2020 Holiday Horror - Do Not Give Up on Christmas!
Hooray for Holiday Horror!
And by that I don’t mean the in-laws for Christmas, unless that is your definition of holiday horror in which case you might just welcome the government intervention into your personal life this Christmas season. But if you love getting together with family and friends for the holidays, then your brand of horror may very well be mandates and guidelines that restrict your social gatherings.
Regardless of where and with whom you find yourself during the 12 days of Christmas, I have a freshly curated list of Christmas-themed horror films to keep you company. Half of these movies are favorites from last season because . . . well . . . Krampus! But the other half are films new to me and to this list. Plus they are totally watchable as sort of an apology for some of last year’s picks. Watch these selections in any order you like, I have listed them in my preferred order from best to not-so-best so you can try something new this season.
First up is Krampus. Holiday horror does not get any better than this 2015 tale of the anti-Santa starring Toni Collette and Adam Scott, which tells us all of the bad things that happen when you give up on Christmas. Watch this one as many times as you need to be reminded that Santa is what you make of him, and that Christmas is what you believe and what you feel in your heart. No matter what the rest of 2020 throws at you, do not give up on Christmas!
Next on the list is A Christmas Carol. Before you skip over this movie, know that this is not the heartwarming tale that has been made and remade over the years. I personally watch both the the Alastair Sim and Disney versions of the beloved Dickens holiday classic every year. But for holiday horror you do not want to miss this 2019 dark and gritty version from FX that gives a proper mood to this old ghost story. You won’t find any of the usual clichés here. The script is as original as the liberties FX has taken with the characters that give new meaning to this tale of redemption. Released as a three-part television miniseries, the entire movie has a runtime just under three hours. Perfect for keeping you company on a chilly evening. Available with your Hulu subscription or wherever you purchase premium video content.
Dropping to number three on my list is A Christmas Horror Story. This original anthology starring William Shatner as your local radio DJ has been a favorite since I bumped into it on Netflix a few years ago. So you may wonder why it was demoted to third place this year and that is simply a reflection of how unexpectedly good I think the #2 film is. Do you know that Shatner was 84 years old when he made this film? Amazing. This popular holiday anthology moves around streaming platforms so you may have to invest in your own copy of the film or a premium channel to watch it this year.
The fourth day of holiday horror brings a 2007 film starring Emily Blunt, Wind Chill, which follows a college student who shares a ride home for the holidays with a fellow student she has never met. Where would horror be without bad decisions? The two strangers become stranded after being run off the road where they are tormented by the ghosts who died there. I don’t know how I missed this movie for the last 13 years but let’s just say better late than never. You will need to invest in a rental/purchase fee as I could not find this film on any of the premium channels, but Blunt’s performance is well worth the cost.
Continuing with the theme of “How did I miss that movie?” is Dead End, a 2003 film about a family making their annual trip to grandma’s house for the holidays. After 20 years of driving the same route to his mother-in-law’s house, Dad inexplicably takes a shortcut that naturally turns out to be a mistake. As victims are carried away one by one on the dark and lonely road, survivors are left to deal with their own fear and madness. More bad decisions and deserted country roads to feed our need for horror. Dead End stars horror royalty Lin Shae and definitely deserves a spot on your holiday play list. Stream it for free on IMDb TV.
Rounding the midpoint of the 12 days of Christmas are three films from last year. Better Watch Out is the movie that clued me into the concept that holiday horror might be a thing. And that is because a friend recommended the film and asked me if holiday horror was a thing. My embarrassed self immediately watched this movie and began the quest for the 12 days of Christmas horror. Better Watch Out dropped a couple of notches from last year but not because it isn’t a great horror film, I just found some new movies that are on par and deserve attention.
All the Creatures Were Stirring also dropped a few slots from last year for the same reason - a great anthology with a distinctly B-movie feel that is on par with some fresh picks this season. A strange theater with a bizarre emcee plays host to a collection of unsettling stories about the horrors of the holidays and leaves you to wonder what really happens with the awkward date in the end. Rumor has it that a follow up is in production. This one is available with your Shudder subscription.
The second remake of Black Christmas was released in theaters in time for Christmas last year so it shared the #7 slot with the 1974 original for anyone venturing to the theaters during the holidays. Naturally I waited until the Blumhouse production hit streaming because remakes just tend to suck, which explains why I missed the 2006 remake. I really enjoyed the 2019 version with its updated theme almost as much as I enjoyed the the updated high-quality audio. If this is not your jam, you can kick it old school with the original or track down the first remake which is available for rent/purchase on Amazon Prime.
The 1984 cult classic Silent Night, Deadly Night landed in the #5 spot in last year’s holiday horror list even though it isn’t really a great film, but groundbreaking for its place in horror history. So this year I replaced it with the Silent Night from 2012. This loose remake follows a Santa-clad slasher dealing out punishment to naughty girls and boys on Christmas Eve, but this version is actually based on the true story of the 2008 Christmas Eve Covina Massacre. Silent Night is the only murderous Santa film on this year’s menu and it includes the usual Christmas slasher tropes that you would expect. I am a little disappointed in MacDowell’s is over the top performance as the cliché and condescending tough cop - he is so much better than that. While there is some nudity, it is not excessive or gratuitous and even though there are plenty of eyeroll moments, I found this a very watchable Christmas slasher movie.
Gremlins is really the only family friendly horror movie on this list and even though this film is not a regular holiday stop for me, I get it. The film barely qualifies as horror in my book, similar to Hocus Pocus at Halloween, but then not every mom bought their toddler a Gizmo plush toy to go with a VHS copy of the movie. Just don’t eat after midnight and nobody gets hurt.
The last two movies for the 2020 season are British horror films, both new to the list and while totally watchable (apparently my new buzzword for horror), each leaves a lot to be desired. Christmas Presence was released in 2018 under the terrible title, “Why Stay?” and follows a “diverse” group of friends who gather at a remote rented lodge for Christmas. The diversity feels contrived unless its purpose is to knock you off balance with a spontaneous underwear photo shoot or lesbian bed death. Or maybe to show that even between friends who seem to have no reason for secrets … there are secrets. This movie has solid performances, actually seems to rely on them, along with some decent scares, and a story that had real potential but didn’t quite deliver. So common in the horror genre. I googled around for an explanation of the ending but could not find any redemption. I wouldn’t plan the holidays around this movie, but it is totally watchable (there’s that buzzword again) if you have a Shudder subscription and are looking for Christmas-themed horror without high expectations.
The season closes with The Children , a 2008 British horror film that brings us one last repetition of, “How did I miss this?” Even though this movie it is on the bottom of this year’s holiday horror lineup, The Children is better than one-third of the films on last year’s list. In predictable holiday fashion, two families get together for Christmas when things go awry. If you saw the 2015 film Mom and Dad with Nicholas Cage and Selma Blair, then this movie plot will seem familiar to you except it’s the children who turn on the parents. I found the child acting particularly bad but overall, the performances weren’t great but they weren’t awful. My issue with this movie is that it left a lot of untapped potential on the table - almost hinting at a connection between the bacteria-carrying vomit and Jonah’s obsession with traditional Chinese medicine. But it never really got there and it could have just be me trying too hard to make more out of a shallow plot that only wanted to explore the question of why anybody would want to hurt their children. Not the best horror movie, but better than most and free on IMDb television.
So there you have it, 12 Christmas horror movies to fill you 12 Days of Christmas. And with so much nonsense in the world right now, I suggest we all write our Christmas letters whilst watching these movies because the last thing 2020 needs is the consequence that follows a community that gives up on Christmas.