The Holidays Can Be Scary, So Can Their Movies
by urbanemovies | created - 28 Nov 2018 | updated - 2 months ago | PublicWhich of these holiday horror movies* set against the backdrop of an international or national celebration is your favorite? * Limit one holiday movie answer option per franchise with 10,000+ IMDb votes and a 4.0+ IMDb rating.
Scope: Christmas, Thanksgiving, Election Day, Halloween, Veterans Day, Labor Day, Fourth of July, Memorial Day, May Day, Easter, April Fools' Day, Mardi Gras, Saint Patrick's, Day, Presidents Day, Valentine's Day, New Year's Day or Eve, Etc.
Discuss the topic here.
- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- On TV
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. Jaws (1975)
PG | 124 min | Adventure, Thriller
When a killer shark unleashes chaos on a beach community, it's up to a local sheriff, a marine biologist, and an old seafarer to hunt the beast down.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gary
Votes: 545,379 | Gross: $260.00M
Fourth of July
2. Halloween (1978)
R | 91 min | Horror, Thriller
Fifteen years after murdering his sister on Halloween night 1963, Michael Myers escapes from a mental hospital and returns to the small town of Haddonfield, Illinois to kill again.
Director: John Carpenter | Stars: Donald Pleasence, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tony Moran, Nancy Kyes
Votes: 234,156 | Gross: $47.00M
Halloween
3. Gremlins (1984)
PG | 106 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Horror
A young man inadvertently breaks three important rules concerning his new pet and unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous monsters on a small town.
Director: Joe Dante | Stars: Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Hoyt Axton, John Louie
Votes: 200,793 | Gross: $148.17M
Christmas
4. The Purge: Election Year (2016)
R | 108 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
Former Police Sergeant Barnes becomes head of security for Senator Charlie Roan, a Presidential candidate targeted for death on Purge night due to her vow to eliminate the Purge.
Director: James DeMonaco | Stars: Frank Grillo, Elizabeth Mitchell, Mykelti Williamson, Joseph Julian Soria
Votes: 90,534 | Gross: $79.21M
Election Day
5. The Wicker Man (1973)
R | 88 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A puritan Police Sergeant arrives in a Scottish island village in search of a missing girl who the locals claim never existed.
Director: Robin Hardy | Stars: Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee, Diane Cilento, Britt Ekland
Votes: 70,640 | Gross: $0.06M
May Day
6. Krampus (I) (2015)
PG-13 | 98 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
A boy who has a bad Christmas accidentally summons a festive demon to his family home.
Director: Michael Dougherty | Stars: Adam Scott, Toni Collette, David Koechner, Allison Tolman
Votes: 64,735 | Gross: $42.59M
Christmas
7. I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
R | 101 min | Horror, Mystery
Four young friends bound by a tragic accident are reunited when they find themselves being stalked by a hook-wielding maniac in their small seaside town.
Director: Jim Gillespie | Stars: Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Anne Heche, Ryan Phillippe
Votes: 134,190 | Gross: $72.59M
Fourth of July
8. My Bloody Valentine (1981)
R | 90 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A decades-old folk tale surrounding a deranged murderer killing those who celebrate Valentine's Day turns out to be true to legend when a group defies the killer's order and people start turning up dead.
Director: George Mihalka | Stars: Paul Kelman, Lori Hallier, Neil Affleck, Keith Knight
Votes: 18,591 | Gross: $5.67M
Valentine's Day
Remake:My Bloody Valentine (2009)
9. Anna and the Apocalypse (2017)
R | 93 min | Comedy, Horror, Musical
A zombie apocalypse threatens the sleepy town of Little Haven - at Christmas - forcing Anna and her friends to fight, slash and sing their way to survival, facing the undead in a desperate race to reach their loved ones. But they soon discover that no one is safe in this new world, and with civilization falling apart around them, the only people they can truly rely on are each other.
Director: John McPhail | Stars: Ella Hunt, Malcolm Cumming, Sarah Swire, Christopher Leveaux
Votes: 10,902 | Gross: $0.55M
Christmas
10. April Fool's Day (1986)
R | 89 min | Horror, Mystery
Nine college students staying at a friend's remote island mansion begin to fall victim to an unseen murderer over the April Fool's Day weekend, but nothing is as it seems.
Director: Fred Walton | Stars: Deborah Foreman, Griffin O'Neal, Clayton Rohner, Jay Baker
Votes: 14,597 | Gross: $12.95M
April Fools' Day
Remake: April Fool's Day (2008)
11. Trick 'r Treat (2007)
R | 82 min | Comedy, Horror
Five interwoven stories that occur on Halloween: An everyday high school principal has a secret life as a serial killer; a college virgin might have just met the guy for her; a group of teenagers pull a mean prank; a woman who loathes the night has to contend with her holiday-obsessed husband; and a mean old man meets his match with a demonic, supernatural trick-or-treater.
Director: Michael Dougherty | Stars: Anna Paquin, Brian Cox, Dylan Baker, Rochelle Aytes
Votes: 81,381
Halloween
12. Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)
R | 79 min | Horror, Thriller
Little Billy witness his parents getting killed by Santa after being warned by his senile grandpa that Santa punishes those who are naughty. Now Billy is 18, and out of the orphanage, and he has just become Santa, himself.
Director: Charles E. Sellier Jr. | Stars: Lilyan Chauvin, Gilmer McCormick, Toni Nero, Robert Brian Wilson
Votes: 13,861 | Gross: $2.49M
Christmas
13. Final Destination 3 (2006)
R | 93 min | Action, Crime, Horror
Six years after students cheated death, another teen has a premonition she and her friends will be involved in an accident. When the vision proves true, the student and survivors deal with the repercussions of cheating the Grim Reaper.
Director: James Wong | Stars: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ryan Merriman, Kris Lemche, Alexz Johnson
Votes: 131,420 | Gross: $54.10M
Fourth of July
14. Mother's Day (I) (2010)
R | 112 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
The sadistic members of a villainous family return to their childhood home to terrorize the new home owners and their guests.
Director: Darren Lynn Bousman | Stars: Rebecca De Mornay, Jaime King, Shawn Ashmore, Briana Evigan
Votes: 16,099
Mother's Day
Original: Mother's Day (1980)
15. Black Christmas (1974)
R | 98 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
During their Christmas break, a group of sorority girls are stalked by a stranger.
Director: Bob Clark | Stars: Olivia Hussey, Keir Dullea, Margot Kidder, John Saxon
Votes: 34,620 | Gross: $4.05M
Christmas
Remakes: Black Christmas (2006), Black Christmas (2019)
16. The Children (2008)
R | 84 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A relaxing Christmas vacation turns into a terrifying fight for survival as the children begin to turn on their parents.
Director: Tom Shankland | Stars: Eva Birthistle, Stephen Campbell Moore, Jeremy Sheffield, Rachel Shelley
Votes: 17,230
New Years Eve
17. The Return of the Living Dead (1985)
R | 91 min | Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi
When two bumbling employees at a medical supply warehouse accidentally release a deadly gas into the air, the vapors cause the dead to rise again as zombies.
Director: Dan O'Bannon | Stars: Clu Gulager, James Karen, Don Calfa, Thom Mathews
Votes: 54,883 | Gross: $14.24M
Fourth of July
18. Better Watch Out (II) (2016)
R | 89 min | Comedy, Horror, Thriller
On a quiet suburban street, a babysitter must defend a twelve-year-old boy from intruders, only to discover it's far from a normal home invasion.
Director: Chris Peckover | Stars: Olivia DeJonge, Levi Miller, Ed Oxenbould, Aleks Mikic
Votes: 32,309 | Gross: $0.02M
Christmas
19. Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)
PG | 115 min | Drama, Mystery
During a rural summer picnic, a few students and a teacher from an Australian girls' school vanish without a trace. Their absence frustrates and haunts the people left behind.
Director: Peter Weir | Stars: Rachel Roberts, Anne-Louise Lambert, Vivean Gray, Helen Morse
Votes: 33,973 | Gross: $0.23M
Valentine's Day
20. Valentine (2001)
R | 96 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Five women are stalked by an unknown assailant while preparing for Valentine's Day.
Director: Jamie Blanks | Stars: Denise Richards, David Boreanaz, Marley Shelton, Jessica Capshaw
Votes: 25,749 | Gross: $20.38M
Valentine's Day
21. Rare Exports (2010)
R | 84 min | Adventure, Fantasy, Horror
In the depths of the Korvatunturi mountains, 486 meters deep, lies the closest ever guarded secret of Christmas. The time has come to dig it up. This Christmas everyone will believe in Santa Claus.
Director: Jalmari Helander | Stars: Jorma Tommila, Onni Tommila, Peeter Jakobi, Tommi Korpela
Votes: 27,007 | Gross: $0.26M
Christmas
22. Creepshow (1982)
R | 120 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Horror
An anthology which tells five terrifying tales inspired by the E.C. horror comic books of the 1950s.
Director: George A. Romero | Stars: Hal Holbrook, Leslie Nielsen, Adrienne Barbeau, E.G. Marshall
Votes: 42,628 | Gross: $21.03M
Father's Day segment
23. Tales from the Crypt (1972)
PG | 92 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
Five strangers get lost in a crypt and, after meeting the mysterious Crypt Keeper, receive visions of how they will die.
Director: Freddie Francis | Stars: Joan Collins, Peter Cushing, Ralph Richardson, Geoffrey Bayldon
Votes: 10,012 | Gross: $1.70M
Christmas and Valentine's segments
24. P2 (2007)
R | 98 min | Crime, Horror, Thriller
A businesswoman is pursued by a psychopath after being locked in a parking garage on Christmas Eve.
Director: Franck Khalfoun | Stars: Rachel Nichols, Wes Bentley, Simon Reynolds, Philip Akin
Votes: 32,025 | Gross: $3.99M
Christmas Eve
25. Dead Snow (2009)
Not Rated | 91 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Horror
A ski vacation turns horrific for a group of medical students, as they find themselves confronted by an unimaginable menace: Nazi zombies.
Director: Tommy Wirkola | Stars: Jeppe Beck Laursen, Charlotte Frogner, Jenny Skavlan, Vegar Hoel
Votes: 64,278 | Gross: $0.04M
Easter Weekend
26. Midsommar (2019)
R | 148 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A couple travels to Scandinavia to visit a rural hometown's fabled Swedish mid-summer festival. What begins as an idyllic retreat quickly devolves into an increasingly violent and bizarre competition at the hands of a pagan cult.
Director: Ari Aster | Stars: Florence Pugh, Jack Reynor, Vilhelm Blomgren, William Jackson Harper
Votes: 206,153 | Gross: $27.33M
Summer Solstice
added 26 December 2020
Tell Your Friends