Halloween is spooky and all, but—if movies are anything to go by—Christmas is the holiday that really sets off knife-wielding fiends who enjoy dress-up. If you have Shudder, you have a wealth of choices at your fingertips; we’ve assembled a list of movies you can watch right now, as well as a few coming very soon.
It’s a Wonderful Knife
Hot off its post-Halloween theatrical run, this clever slasher riff on It’s a Wonderful Life—about a young woman who sees what life would be like if she’d never been born… and never stopped the maniac who rampaged through her town last Christmas Eve—stars Justin Long, Joel McHale, Jane Widdop, Katherine Isabelle, Jess McLeod, and Cassandra Naud. It’ll be available December 1 on Shudder, AMC+, and anywhere you rent movies.
Black Christmas (1974)
One of the very first slasher movies, and therefore one of the first to capitalize on a holiday setting, Black Christmas holds up as both an exercise in terror that unfolds smack-dab amid the festive season—and an ensemble drama populated by eclectic characters. Its influence has continued through the decades… as we’ll soon see. Now streaming on Shudder.
Black Christmas (2006)
Glen Morgan of X-Files fame wrote and directed this remake, which keeps the sorority-house setting but up the gore level and alters the backstory. It wasn’t well-received upon release, but the cast alone (Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Michelle Trachtenberg, Katie Cassidy, Lacey Chabert, Andrea Martin) is worth giving it a second look, especially now that it’s soon to be just one click over from the original. (To watch the 2019 Black Christmas remake, which you should, you’ll need to head to Netflix.) Available December 1 on Shudder.
A Christmas Horror Story
Yep, this entertaining if unimaginatively titled 2015 anthology is the one with William Shatner as a boozy radio DJ… and is also the one that features an unsettlingly hunky Krampus. Streaming now on Shudder.
Christmas Bloody Christmas
Neon-bright robo-Santa rampage tale Christmas Bloody Christmas is still on Shudder after making its debut last year, and if you missed it last year, now’s the perfect time to indulge.
Creepshow Holiday Special
Shudder’s popular horror anthology series delivered a suitably off-kilter holiday special, “Shapeshifters Anonymous,” in 2020. It’s about a support group for shapeshifters—werewolves, were-tortoises, were-cheetahs, etc.—who must band together when they’re attacked by disciples of Santa Claus. Why not? Now streaming on Shudder.
Don’t Open Till Christmas
An annual re-watch for many a horror fan, this delightfully sleazy and mean-spirited 1984 tale is basically a series of festively gruesome murder scenes, all strung along a thin plot about cops tracking down a serial killer targeting Santa Claus. But really, who needs plot when you’re receiving the gift of “death by roasting chestnuts”? Now streaming on Shudder.
The Advent Calendar
This intriguing 2021 release follows a woman who’s not adjusting well to her new way of life after an accident ends her dance career—but things slip from grim to ghastly when she’s given an antique advent calendar that seems to have been beamed straight from The Twilight Zone. Now streaming on Shudder.
The Children
Kids morph from standard-issue brats into pint-sized homicidal manics in this 2008 exploration of one of the worst-case holiday scenarios imaginable. Arrives December 1 on Shudder.
To All a Good Night
No less than horror icon David Hess (Last House on the Left) directed this 1980 chiller about girls stuck at their boarding school over winter break (with their boyfriends) who’re targeted by a highly motivated killer dressed as Jolly Old Saint Nick. Arrives December 1 on Shudder.