On November 16, 2023, ‘Thanksgiving’, Eli Roth’s answer to ‘Scream’, was released in theaters. The director of ‘Hostel’ has a murderer disguised as Pilgrim Father John Carver terrorize a town – and turns the annual Thanksgiving into a real slaughter festival. With this, gore expert Roth delivers another entry in the series of holiday horror films that are definitely worth watching.
If you are looking for more films of this genre in which the most pleasant, peaceful and beautiful days of the year turn into a real nightmare, you will find them here. Here we’ve rounded up ten other holiday horror films that every genre fan should see. So if you prefer a bloody Christmas to a contemplative Christmas this year and have never enjoyed Valentine’s Day, here are some suitable suggestions for a sinister alternative program.
10. “Ponty Pool”
Yeah okay. The Canadian horror film “Pontypool(now also known as ‘Radio Zombie’) may take place on Valentine’s Day, but this date is actually completely interchangeable. Still, we want to bring the film closer to you in this list because it definitely deserves more attention and actually brings a completely new facet to the zombie film genre that has actually been told. The infection is not transmitted through the air or through the exchange of bodily fluids, but through sound waves.
The infected are affected by a catchy tune that gradually drives them crazy. The setting also evokes memories of Orsen Welles’ radio experiment ‘War of the Worlds’ – here he organized an alien invasion via radio in 1938, causing panic among listeners. ‘Pontypool’ takes place entirely inside a radio station, so we only get the chaos outside the station in the form of live broadcasts. Nevertheless, or perhaps because of that, this (Valentine’s Day) horror film is an absolute success and is clearly recommended for all genre fans.
9. “Jaws”
Police Chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) doesn’t need that at all right now: the quiet seaside resort of Amity Island is being overrun by a ravenous shark – just as the bathing season is starting and a particularly large number of holidaymakers eager to swim are expected on Independence Day! Together with marine biologist Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) and hardened sailor Quint (Robert Shaw), Brody sets out to defeat the deadly shark. Meanwhile, Mayor Vaughn (Murray Hamilton) has no plans to close the beach – thus foregoing the big holiday weekend revenue…
… if there was one man in 1975 who perhaps made sure that the beaches were poorly visited, it was undoubtedly Steven Spielberg with his animal horror thriller, known as the first real Hollywood blockbuster. Even almost fifty years later, “The white shark“ an almost unparalleled example of suspense cinema – which, however, only came into existence in this form by chance. If the shark of the same name (whose name is Bruce, by the way) had taken part in the filming, we would have seen the animal much more often and clearly – which would probably have damaged the tension.
8. “P2 – Screaming in the Parking Garage”
The absolute horror after a strenuous day at work: you just want to go home to your loved ones, but the car won’t start. For Angela (Rachel Nichols), the horror is just beginning, as she finds herself all alone in the multi-storey underground car park on Christmas Eve – except for the strange parking attendant Tom (Wes Bentley), who is chasing her.
French filmmaker Franck Khalfoun is no stranger to genre fans. With ‘Maniac’ he delivered one of the best remakes ever – and also with ‘P2 – Screaming in the parking garageAbove all, he can demonstrate his feeling for atmospherically dense, exciting scenarios. Even though the film spends a little too much time here and there on the very one-dimensional characters, the horror thriller is consistently gripping, atmospherically staged and scores points thanks to the very physical performance of Rachel Nichols in the leading role.
7. “Silent Night – Horror Night”
Billy was only eight years old when he saw a psychopath dressed as Santa Claus kill his parents. Severely traumatized, the little one, unlike other children, does not associate the Christmas season with something beautiful, but rather with a drastic experience that has had a lasting impact on his life. Years later, the now adult Billy (Robert Brian Wilson) would have to help out in a toy store as Santa Claus – with devastating consequences…
A Santa Claus going hunting while wielding an axe? This caused a real controversy in the 80s, so that “Silent Night – Night of Horror“ (“Silent Night, Deadly Night”) was removed from movie theater schedules in the US a few days after its release. The holiday slasher still fully deserves its cult status. Because what at first glance looks like a ready-made bloodbath orgy produced for little money, not only offers enough show value that you would expect from a slasher – but is also a very moving, intense drama about trauma and how to process it .
6. “Trick-r’-Treat”
We’ve been getting a sequel to the friendly Halloween Spooky for a while now.Trick’r Treat“promised, because since its release in 2007 (in this country only 2009 – and unfortunately only directly for home theater) the film has been able to build a large fan base. And rightly so, because the loosely linked collection of short stories is a humorous, creepy affair that has the charm of those horror fairy tales that people tell each other around the campfire on Halloween.
Because all the short stories are directed by Michael Dougherty (“Godzilla II: King of the Monsters”), they also feel like they’re cast from a single source—and the varying quality of individual episodes is often the omnibus’s Achilles heel. movies. With the disguised candy collector Sam (Quinn Lord), the film also features one of the cutest horror mascots ever, who also reminds us of the most important Halloween rules.
5. “Midsommar”
In Germany the summer solstice may not be celebrated as enthusiastically, but in other countries the Midsummer Festival is one of the holidays of the year. Same in Sweden. It is therefore not surprising that director Ari Aster made his pagan horror hit “Midsummer“set there – creating one of the horror highlights of recent years.
At first he succeeds in conveying the fascination of these celebrations to the audience. Happy people dancing across the fields and meadows and seem to be one with nature. It’s just too good to be true – until suddenly the mood changes radically and the audience is caught in a nightmarish madness from which there is no escape. ‘Midsommar’ is probably the most beautiful and intense film on this list – an experience that challenges all your senses and whose intense images will linger in your brain for a long time.
4. “Bloody Valentine’s Day”
On Valentine’s Day in 1960, six miners died in a mining accident. The sole survivor went mad after spending weeks in the shaft and a year later murdered those responsible. Now, twenty years later, a big Valentine’s Day celebration is taking place for the first time – and the masked friend wants to remind the partying crowd of the past with his pickaxe.
“My Bloody Valentine” aka “Bloody Valentine’s Day” was created in the wake of “Halloween – The Night of Horrors” and “Friday the 13th.” As is often the case in this subgenre, the slasher isn’t about creativity. Instead, George Mihalka creates a solid B-movie that takes no prisoners when it comes to violence. This horror thriller definitely touches the heart, and in this case you should take that quite literally. Not a masterpiece, but if you prefer solid, grim, brutal cinema, then you’ve come to the right place.
3. “Gremlins”
‘Gremlins’ breathes the spirit of Christmas. Not only is the father’s search for a suitable gift the premise for the plot, but the seasonal holiday setting is also used for some spooky scares (Gremlin on the Christmas tree) and all kinds of practical jokes with the green chaos creatures. For example, the annoying Gremlins go from house to house like star singers while terrorizing the neighborhood.
In addition, the film, directed by Joe Dante, also has many heart and melancholic family moments – so much so that the horror film often resembles the work of Steven Spielberg who mastered this art form to perfection, but here only acted as a producer. So if you’re really in the mood for some contemplative Christmas spirit and a bit of chaotic horror, this cult classic is just what you’re looking for.
2. “Jessy – The Staircase to Death”
‘Black Christmas’, which also has the beautiful title ‘Jessy – The Staircase to Death’ in Germany, is about a psychopath who terrorizes a student house during Christmas time. Bob Clark’s horror film has become a blueprint for North American slasher cinema and not only scores with its incredibly atmospheric production (Reginald H. Morris’ camera work in particular is absolutely excellent).
Dealing with the ‘evil’ still gives you goosebumps today: the horror is growing here in the middle of society – and therefore everyone involved is responsible for the horror, because in the past they were too ignorant, too arrogant and too uninterested in the interact with their fellow human beings.
1. “Halloween”
Haddonfield, 1963: Six-year-old Michael Myers kills his teenage sister on Halloween night – and ends up in the sanitarium, where he is under the care of psychiatrist Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasence) is taken care of. But then Michael, now an adult, manages to escape. Where? At home – where he soon continues the bloodshed…
With ‘Halloween – The Night of Horrors’, John Carpenter created not the first, but probably the most famous slasher in film history – not only starting one of the longest (and most absurd) film series in the genre and introducing one of the most important scream queens to excellence in Jamie Lee Curtis, but also made the scariest holiday of all time a little scarier. And all this on a mini budget of just $300,000 and a man who silently hunts down some teenagers with a painted William Shatner mask – and really kick-started modern slasher cinema.
Author: Stefan Geisler
Source : Film Starts
I am Dawid Malan, a news reporter for 24 Instant News. I specialize in celebrity and entertainment news, writing stories that capture the attention of readers from all walks of life. My work has been featured in some of the world’s leading publications and I am passionate about delivering quality content to my readers.
