Holiday Horror Movies - Celebrate with a Scare

When the remake of Black Christmas was released in 2006 I took a trip to the theater out of nothing but boredom. I wasn't really looking forward to seeing the movie since I was a big fan of the original and I heard bad things about the remake. As I predicted, I didn't like it. But I was struck by the number of people that were there. It was completely sold out along with 3 other shows that Christmas Eve day. Did people really want to see it or do people just feel the need to see holiday horror movies to feel festive? I know when October comes around I watch at least one horror movie a day and on Christmas I watch Christmas Evil and the original Black Christmas.

I may not watch a holiday themed horror movie on every holiday but it's hard to find a holiday where someone hasn't made a horror movie based around that holiday. Here are a few:

New Year's Eve

New Year's Evil - I suppose it was inevitable that someone produced this. The story involves a woman who receives a phone call from an unperson who tells her there will be a murder each time the New Year strikes in each time zone. She is also told she will be the last to die. Other movies with a New Year's theme include, Terror Train and Bloody New Year.

Valentine's Day

My Bloody Valentine - My Bloody Valentine takes place in a small mining town and the killer in the movie is dressed as a miner! Shocking, isn't it? What sets the movie apart from other slashers of the 80's is the bleak atmosphere of the small town and the inhabitants trying to make ends meet and struggling to do so. The uncut, unrated version is one of the more violent slashers of that time and the killer is about as menacing as you can get. A 3-D remake was made over 25 years after the initial release.

St. Patrick's Day

Leprechaun- I can't say this is a good movie but it is a fun movie. As you can probably guess, the bad guy is the Leprechaun and he wants his gold back after learning it was stolen. Of course, he'll go to any length to make sure he gets it back. Five sequels were spawned (none starring Jennifer Aniston) and they got more and more campy and ridiculous as time went by.

Easter

There were a handful of horror films released with an Easter them but so far I haven't seen one that I can recommend. These include, Peter Rottentail, Night of the Lepus and Critters 2. The safest one out of those would be Critters 2. One that I haven't seen is called Easter Bunny, Kil! Kill! but the description makes it look like it's at least worth a rental. Good luck finding it though.

Arbor Day

The Evil Dead - OK, maybe it doesn't take place on Arbor Day but the trees sure do have a lot of fun in this film.

May Day

The Wicker Man - Investigating the disappearance of a girl last seen on an island populated by pagans. The case is investigated by a deeply religious police officer who happens to arrive there just in time for their May Day celebration and then the real fun begins! This is my favorite holiday horror movie and please do my a favor and never, ever watch the remake. It is so very, very bad.

Fourth of July

Uncle Sam - A fun movie directed by William Lustig of Maniac Cop and Relentless fame and now the owner of Blue Underground. The body of a slain Gulf War veteran returns to life to kill anyone he considers unpatriotic. If campy isn't your style you can always pop in Jaws.

Halloween

I know there are enough horror films with a Halloween theme to merit a separate article but I wanted to recommend a movie called Trick r' Treat. The movie was finally released on DVD after 2 years in limbo.

Thanksgiving

Originally released as a mock trailer for the movie Grindhouse, director Eli Roth has stated he wishes to make it into a full length feature. It's unknown whether the title will be the same.

Christmas

Another holiday with far too many to list. You can check out the article I wrote on Christmas themed horror films for some ideas.

A couple other films I can think of include Deathdream which celebrates Veteran's Day and Happy Birthday to Mesince everyone considers their birthday a national holiday. This is just a short list since there are usually multiple movies for the same holiday.