Macabro Tuesday: Christmas Horror Movies

By Chuck Pereda for www.elsalvavidas.mx

Yesterday there was no Macabro Monday because a friend invited me to see Krampus! Which, by the way, isn't bad at all and has some really good moments, great character design (the Krampus is amazing) and overall it's a very good addition to the canon of horror movies you can watch at Christmas.

So, to always stay in tune with the mood of the season, I decided to do a tiny rundown of horror movies that take place at Christmas or have snow in the background. Here are the best ones, in no particular order:

Gremlins.- Just like I have my copy of Elf to watch with my nephews and nieces (who are total scaredy-cats when it comes to scary movies) at Christmas, I have my copy of Gremlins to watch by myself because #ForeverAlone and proud of it. It is, along with Die Hard and Home Alone, one of the great Christmas classics to watch every year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nGd36NhmTE (abre en nueva pestaña)

Black Christmas.- One of those famous proto-slashers (along with The Town That Dreaded Sundown and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) which, despite being a bit slow, is very well made and quite enjoyable if you're in the mood for some classic horror.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gNdplqmCcQ (abre en nueva pestaña)

Rare Exports.- Quite possibly this one and Krampus are the true epitome of Christmas horror, in the sense that both have to do with the legend of Saint Nicholas and his counterpart, the Krampus (who is indeed a real figure from Nordic folklore.) Both are a lot of fun, and it's very clear that both were made with love.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pH9IyqTk1E (abre en nueva pestaña)

Silent Night, Deadly Night.- One of those films that was “banned” in some states in the United States, in fact it was pulled from theaters by the Parent-Teacher Association who couldn't stand the idea of a serial killer dressed as Santa. Interestingly, in its first week in theaters, it out-earned A Nightmare on Elm Street and it's one of the films starring scream queen Linnea Quigley.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSQ9fqci_6E (abre en nueva pestaña)

Jack Frost.- I hesitated to include this one, it's not good, but it's a horror comedy, and a lot of the time this type of movie gets away with it in the sense that they know they're not going to make something good — that's not the point — the point is to have fun, and that they pull off, even though the premise is incredibly dumb: a serial killer pulls a Chucky, but with a snowman.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev0NkYfkgYE (abre en nueva pestaña)