Some Holiday Fear
by John Brenner- Nerdthusiast Content Provider
Christmas Evil (1980)
Most people when they think of killer Santa movies, it is
1984’s Silent Night, Deadly Night. I hate that movie, so I will talk about the
overlooked cult classic from 1980, Christmas Evil. It definitely passes the “Is it actually a
Christmas movie?” test. It’s about a disgruntled worker at a toy manufacturing
assembly line, who decides to bring back the real meaning of Christmas. He does
this by taking out the greedy owners of the factory, and giving toys to kids at
the local orphanage. He does this of course, while dressed as Santa. It has an
awesome Christmas soundtrack and it’s just so bizarre and delightful. It’s
definitely worth a watch.
À l'intérieur aka Inside (2007)
The next one I will talk about is 2007’s Inside. Make sure
you watch the French version. Stay away from the inferior and useless, American
remake. The plot of the film revolves around a pregnant and recently widowed woman,
alone on Christmas Eve who is tormented by an unwelcomed visitor. One might
argue that this isn’t a Christmas movie, and that the holiday is merely the
backdrop. I feel like loneliness that one can feel at Christmas time is truly
key to the effectiveness of this film. I dare say that this is the scariest
movie I’ve ever seen in my life, and I cannot recommend it enough.
Black Christmas (1974)
A lot of people’s favorite holiday movie is 1983’s A
Christmas Story. To that I say bah humbug! A Christmas Story isn’t even the
director Bob Clark’s best movie with Christmas in the title! That honor goes to
Black Christmas from 1974. This year instead of watching A Christmas Story for
24 hours straight, spend 90 minutes watching Mr. Clarke’s other Christmas
classic. The movie takes place at a sorority house in Canada, where girls are
being stalked and killed by deranged maniac on Christmas Eve. It has been remade twice with little success,
but the original still holds up and is still incredibly scary. It was John
Carpenter’s main influence on Halloween, and in many ways is the original slasher
film. A must watch for me at Christmas time.
Gremlins (1984)
Now we’re going to talk about my all-time favorite Christmas
horror movie, and that is Gremlins. The movie that created the PG-13 rating.
This film captures everything about Christmas perfectly. Not all of us are not
in the best spirits all the time, but will do everything we can to be happy at
Christmas. That idea is captured perfectly in Gremlins. And to people who say
this isn’t a Christmas movie, you’re just wrong. Gremlins only works because it
takes place at Christmas time, and because Gizmo is a Christmas present. It
wouldn’t be nearly as effective if Mrs. Deagle(a clear parody of Mr. Potter
from It’s a Wonderful Life) was foreclosing on people’s houses at Fourth of
July, and Gizmo was a Billy’s birthday present. It had to be Christmas. Like
some other movies on the list, the soundtrack is excellent. The kills, like the
villains of the movie, are a ton of fun. And ultimately this movie will leave
you with Christmas cheer.
Now for some honorable mentions. Krampus from 2015 is fun
enough, and you’ll most likely recognize most of the cast. But for me it just
misses the recommend mark. Batman Returns to me is essential Christmas horror,
but there is too much debate on whether or not it is Christmas or horror. I say
yes to both. And for my last honorable mention, Scrooged starring Bill Murray,
it’s obviously a Christmas movie. But is it a horror movie? I think any
interpretation of Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carrol is inherently horror. But
I didn’t include it. Despite it being my favorite Christmas movie, I only went
with movies that are explicitly horror. But the bottom line is there is no
shortage of creepy fun you can have around the holidays!
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