Every Killer Santa Horror Movie Ranked
Now that Violent Night has added David Harbor to the Santa Slayer canon, there's never been a better time to rank every Slayer Santa movie from worst to best.
2022's Violent Night is the latest in a long line of Santa-killer movies, and for every good movie out there, there are some that deserve a lump of coal in their stocking. Turning Santa Claus into a bloodthirsty killer is a classic horror trope. As a genre, horror has thrived on turning innocent images of childhood (clowns, dolls, puppets) into terrifying menaces, and there is no cultural figure more innocuous, and therefore more suited to subversion, than jolly old Saint Nick.
There are more than a dozen movies featuring Killer Santa, but only a handful take the premise to logical extremes and imply that their villain is the "real" Santa. Best known as the Santa Killer movie, the scandal-ridden Christmas Eve Deadly Night movie, follows a distraught hero who dons Santa's suit after witnessing the murder of his childhood parents by a man dressed as Saint Nick. clothing. However, "The Devil Before Christmas," "Night of Violence," "Santa Claus," "Death of Santa Claus," and "Rare Exit: A Christmas Story" took this already controversial premise a step further, bringing the real Santa Claus to life. Portrayed as a cold-blooded killer.
Silent Night
2012's "Silent Night" is not terrible, but it is the weakest killer Santa movie Thank you Silent Night Deadly Night remake for its lack of invention and low stakes. A dirty throwback to the dark comic book killers of the early '80s, Silent Night is a loose remake of Silent Night Deadly Night, ditching the slow, deliberate setup of the earlier films in favor of more gore and less psychological complexity. Like the Grinch horror film "Mean," "Silent Night" couldn't scale the incongruous contrast between its Christmas setting and horrific violence to feature-length success. However, like Despicable, Christmas Eve is still worth watching for fans of cheap Christmas horror.
Christmas Evil
Christmas Evil is the most brooding, thoughtful and self-serious killer Santa movie ever made. For much of its runtime, this deliberate character study of a distraught toymaker turned violent, unhinged vigilante isn't about a killer Santa at all. Instead, The Christmas Devil is the work of the genuinely disturbing Brandon Maggot, who makes a distraught Harry surprisingly sympathetic, if still terrified. However, the wild final twist turns "The Devil Before Christmas" into a full-fledged killer Santa movie and elevates "Harry" from Travis Bickle wannabe to horror movie legend.
Violent Night
2022's rip-roaring "Night of Violence" isn't necessarily a horror movie, but this R-rated action-comedy has enough brutal killings to make it a great addition to the Killer Santa movie canon. David Harbor stars as the rarest of movie protagonists, a heroic (yet still deadly) Santa Claus who helps a wealthy family escape the clutches of Christmas-hating thugs. This one has a lot of plot issues (why isn't the super-rich bootlegger on the naughty list? Why is Santa Claus real in a world of violent nights and the villains don't get any presents as kids?), but this action fest ensures viewers will enjoy it too. much fun.
Sint
2010's Sint, an underrated addition to the killer Santa horror classic, is a Dutch horror comedy with a killer hook. Like Violent Night's version of Santa Claus, Sint's villain is a legendary warrior, but this time, he's more of a villain in the works. A zombified undead Santa rises under a full moon on a mission to kill as many children as possible while the heroes desperately try to stop the carnage. More openly absurd than many of the darker films on this rundown, Sint There are still some effective jump scares and some gory deaths, making this European holiday horror flick well worth a watch.
Santa’s Slay
Santa Kills, released in 2005, was one of two films that featured the legendary WWE wrestler as an atypically muscular version of Santa Claus. However, unlike the laughing Hulk Hogan car "Muscle Santa," Santa's Killing is a goofy R-rated slay comedy filled with gore, gratuitous nudity, and dirty jokes. Santa's Killing doesn't deserve a higher spot in the rankings, as this horror-comedy never even tries vaguely to scare the audience, but the sight of James Caan being brutally murdered by Goldberg's killer Santa in the opening scene ensures It's still an offbeat Christmas classic.
Silent Night Deadly Night
1984's Silent Night Deadly Night is one of only two films not to feature the "real" Santa Claus as the killer. As such, it's arguably not a killer Santa movie, but any introduction to the killer subgenre would be incomplete without the legendary trendsetter. Known for the protests and actual content of the film, "Silent Night" caused a lot of controversy when it was released. However, compared to later likes Mean man, this horror movie doesn't live up to its laugh-out-loud premise. The gradual breakdown of Billy the Killer in a Santa suit is slow, sad, and terrifying, even as the ending morphs into an even more ridiculous one.
Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale
2010's Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale was released the same year as Sint, but this Finnish action-comedy-horror takes the idea of a killer Santa deeper than the underrated indie. Here, Santa Claus is re-imagined as a sleeping Lovecraftian monster whose return threatens a small community in Finland and, by extension, the world. There are some dark satires of commercialism, capitalism and big business here, but Rare Exit: A Christmas Story is primarily a grim, noirly funny Christmas horror movie that turns Santa and his helpers into a Nightmarish entity when you sleep with a bunch of creepy minions who know you for good or bad.
Silent Night Deadly Night Part 2
Released in 1987, Silent Night: Deadly Night Part 2 is a sequel to a notoriously silly horror film. The best Santa Killer movie is also one of the worst ever made, an absurd horror flick that relies on plenty of flashbacks to the first movie to fill its runtime. Fortunately, when Silent Night Deadly Night Part 2 is not tilted On top of Silent Night Deadly Night, the sequel is the vehicle for Eric Freeman's inspired performance. As Ricky, Billy's younger brother in the original film, Freeman brought a degree of insanity to the role that made Silent Night Part 2 a cult classic, and one more film than "Deadly Night." A Night of Violence and all the other Pretenders are funnier, sillier Santa killer movies. throne.
