Christmas is generally all about warmth, love, and spreading joy. But how about spicing things up this time? Instead of just the usual festive cheer, add in some chilling horror movies. Forget the cozy scenes, go for the adrenaline rush with brutal, bloody Christmas horror movies. So this holiday season, try something different and add a dose of horror to your celebrations with our list of scary Christmas movies.
| S. No. | Movie & Year | IMDb Rating |
| 1. | Black Christmas (1974) | 7.1 |
| 2. | Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) | 5.8 |
| 3. | Gremlins (1984) | 7.3 |
| 4. | Christmas Evil (1980) | 5.5 |
| 5. | Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010) | 6.6 |
| 6. | Krampus (2015) | 6.2 |
| 7. | Better Watch Out (2016) | 6.5 |
| 8. | A Christmas Horror Story (2015) | 5.8 |
| 9. | Sint (2010) | 5.6 |
| 10. | Red Christmas (2016) | 4.3 |
| 11. | Jack Frost (1997) | 4.7 |
| 12. | Dead End (2003) | 6.5 |
| 13. | Elves (1989) | 4.1 |
| 14. | Don’t Open Till Christmas (1984) | 4.7 |
| 15. | The Children (2008) | 5.9 |
| 16. | P2 (2007) | 5.9 |
| 17. | Wind Chill (2007) | 5.8 |
| 18. | Black Christmas (2006) | 4.7 |
| 19. | Silent Night (2012) | 5.2 |
| 20. | All Through the House (2015) | 4.4 |
| 21. | Anna & The Apocalypse (2017) | 6.1 |
| 22. | Mercy Christmas (2017) | 5.3 |
| 23. | The Advent Calendar (2021) | 6.3 |
| 24. | A Cadaver Christmas (2011) | 4.6 |
| 25. | Inside (2007) | 6.7 |
| 26. | Tales from the Crypt (1972) | 6.9 |
| 27. | Christmas Blood (2017) | 4.2 |
| 28. | Gingerdead Man (2005) | 3.4 |
| 29. | To All a Goodnight (1980) | 4.6 |
| 30. | Santa’s Slay (2005) | 5.3 |
| 31. | The Children (1980) | 5.4 |
| 32. | Holidays (2016) | 5.1 |
| 33. | The Day of the Beast (1995) | 7.3 |
| 34. | Secret Santa (2018) | 5 |
| 35. | Christmas with the Dead (2012) | 6.1 |
| 36. | Deadly Little Christmas (2009) | 2.5 |
| 37. | A Christmas to Dismember (2016) | 3.2 |
| 38. | Black Christmas (2019) | 3.5 |
| 39. | Mother Krampus (2017) | 3.2 |
| 40. | Christmas with the Dead (2012) | 6.1 |
| 41. | Santa Claws (1996) | 2.9 |
| 42. | The Elf (2017) | 2.4 |
| 43. | Elves (2018) | 1.9 |
| 44. | Slay Belles (2018) | 4.3 |
| 45. | Christmas Cruelty! (2013) | 4.6 |
1. Black Christmas (1974)
- Lead actors: Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea
- Supporting Artist: Margot Kidder
- Director: Bob Clark
- Release date: December 20, 1974
- Run Time: 1h 38m
- IMDb Rating: 7.1
- Revenue: $1.3 million
- Language: English
A group of sorority girls is stalked by a stranger who is a serial killer of Christmas. But no one realises that the person is someone they know.
2. Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)
- Lead actors: Robert Brian, Alex Burton
- Supporting Artist: Lilyan Chauvin
- Director: Charles E. Sellier Jr.
- Release date: November 9, 1984
- Run Time: 1h 19m
- IMDb Rating: 5.8
- Revenue: $2.5 million
- Language: English
A little boy Billy witnesses his parents getting murdered by Santa. He becomes orphaned and is raised by nuns in an orphanage. However, after growing up he goes on a killing spree, dressed as Santa himself. This is one of the scary Christmas movies.
3. Gremlins (1984)
- Lead actors: Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates
- Supporting Artist: Hoyt Axton
- Director: Joe Dante
- Release date: June 8, 1984
- Run Time: 1h 46m
- IMDb Rating: 7.3
- Revenue: $212.9 million
- Language: English
In these funny Christmas movies, a man inadvertently breaks three important rules around his new pet. His mistakes unleash mischievous monsters in a small town.
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4. Christmas Evil (1980)
- Lead actors: Brandon Maggart, Jeffrey DeMunn
- Supporting Artist: Dianne Hull
- Director: Lewis Jackson
- Release date: November 7, 1980
- Run Time: 1h 40m
- IMDb Rating: 5.5
- Revenue: N/A
- Language: English
A young man, working at a toy factory, dresses up as Santa Claus and goes on a killing spree as a result of his abusive past and other occurrences.
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5. Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010)
- Lead actors: Onni Tommila, Jorma Tommila
- Supporting Artist: Tommi Korpela
- Director: Jalmari Helander
- Release date: December 3, 2010
- Run Time: 1h 24m
- IMDb Rating: 6.6
- Revenue: $4,015,133
- Language: English, Finnish
This Finnish movie follows two young boys who believe the tomb of Santa Claus has been uncovered during a mountain drilling project. What emerges isn’t a benevolent and jolly old man but a monstrous creature that terrorises the land.
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6. Krampus (2015)
- Lead actors: Emjay Anthony, Adam Scott
- Supporting Artist: Toni Collette
- Director: Michael Dougherty
- Release date: December 4, 2015
- Run Time: 1h 38m
- IMDb Rating: 6.2
- Revenue: $61.5 million
- Language: English
The name of this film is based on the demon goat from Austrian folklore – a creature who comes and scares children who have misbehaved during Christmas. This film revolves around a kid who loses interest in the holiday due to his dysfunctional family, in turn awakening the monster.
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7. Better Watch Out (2016)
- Lead actors: Olivia DeJonge, Levi Miller
- Supporting Artist: Ed Oxenbould
- Director: Chris Peckover
- Release date: October 6, 2017
- Run Time: 1h 29m
- IMDb Rating: 6.5
- Revenue: $188,756
- Language: English
This 2016 psychological Christmas horror movie stars Olivia DeJonge, Levi Miller, and Ed Oxenbould. The story follows a young boy and his babysitter who are forced to defend themselves against some very unwelcome guests on Christmas.
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8. A Christmas Horror Story (2015)
- Lead actors: William Shatner, George Buza, Rob Archer
- Supporting Artist: Zoé De Grand Maison
- Director: Chris Peckover
- Release date: October 23, 2015
- Run Time: 1h 39m
- IMDb Rating: 5.8
- Revenue: N/A
- Language: English
This Canadian anthology film tells 4 interwoven short stories about some truly terrible creatures who descend on the town of Bailey Downs during Christmas. The worst part is that even Santa himself isn’t safe from the worst of these monsters – Krampus himself.
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9. Sint (2010)
- Lead actors: Huub Stapel, Egbert Jan Weeber,
- Supporting Artist: Madelief Blanken
- Director: Dick Maas
- Release date: November 11, 2010
- Run Time: 1h 28m
- IMDb Rating: 5.6
- Revenue: N/A
- Language: Dutch
A notorious gang led by bishop Niklas is killed by the villagers who get tired of them. However, the gang returns as an evil ghost every year on a date that coincides with the full moon.
10. Red Christmas (2016)
- Lead actors: Dee Wallace, Geoff Morrell
- Supporting Artist: Madelief Blanken
- Director: Sarah Bishop
- Release date: June 17, 2016
- Run Time: 1h 22m
- IMDb Rating: 4.3
- Revenue: N/A
- Language: English
A widow and her family gather at a remote resort on Christmas Eve. She then has to do everything she can to protect her family from a crazy stranger.
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11. Jack Frost (1997)
- Lead actors: Scott MacDonald, Christopher Allport
- Supporting Artist: Stephen Mendel
- Director: Michael Cooney
- Release date: November 18, 1997
- Run Time: 1h 29m
- IMDb Rating: 4.7
- Revenue: N/A
- Language: English
A notorious serial killer Jack Frost is taken for execution. However, the truck carrying him meets with a bizarre accident, transforming him into a mutant snowman. He returns as a murderous evil seeking revenge.
12. Dead End (2003)
- Lead actors: Alexandra Holden, Ray Wise
- Supporting Artist: Lin Shaye
- Director: Fabrice Canepa, Jean-Baptiste Andrea
- Release date: November 9, 2004
- Run Time: 1h 25m
- IMDb Rating: 6.5
- Revenue: $75 million
- Language: English
Frank and his family are on their way to his in-law’s home for Christmas. On their way, they offer a lift to a woman dressed in white. However, they soon start witnessing grisly roadside accidents.
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13. Elves (1989)
- Lead actors: Dan Haggerty, Julie Austin
- Supporting Artist: Deanna Lund
- Director: Jeffrey Mandel
- Release date: October 24, 1989
- Run Time: 1h 29m
- IMDb Rating: 4.1
- Revenue: N/A
- Language: English
A young woman discovers that she is in the middle of an evil Nazi experiment where they want her to mate with an elf. Now the only person who can save her is a departmental store Santa Claus.
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14. Don’t Open Till Christmas (1984)
- Lead actors: Edmund Purdom, Alan Lake
- Supporting Artist: Belinda Mayne
- Director: Edmund Purdom
- Release date: December 19, 1984
- Run Time: 1h 26m
- IMDb Rating: 4.7
- Revenue: N/A
- Language: English
A Scotland Yard inspector hunts down a murderer who is going around and killing people dressed up as Santa Claus during Christmas.
15. The Children (2008)
- Lead actors: Eva Birthistle, Stephen Campbell Moore
- Supporting Artist: Hannah Tointon
- Director: Tom Shankland
- Release date: December 5, 2008
- Run Time: 1h 24m
- IMDb Rating: 5.9
- Revenue: N/A
- Language: English
Elaine, along with her children and husband, travels to her sister’s isolated country house to celebrate Christmas. Soon her children get infected by bacteria that turn them violent.
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16. P2 (2007)
- Lead actors: Rachel Nichols, Wes Bentley
- Supporting Artist: Simon Reynolds
- Director: Franck Khalfoun
- Release date: November 9, 2007
- Run Time: 1h 38m
- IMDb Rating: 5.9
- Revenue: $7.7 million
- Language: English
A businesswoman who leaves late from work gets stuck in a hellish Christmas Eve nightmare when a psychopathic security guard locks her in the underground parking garage. She must do everything she can to escape.
17. Wind Chill (2007)
- Lead actors: Emily Blunt, Ashton Holmes
- Supporting Artist: Martin Donovan
- Director: Gregory Jacobs
- Release date: August 3, 2007
- Run Time: 1h 31m
- IMDb Rating: 5.8
- Revenue: $285,060
- Language: English
Two students heading home meet with a horrific accident. They find themselves stranded in the snow but soon realise that they are surrounded by supernatural entities.
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18. Black Christmas (2006)
- Lead actors: Katie Cassidy, Michelle Trachtenberg
- Supporting Artist: Mary Elizabeth Winstead
- Director: Glen Morgan
- Release date: December 25, 2006
- Run Time: 1h 35m
- IMDb Rating: 4.7
- Revenue: $21.5 million
- Language: English
A murdering sociopath escapes prison and returns to his childhood home only to discover that it has now been turned into a sorority house. He then begins killing students who are living there.
19. Silent Night (2012)
- Lead actors: Malcolm McDowell, Jaime King
- Supporting Artist: Donal Logue
- Director: Steven C. Miller
- Release date: November 30, 2012
- Run Time: 1h 34m
- IMDb Rating: 5.2
- Revenue: $114,633
- Language: English
A small town’s Christmas festivities are cut short by the presence of a ruthless killer hiding in plain sight thanks to a Santa costume. The film stars Malcolm McDowell, of Clockwork Orange fame.
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20. All Through the House (2015)
- Lead actors: Ashley Mary Nunes, Jessica Cameron
- Supporting Artist: Jennifer Wenger
- Director: Todd Nunes
- Release date: October 31, 2015
- Run Time: 1h 28m
- IMDb Rating: 4.4
- Revenue: N/A
- Language: English
A deranged Santa slayer leaves behind a trail of mutilated dead bodies as he makes his way to a town’s most feared house.
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21. Anna & The Apocalypse (2017)
- Lead actors: Ella Hunt, Malcolm Cumming
- Supporting Artist: Sarah Swire
- Director: John McPhail
- Release date: November 30, 2018
- Run Time: 1h 33m
- IMDb Rating: 6.1
- Revenue: $673,523
- Language: English
Little Haven, a small-time, gets hit by a zombie apocalypse. Anna and her friends struggle to fight off these zombies to save the town.
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22. Mercy Christmas (2017)
- Lead actors: Steven Hubbell, Cole Gleason
- Supporting Artist: Whitney Nielsen
- Director: Ryan Nelson
- Release date: November 28, 2017
- Run Time: 1h 23m
- IMDb Rating: 5.3
- Revenue: N/A
- Language: English
Man meets the perfect woman – they click immediately – she invites him over for her family’s Christmas dinner. All going according to plan, right? Wrong – there’s a pretty gruesome twist to exactly what’s on the menu for this twisted tale. Hint, it’s him.
23. The Advent Calendar (2021)
- Lead actors: Eugénie Derouand, Honorine Magnier
- Supporting Artist: Clément Olivieri
- Director: Patrick Ridremont
- Release date: January 27, 2021
- Run Time: 1h 44m
- IMDb Rating: 6.3
- Revenue: N/A
- Language: French
Eva, a paraplegic, is gifted a weird advent calendar by one of her friends on her birthday. But it’s not sweet and fun like the average advent calendar. It comes with a set of rules and the promise of wish fulfillment for those who follow it.
24. A Cadaver Christmas (2011)
- Lead actors: Daniel Rairdin-Hale, Hanlon Smith-Dorsey
- Supporting Artist: Yosh Hayashi
- Director: Joe Zerull
- Release date: April 2, 2011
- Run Time: 1h 25m
- IMDb Rating: 4.6
- Revenue: N/A
- Language: English
When a dark force takes over a morgue, a group of guys come together to save humanity from the growing army of walking dead.
25. Inside (2007)
- Lead actors: Béatrice Dalle, Alysson Paradis
- Supporting Artist: Nathalie Roussel
- Director: Alexandre Bustillo, Julien Maury
- Release date: June 13, 2007
- Run Time: 1h 22m
- IMDb Rating: 6.7
- Revenue: $530,000
- Language: French
Four months after her husband’s death, a woman who’s about to become a mother is tormented by a strange woman who wants her unborn child.
26. Tales from the Crypt (1972)
- Lead actors: Joan Collins, Martin Boddey
- Supporting Artist: Ralph Richardson
- Director: Freddie Francis
- Release date: March 8, 1972
- Run Time: 1h 32m
- IMDb Rating: 6.9
- Revenue: $3 million
- Language: English
Five strangers wander into a crypt after they get separated from the main group. Then they meet a crypt keeper who predicts how each of them is going to die.
27. Christmas Blood (2017)
- Lead actors: Jørgen Langhelle, Marte Sæteren
- Supporting Artist: Sondre Krogtoft Larsen
- Director: Reinert Kiil
- Release date: October 7, 2017
- Run Time: 1h 44m
- IMDb Rating: 4.2
- Revenue: N/A
- Language: Norwegian
A murderer gets caught after terrorising the residents of a small village every Christmas Eve.
28. Gingerdead Man (2005)
- Lead actors: Gary Busey, Robin Sydney
- Supporting Artist: Ryan Locke
- Director: Charles Band
- Release date: November 8, 2005
- Run Time: 1h 10m
- IMDb Rating: 3.4
- Revenue: N/A
- Language: English
A witch brings in trouble when she revives her dead serial killer son as a giant gingerbread man. He then goes on a spree to kill the girl who had him executed.
29. To All a Goodnight (1980)
- Lead actors: Jennifer Runyon, Forrest Swanson
- Supporting Artist: Linda Gentile
- Director: David Hess
- Release date: January 30, 1980
- Run Time: 1h 27m
- IMDb Rating: 4.6
- Revenue: N/A
- Language: English
A group of teenagers find themselves being stalked by by a maniacal killer in a Santa Claus costume at a party.
30. Santa’s Slay (2005)
- Lead actors: Douglas Smith, Bill Goldberg
- Supporting Artist: Emilie de Ravin
- Director: David Steiman
- Release date: December 20, 2005
- Run Time: 1h 18m
- IMDb Rating: 5.3
- Revenue: N/A
- Language: English
After losing a bet to an angel, a demon spends years spreading joy on Christmas by giving out gifts like Santa Claus. But he finally goes back to his old ways. This is one of the scariest horror Xmas movies you will see.
31. The Children (1980)
- Lead actors: Martin Shakar, Gil Rogers
- Supporting Artist: Gale Garnett
- Director: Max Kalmanowicz
- Release date: June 13, 1980
- Run Time: 1h 33m
- IMDb Rating: 5.4
- Revenue: $7 million
- Language: English
If we talk about horror Xmas movies, this movie comes on top. A busload of school children are driven through a cloud of nuclear waste which transforms them into atomic zombies.
32. Holidays (2016)
- Lead actors: Seth Green, Clare Grant
- Supporting Artist: Kalos Cluff
- Director: Shore, Anthony Scott Burns, Nicholas McCarthy, and more
- Release date: April 14, 2016
- Run Time: 1h 45m
- IMDb Rating: 5.1
- Revenue: N/A
- Language: English
Holidays is an anthropology film of eight bone-chilling stories that show the dark side of popular holidays and their iconic traditions, including Christmas. This movie also comes in the list of horror Christmas movies.
33. The Day of the Beast (1995)
- Lead actors: Álex Angulo, Armando De Razza
- Supporting Artist: Santiago Segura
- Director: Álex de la Iglesia
- Release date: October 20, 1995
- Run Time: 1h 39m
- IMDb Rating: 7.3
- Revenue: €4,367,321
- Language: Spanish
A heavy-metal fan and a psychic help a priest seek the infant Antichrist in Madrid at Christmas by committing as many sins as possible to avert his birth.
34. Secret Santa (2018)
- Lead actors: Michael Rady, Drew Lynch
- Supporting Artist: Debra Sullivan
- Director: Adam Marcus
- Release date: October 20, 1995
- Run Time: 1h 29m
- IMDb Rating: 5
- Revenue: N/A
- Language: English
This is one of the best horror Christmas movies you will see so far. An unknown assailant spikes a family’s Christmas punch with a military-grade drug. This leaves them all fighting for their lives and to survive the night.
35. Christmas with the Dead (2012)
- Lead actors: Damian Maffei, Brad Maule
- Supporting Artist: Chet Williamson
- Director: T.L. Lankford
- Release date: November 25, 2012
- Run Time: 1h 28m
- IMDb Rating: 6.1
- Revenue: N/A
- Language: English
Calvin, indifferent to the fact that it’s June and his family have transformed into zombies, is determined to fulfill his last wish by hosting the best Christmas ever, complete with the thrill of Best Christmas Horror Movies.
Have a freaky Christmas, everyone!
Featured Image: IMDb