6 Christmas Horror Movies to Stream Now

This acclaimed French action-horror-thriller came out first as 3615 code Père Noël, but it’s also worn the titles Game Over, Hide and Freak, and this much cooler one.

The movie follows a nine-year-old boy, Thomas de Frémont, who tries to contact Santa Claus and instead summons a murderous vagrant in a Santa suit to his house. But Thomas is scrappy, resourceful, tenacious, and loves action films so much that he dresses like Rambo—so evil Santa’s in for a rough ride.

If Deadly Games: Dial Code Santa Claus does sound a lot like Home Alone, which came out the following year (director René Manzor thought so, too, and threatened to sue). Deadly Games is different, though, and darker (it starts wholesome and veers violently into horror territory)—but it’s still a Christmas cult classic and a gift to fans of wild and wacky genre movies. In 2018, Manzor’s film got a proper U.S. release on on 4K UHD Blu-ray courtesy of the American Genre Film Archive (AGFA).

We’re shocked that no one decided to slasher-fy Frank Capra’s iconic 1946 Christmas movie It’s a Wonderful Life sooner, but at least it’s here. It just needs a snappy tagline like, “Every time a bell rings, an angel shanks somebody” (or something).

Last Christmas, Winnie Carruthers (Jane Widdop, Yellowjackets) saw her best friend murdered by a masked slasher clad entirely in gleaming white. Winnie killed the attacker, but in a fit of depression the following year, she utters the fateful phrase from Capra’s movie: “Everyone would be better off if I never existed.” Instead of a friendly angel named Clarence showing Winnie what that would be like, the mystery slasher returns for a bloody rampage.

Tyler MacIntyre (Five Nights at Freddy’s, Tragedy Girls) directs. Justin Long (Barbarian, Jeepers Creepers), Joel McHale (Community), and Katherine Isabelle (Ginger Snaps, American Mary) also star. But, alas, no Jimmy Stewart (RIP, “George Bailey”).

It’s not the first Santa-slasher movie, but Silent Night, Deadly Night is one of the best, despite being shot in small-town Utah with primarily local actors—including a non-actor in the lead role of Billy.

SNDN hit theaters alongside A Nightmare on Elm Street and even outgrossed Freddy Krueger’s debut that weekend. The bloody Christmas movie also sparked outrage from big-time film critics (Gene Siskel, Leonard Maltin) but became a cult classic, generating four sequels and a remake (2012’s Silent Night).

You might see fans online recommending watching only Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 because it incorporates so much of the original film. Don’t do it. Watch both so you can enjoy the cheesy-but-kinda-scary original, and then laugh all the way through the so-bad-it’s-good Part 2.

Here’s some movie trivia you may not know: 11 years before delivering the legendary A Christmas Story (1985), Bob Clark helmed this influential Christmastime slasher mystery where a killer stalks sorority sisters at a Christmas party. (The late filmmaker also gave us the ‘80s sex comedies Porky’s and Porky’s II: The Next Day—RIP, you Renaissance man.)

Black Christmas preceded the golden age of slasher movies (1978–1984) and may have inspired John Carpenter’s original Halloween (1978). Clark’s Black Christmas also inspired two (unfortunately lackluster) remakes—Black X-Mas (2006) and Black Christmas (2019).

Horror movies are coming for our childhood memories as filmmakers turn beloved childhood characters like Winnie the Pooh, The Banana Splits, Bambi, and Peter Pan into bloodthirsty killers.

In The Mean One, director Steven LaMorte and father and son writing team Flip and Finn Kobler turn Dr. Seuss’ cantankerous cartoon Grinch into a live-action slasher. Twenty years ago, the Mean One killed the now-grown Cindy You-Know-Who’s (what a cute ‘n clever copyright dodge) mother, and now he’s back. David Howard Thornton—Art the Clown from Terrifier and Terrifer 2—stars in the title role, and actor/stuntperson Krystle Martin is Cindy, who goes after the Mean One with the rallying cry, “Time to roast this beast!” Here for it!

Dear Santa,

This Christmas, will you please bring me a living miniature Gary Busey clone? I’ll keep him in my pocket and feed him treats for singing Buddy Holly songs and quoting lines from Point Break, and I’ll build him a little wheelchair motorcycle like the one he made for Corey Haim in Silver Bullet. Please, Santa?

I’ll settle for an alternative if your magic isn’t strong enough to swing that.

In The Gingerdead Man, Busey plays a serial killer who rides the lightning for his crimes but is reborn as a gingerbread cookie and continues his stabby spree. Don’t worry; I’ll eat his legs off, so he can’t get away and hurt people. Just wrap it well so he can’t kill me right outta the box, K?

Thanks, Santa! I love you Santa! Don’t forget!

Randy

P.s. I know the movie kinda sucks, but any Busey is good Busey.

• All Through the House (2015)
• Anna and the Apocalypse (2018)
• Better Watch Out (2016)
• Blood Beat (1982)
• The Bloody Exorcism of Coffin Joe (1974)
• Christmas Bloody Christmas (2022)
• Christmas Evil (1979)
• A Christmas Horror Story (2015)
• Christmas Presence (2018)
• The Christmas Season Massacre (2001)
• Deadly Dreams (1988)
• Deathcember (2019)
• The Devil-Doll (1936)

• The Devil-Doll (1936)
• Don’t Open Till Christmas (1984)
• Elves (1989)
• Gremlins (1984)
• Inside (2007)
• Jack Frost (1997)
• The Leech (2022)
• Krampus (2015)
• Night Train Murders (1975)
• Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010)
• Red Christmas (2016)
• Red Snow (2021)
• Secret Santa (2018)

• Silent Night (2012)
• Silent Night, Bloody Night (1972)
• Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 2 (1987)
• Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 3: Better Watch Out! (1989)
• Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 4: Initiation (1990)
• Silent Night, Deadly Night Part 5: The Toy Maker (1991)
• The Day of the Beast (1995)
• The Sacrifice Game (Shudder, Dec. 8)
• To All A Good Night (1980)