titular green baddies on the cover of FANGORIA #38 back in October of 1984. When a young man inadvertently breaks three important rules concerning his new pet Mogwai, a horde of malevolently mischievous monsters is unleashed on the town. And we get one hell of a backstory for Phoebe Cates' character in the midst of it.

Our EIC Phil Nobile Jr. is a big supporter of Deep Red for Christmas. We'll hand it over to Phil to explain in his own words: "How much Christmas is required to make a horror movie a Christmas horror movie? Well, Deep Red, the most giallo film to ever be called a giallo, has precisely one Christmas scene — a flashback glimpsed in the opening moments of the film, and played out in full near the conclusion — but we say that’s enough to qualify. A little Italian boy in short pants and knee socks, watching his mother brutally stab his father to death in front of the Yule tree - that’s what Christmas means to me.

Silent Night is a movie that sticks with you. And while the subject matter may be dark, it is so infused with a dark humor that provides an unexpected levity and walks a line that manages to keep it from veering too far into too-bleak-to-be-enjoyable territory. "A couple invite their closest friends to join their family for Christmas dinner at their idyllic home in the English countryside. As the group comes together, it feels like old times — but behind all of the laughter and merriment, something isn't quite right. The world outside is facing impending doom."

While the premise sounds dismal, (it is the apocalypse after all), it is approached in such a way that it may make you pause and take stock of what's truly important. It made me think of the people I love the most. How do we confront a seemingly impossible situation? With a blend of dark humor and a hell of a lot of love. It's not about the boxes and the bows, it's about what we do with the time we have and the people we choose to spend our time with. And the realization of... does it ever feel like enough? My money is on probably not. And so let's make the most of our time together while we have it. Maybe a mug of hot chocolate and some of the movies on this list with some of your favorite people are a good start.

The mind behind Mandy's "Cheddar Goblin" sequence and Adult Swim's "Too Many Cooks" delivers an absolutely unhinged holiday special. Come cozy up by the crackling fire roaring on the television screen. You know the drill. And then the drill goes off the rails and comes in hard with a sneak attack. The familiar fireplace video unfolds into Adult Swim’s first-ever live-action feature, which just so happens to be a whole-ass surreal horror movie. The Yule Log rolls us into elements of The Strangers, Barbarian, and even a bit of Twin Peaks territory for good measure — and it just keeps rolling. And I've already said too much. I will forever be jealous of the unsuspecting folks who caught this after Rick and Morty's season six finale, with no clue as to what the hell was going on. Dive in and thank me later.

The 1984 classic that sparked a proper Christmas controversy! Killer Santas, a toy store, Linnea Quigley hung on the antlers with care. This one's got it all. Multiple sequels followed, but after the third installment they pretty much have nothing to do with killer Santas or the original storyline, which introduces us to Billy, a young man who experiences a psychotic break and goes on a murder spree dressed as Santa Claus. Bonus: the recent novelization fills out any plot points you might find.

It would not be entirely accurate to say this "continues" the story from Silent Night, Deadly Night. Instead, it feels more honest to say it revisits the entire plot of the original as adult Ricky recounts the events to a psychiatrist, explaining how he became a murderer after his brother, Billy, died. And then the story picks up from there. "It's garbage day!" This isn't even the weirdest installment in the franchise. And we say that lovingly.

We continue our killer Santa binge with Christmas Evil. Michael Gingold has called this an "oddly resonant horror/drama, a far more effective exploration of Yuletide’s potential for mayhem than the later and crasser Silent Night, Deadly Night films." And adds, "Maggart is terrific as a morose toy company employee who may the only guy on the job who truly believes in the spirit and message of Christmas; compiling books in which he lists those local kids who are 'naughty' and 'nice,' he eventually snaps, dresses up in full Santa Claus gear and sets out on Christmas Eve to dispatch those adults whom he feels have betrayed both him and the meaning of the season." Read Gingold's full Christmas Evil DVD review from 2006.

Every year it baffles me as to why this brilliant horror-comedy zombie musical does not have more of a rabid following. It's picked up steam in recent years, but inexplicably does not seem to have taken its rightful place among holiday horror giants as a household seasonal staple. It deserves to be. If you've been putting this one off, make this the year you finally sit down with it. It's heartfelt and clever, and likely the only place you'll encounter a festive snowman zombie, as Anna and her friends fight, slash and sing their way to survival, facing the undead in a desperate race to reach their loved ones. And if you need more convincing, this is an actual line from arguably the catchiest tune in a solid lineup of bangers, "When it comes to killin' zombies, I'm the top of my class. While you've been hidin', I've been kickin' some ass.”

A tale of little shits! As far as home invasions and kids behaving badly goes, this one ranks pretty high. Babysitter Ashley is all set to spend the evening with twelve-year-old Luke, but the night takes a turn, and she must soon defend herself and the young boy when unwelcome intruders announce their arrival. Some nice little Home Alone nods, and we'll leave the rest for you to discover yourself. This would make a nice little double-feature with 2017's The Babysitter.

When a team of mercenaries breaks into a wealthy family compound on Christmas Eve, taking everyone inside hostage, Santa is forced to leap into action to help Trudy and her family survive the night. Because she's on the nice list, obviously. But the home invaders are not prepared for a surprise combatant: Santa Claus (David Harbour, Black Widow, Stranger Things). Overflowing with delicious over-the-top Christmas kills, star David Harbour describes this as Die Hard meets Miracle on 34th Street, and we have to agree— that's pretty accurate.

On the longest night of the year, the eleventh episode of the Netflix series cozies up with the Spellman coven as they prepare their Winter Solstice and Christmas celebrations, complete with trimming the Yule tree and Christmas ghost stories. There's also a séance involved, which means there will be some ghosts at the gathering. When the Yule log goes out, some uninvited guests pay the family a visit.

It's a post-apocalyptic California Christmas! Kelli Maroney and Catherine Mary Stewart star as teenage sisters vs. a comet that essentially wipes out human life and transforms folks into zombies. This sci-fi horror comedy imagines an apocalypse through a teenager's perspective, complete with a Christmas shopping spree montage through an abandoned mall, set to "Girls Just Want To Have Fun." An often overlooked Christmas classic, but 'tis the perfect time to revisit this one.

In his original review, Michael Gingold cautions: "Going into Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale, you shouldn’t expect a typical killer-Santa movie. In fact, this Finnish production is not exactly a horror film, but more a spikily eccentric dark fantasy—one brought off with engaging imagination and impeccable craftsmanship."

The story follows a young boy named Pietari and his friend Juuso as a secret mountain drilling project near their home in northern Finland uncovers the tomb of Santa Claus. However, this a monstrous, evil Santa, much unlike the cheery St. Nick of legend. When Pietari's father (Jorma Tommila) captures a feral old man (Peeter Jakobi) in his wolf trap, the man may hold the key to why reindeer are being slaughtered and children are disappearing.

The hellacious elves are a real highlight here, a particularly terrifying bit of the movie

If you missed this one, you are in for a very special treat. Known by many names, including Dial Code: Santa Claus, and 3615 code Père Noël, this one is an annual must-watch around these parts. This underrated French flick follows a mullet-clad boy genius as he fends off a home invasion from an intruder dressed as Saint Nick. Paying homage to American action movies of the '80s, with clever gadgets, a truly horrifying killer Santa, and booby traps (pre-dating Christmas classic Home Alone), whatever your chosen title is for this one, it's a guaranteed good time. Also, the young lead, Alain Lalanne absolutely acts his ass off. Happy birthday Christmas.