Top 15 Horror Christmas Movies Of All Time

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Ignacio Weil

Galleries - December 30th 2025, 22:00 GMT+1

Jack Frost 1997 cropped processed by imagy — 15. Jack Frost (1997)

Nothing says “seasonal dread” like realizing the snowman in your yard might be more than decorative… and also kind of gross about it. This is a killer-snowman movie that fully understands its own absurdity, then leans harder—cheap effects, outrageous kills, and the kind of dialogue that sounds like it was written on a dare. The horror is more cartoonish than haunting, but that’s the point: it’s a sleazy little time capsule of ’90s B-movie energy where logic is optional and the punchlines land with a wet thud. You watch it for the audacity, not the craftsmanship, and there’s a strange comfort in that honesty. If your Christmas horror needs to feel like a snowball fight with a VHS tape, this is your guy. | © Moonstone Entertainment

Santas Slay 2005 cropped processed by imagy — 14. Santa’s Slay (2005)

If your holiday spirit is feeling a little too wholesome, this one shows up like a brick through a storefront window. The premise is gloriously dumb in the most committed way: Santa isn’t a giver, he’s a problem, and he’s taking a very direct route through anyone standing between him and chaos. The movie plays like a slasher that got bored of creeping around and decided to sprint—lots of crude jokes, fast kills, and a tone that basically winks at you while it does something ridiculous. It’s not “scary” so much as aggressively mischievous, like it wants to see how far it can push the gag before you either laugh or groan. If you’re ranking horror Christmas movies, this sits comfortably in the “so bad it loops back to fun” corner of the stocking. | © Production company not confirmed

Krampus 2015 cropped processed by imagy — 13. Krampus (2015)

The real nightmare here isn’t the creature—it’s the moment your family argument gets so ugly the universe files a formal complaint. This one starts with messy, relatable holiday tension and then weaponizes it, turning the season into a snow-globe trap where the rules change fast and the punishment is mythological. The creature design and wintry atmosphere do a lot of heavy lifting, but what makes it stick is how it balances nasty humor with genuine suspense, like it’s laughing while it tightens the screws. It also has that rare Christmas-horror skill of making cozy things feel threatening: twinkly lights, chimneys, carol energy—all suddenly suspicious. It’s polished enough to feel “real,” but still weird enough to keep the folklore bite. | © Legendary Pictures

A Christmas Horror Story 2015 cropped processed by imagy — 12. A Christmas Horror Story (2015)

Anthology horror is basically the cinematic version of opening a box of mixed chocolates: you’re excited, you’re curious, and you’re bracing for at least one weird bite. This one juggles multiple holiday nightmares—different tones, different monsters, different flavors of “why would anyone do that?”—and it’s at its best when it commits to the nastier, more surreal ideas. The pacing keeps things lively, because the movie doesn’t have time to be subtle; it has to land scares, jokes, and chaos in quick succession like it’s speed-running December trauma. Some segments hit harder than others (anthologies always do), but the variety is part of the fun: you’re never stuck in one mood long enough to get bored. It’s a solid pick when you want Christmas horror that feels like channel-surfing through bad dreams. | © Copperheart Entertainment

Christmas Evil 1980 cropped processed by imagy — 11. Christmas Evil (1980)

This one isn’t “Santa but with a knife” as much as “Santa but with a slow, unsettling unraveling,” and that difference matters. Instead of leaning on flashy gore, it builds discomfort through obsession: a man clinging to the idea of Christmas so hard it starts to warp into something bleak and unpredictable. The tone is grimy and strange, with a character study vibe that makes you feel like you’re watching someone step over a line they can’t quite see anymore. It’s the kind of movie that sits in your head afterward—not because it’s loud, but because it’s earnest in the worst way, like it truly believes in its own broken logic. If the other entries on this list are chaotic party crashers, this is the one quietly rearranging the furniture and insisting everything is fine. | © Edward R. Pressman Films

The Advent Calendar 2021 cropped processed by imagy — 10. The Advent Calendar (2021)

A cursed advent calendar is already a terrible gift, but this one goes the extra mile by making the “treat” part feel like a contractual obligation. The setup is deliciously mean: each little door offers something tempting, and the price tag creeps up until you’re not counting down to Christmas—you’re counting down to consequences. It plays like a holiday horror movie with a sharp sense of escalation, mixing body-horror jolts with that creeping dread of realizing you agreed to something you don’t fully understand. The best moments lean into the calendar’s logic as a trap: you don’t just fight a monster, you negotiate with a set of rules that want you to lose. It’s bleak, twisted, and surprisingly easy to binge, especially if you like your seasonal horror with a side of “I shouldn’t be watching this in December… anyway.” | © Sombrero Films

Better Watch Out 2017 cropped processed by imagy — 9. Better Watch Out (2017)

This one starts like a cozy “babysitter on Christmas” setup and then yanks the rug so hard you can practically hear it tearing. It’s a holiday home-invasion story that keeps mutating, using suburbia and twinkle lights as camouflage for something much nastier—and, yes, occasionally funny in that uncomfortable “did they really just do that?” way. What to expect is tension built on shifts: alliances flip, the power dynamic changes, and the movie weaponizes the assumption that you know what kind of Christmas horror movie you’re watching. It’s not the kind of film that politely escalates; it gets under your skin by staying unpredictable and letting the discomfort linger. If you want a Christmas horror pick that feels slicker than the average killer-Santa shelf-filler, this is the one that smiles while it misbehaves. | © Storm Vision Entertainment

Terrifier 3 2024 cropped processed by imagy — 8. Terrifier 3 (2024)

Sometimes a movie shows up with the subtlety of a candy cane made of chainsaws, and pretending otherwise would be dishonest. This is Christmas horror turned up to an obscene volume: Art the Clown doing what he does, except now the holiday backdrop makes everything feel extra wrong in that “why is there tinsel in this scene?” way. Expect extreme gore, long set pieces designed to test your stamina, and a tone that gleefully straddles slasher brutality and dark comedy like it’s balancing on a razor blade. It’s not “comfort viewing,” unless your comfort involves grim spectacle and the kind of practical-effects enthusiasm that practically high-fives itself mid-kill. Whether you call it obnoxious or impressive, it commits—loudly—and that’s more than you can say for a lot of Christmas horror movies that can’t decide what they want to be. | © Dark Age Cinema

The Lodge 2019 cropped processed by imagy — 7. The Lodge (2019)

Snow outside, isolation inside, and a holiday vibe that immediately feels like it’s been cursed by the universe—that’s the recipe here, and it doesn’t add any sugar to balance it out. The film thrives on dread and psychological pressure, the kind where you’re watching people spiral and you can’t tell whether the threat is supernatural, human, or something uglier that lives in grief and resentment. It’s a slow-burn Christmas horror story that makes the setting do a lot of work: the lodge becomes its own trap, and the cold feels personal. What to expect is less jump-scare fireworks and more a tightening knot, with uncomfortable family dynamics driving the tension instead of a parade of monsters. Not exactly “festive,” unless your version of festive includes bleakness, paranoia, and the creeping feeling that nobody here is emotionally equipped for the season. | © FilmNation Entertainment

Rare Exports A Christmas Tale 2010 cropped processed by imagy — 6. Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010)

Imagine Christmas folklore getting audited, found in violation of several safety regulations, and then treated like an action problem that needs a hands-on solution. This one flips Santa mythology into something feral and strange, mixing horror, comedy, and adventure with the confidence of a movie that knows its premise sounds ridiculous—and decides that’s a strength. The tone is part eerie winter tale, part deadpan chaos, with set pieces that feel uniquely “holiday” without relying on the usual killer-in-a-red-suit routine. It’s also weirdly grounded in its own world: the characters respond like practical people dealing with an impractical nightmare, which makes the whole thing funnier and creepier at the same time. If you want a Christmas horror movie that’s genuinely good *and* happily odd, this is the rare seasonal pick that feels like its own creature. | © Pomor Film

Anna and the Apocalypse 2018 cropped processed by imagy — 5. Anna and the Apocalypse (2018)

Somewhere between “classical Christmas movie” and “absolutely not,” this one decides the correct answer is: zombies *and* show tunes, please. It’s set in a snowy Scottish town where a group of students are just trying to survive the holidays, process teen drama, and not get eaten—ideally in that order. The musical numbers are the real swing here: earnest enough to work, cheeky enough to keep the whole thing from collapsing into pure camp, and staged with the kind of energy that says “yes, we know what we’re doing, let us cook.” It’s also surprisingly sweet for a movie that features the undead, which feels like a weird compliment until you watch it and go, “Okay, fine, that was kind of adorable.” If you want a Christmas horror pick that’s more fun than mean, this is the rare one that can be heartfelt and chaotic without apologizing for either. | © Blazing Griffin

Black Christmas 1974 cropped processed by imagy — 4. Black Christmas (1974)

Before Christmas slashers became a whole subgenre of “who gave Santa a knife,” this one was already making the season feel unsafe with nothing but a house, a phone, and a creeping sense that the walls are listening. The setting is a sorority during the holidays, and the tension doesn’t rely on flashy spectacle—it feeds on unease, invasive calls, and the uncomfortable intimacy of being hunted somewhere that’s supposed to be familiar. It’s influential in a way that’s easy to take for granted now, but the movie still lands because it keeps its menace personal and unpredictable instead of turning it into a carnival ride. The best part is how it treats the holiday backdrop like a trap: lights, decorations, and cheerful routines become part of the horror rather than a cute contrast. If your “top horror Christmas movies” list needs one entry that’s legitimately great (not just entertainingly messy), this is the backbone pick. | © Film Funding Ltd.

Silent Night Deadly Night 1984 cropped processed by imagy — 3. Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)

There’s a very specific kind of ‘80s audacity where a movie looks at Christmas iconography and says, “What if we ruined that for everyone?”—and then does it with complete sincerity. The story leans on trauma and a Santa suit, turning a holiday symbol into something aggressively menacing, with slasher beats that are blunt, controversial, and not particularly interested in being subtle about any of it. What to expect is exploitation-style nastiness mixed with that grimy seasonal vibe: it’s snowy, it’s violent, and it has the uneasy feeling of a film that knows it’s pushing buttons and refuses to stop pressing them. It’s not “the best-made” entry in the genre, but it’s absolutely one of the most infamous, and there’s a reason it keeps coming up in any conversation about killer-Santa horror movies. If you’re in the mood for Christmas horror that’s more shocking than refined, this one is basically the headline. | © Slayride Productions Inc.

Cropped gremlins — 2. Gremlins (1984)

The holidays are already stressful; now add a tiny creature that’s cute enough to trust and chaotic enough to make that trust a terrible decision. This one starts cozy—small-town Christmas vibes, gifts, and warm lighting—then slowly lets the rules unravel until the whole town becomes a prank gone feral. It’s horror-comedy with teeth: funny, mean, and strangely sharp about consumer holiday madness, while still delivering creature effects that remain ridiculously fun to watch. The movie’s genius is how it escalates from “minor problem” to “full seasonal disaster” without losing its playful cruelty, and it never forgets to keep the gremlins as the stars of the show. If your list is trying to balance “actually great” with “still counts as Christmas horror,” this is the sweet spot—mischief, mayhem, and just enough menace to keep the laughter nervous. | © Warner Bros.

Cropped the nightmare before christmas — 1. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

Pick a lane? Absolutely not—this one builds an entire highway between Halloween and Christmas and then dances down the middle of it. The story is pure seasonal identity crisis in the best way: Jack Skellington gets bored of being the pumpkin king, discovers Christmas, and immediately decides he can run it better… which goes about as smoothly as you’d expect from a guy whose town thinks “festive” means “mildly alarming.” It’s not scary in a slasher sense, but it’s drenched in gothic vibes, monsters-as-neighbors charm, and that slightly off-kilter tone that makes it feel like a holiday classic for people who side-eye holiday classics. The stop-motion artistry does the heavy lifting, but the real hook is the mood—equal parts cozy and weird, like Christmas lights hung in a cemetery and somehow it works. For a ranked list, this earns the top spot by being the rare Christmas “horror-ish” movie that’s genuinely iconic, not just infamous. | © Touchstone Pictures

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Christmas horror is the cinematic equivalent of putting hot sauce on a candy cane: technically unnecessary, strangely compelling, and guaranteed to make someone at the table ask questions. Our list rounds up the Top 15 horror Christmas movies of all time—from genuinely unsettling holiday nightmares to the kind of low-budget chaos that feels like it was filmed in someone’s garage between gift-wrapping breaks.

And yes, we’re saying it out loud: some of these are so bad they’re good. This isn’t a sacred ranking carved into a snowman tablet—more like a festive excuse to celebrate killer Santas, cursed toys, and “why does this exist?” energy. Don’t take it too seriously… because a lot of horror Christmas movies, bless their little jingle bells, are not exactly masterpieces.