Horror Christmas: 5 terrifying Christmas films NOT to watch at lunch with relatives

Loving horror cinema also means not being touched by the festive spirit of Christmas and remaining steadfast in the morbid desire to see people dying in an imaginative way on the big screen. Luckily, cinema has given us quite a few horror pearls that are all Christmassyso as not to feel too excluded from the climate of joy and happiness all around. Whether it’s a proper vintage slasher, or a more subtle psychological nightmare, a little early gift: 5 horror films to watch at Christmasso as not to miss training.

The 5 Christmas horror films not to be missed

Nothing like Christmas inspired horror filmmakers to vent the most macabre cinematic ideas, exploiting the evident contrast between the joy and family warmth that the holiday season brings and the typical stylistic features of the genre. Here the red of Santa Claus’s jacket merges with the color of blood: these 5 titles they are certainly not the only Christmas horror films, but they have, perhaps, something more than the others.

1. Black Christmas (1974)
   There’s something more to ’70s horror films. What could have been a limit due to the technological means of the time, incredibly benefited the horror genre: dark and unclear images better hide the nightmares hidden in the dark. This film, directed by Bob Clark It’s a title that fans of the genre can’t help but add to their watchlist. It’s Christmas, the girls of a sorority receive disturbing phone calls from a mysterious psychopathic killer. A slasher d’atmosferain which there is no shortage of great bloodshed.

2. Gremlins (1984)
   Impossible not to mention it. Those who were there in the 80s and perhaps were also children, relive the terror of the little “Gremlins” monsters in each puppet animatronic in circulation. A true unmissable cult, who was able to perfectly interpret what was happening in the cinematic world of that decade: the mix of genres, the post-modern taste that combined family films with genre cinema. In this title, directed by Joe Dante, everything is served on a silver platter.

   3. Scary Christmas – Better Watch Out (2016)
      For those who love the genre home invasion, this film is a great example of how tension and entertainment can be created with few elements. A house decorated for Christmas, a babysitter and a child watching a movie and strange noises in a presumably empty house. Outside the stillness and silence of the December snow, inside the horror. Directed by Chris Peckover“Scary Christmas” is a nice horror without too many pretensions, to spend an hour and a half lightly, but not without a subtle anxiety on the shoulders.

   4. I trapped the Devil (2019)
      What’s more beautiful than coming home for the holidays and discovering that your brother is hiding the Devil in the cellar? This British film is the debut of director Josh Lobo and the result is an hour and a half of subtle anxiety that creeps into the characters – and the viewer – action and blood. A terror that slowly rises, in a climax of tension that explodes at the end. With an exquisitely European flavour, this title is not to be missed for those who love stories in which the atmosphere does everything.

   5. Silent Night (2022)
      This film is terrifying, but for a very different reason than the other titles on the list. With a stellar cast (Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Lily-Rose Depp) and a deceptive narrative until the end, “Silent Night” is not at all a way to escape the present, on the contrary. No bloodthirsty killers, no clowns with hatchets, just a terrible, inexorable awareness: what happens in the film is not that far from reality. No spoilers, just a warning: you will get depressed.