The Naughty and Nice List: The 12 Slays of Christmas Part 2

Down the chimney Santa came late one night,

Not for gifts or cookies, but horror film fright

 

A yearly tradition this was, a title I would pick,

To watch a horror movie with Jolly Old St. Nick

 

It was BLACK CHRISTMAS we watched in the dark,

The original from '74, the one directed by Bob Clark

 

Soon as we got to the shocking reveal, you know the part,

Santa's eyes grew big as he put his hand over his heart

 

While outside waited his reindeer and sleigh full of presents he forgot,

Wanting to watch one more, Santa looked at me and said, "Hey kid, what else you got?"

 

The original 12 Slays of Christmas article from December of 2016 documented the best examples of holiday horror with a handful of Bad Santa's mixed in for good cheer (you can read it HERE). This time around, we're looking at ten years of twelve lesser known films ranging in quality, and all featuring killer Claus's, feuding families with murder on their minds, or both. Not everything can be as magnificently chilling as the original BLACK CHRISTMAS (1974) or as shockingly controversial as the original SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT (1984). The former has had two remakes--one riotously gruesome and the Grandest of Guinol, and the other isn't worth opening at Christmas or any other time during the year; the latter has had four sequels and a just-released remake to illustrate the power and influence of the two films.

 

From 2015 to 2025, it's a Naughty and Nice List, a Christmas Deadly Dozen; so gather around and let's see if there's something for you under the Cool Ass Cinema Christmas tree.

1. A CHRISTMAS HORROR STORY (2015)

Vengeful and malevolent spirits, Krampus and a zombie elf outbreak at the North Pole make up four holiday horror tales that are connected to a deadly incident in the town of Bailey Downs.

Starting things off on the Nice List is a film that is bound to become a Kringle Kult Klassic. William Shatner plays a radio DJ who bookends four horror tales that are actually one complete story, segmented into an anthology in the style of 2005s TRICK R’ TREAT. As with most films done in the omnibus style, quality of stories varies, yet all of them have some level of creep factor. The best one is the last tale, and this is suitable considering the unique twist in the tale that ties them all together into one surprisingly satisfying present you may find yourself opening again and again over the holidays.

2. BETTER WATCH OUT (2017)

On Christmas Eve, a babysitter and the 12 year-old boy she’s watching believe they’re being targeted by intruders trying to get inside the house… but the truth is far more sinister.

BETTER WATCH OUT is a film that the less you know going in the better. A dark version of HOME ALONE (1990), the film becomes more shockingly vicious to the point where you're unsure whether to laugh at the onscreen depravity or be repulsed at the contents of this blackly superb Christmas gift. The typical horror movie conventions of the babysitter stalked by a killer trying to get inside the house are turned inside out in this unexpectedly taut holiday shocker. Inarguably the most creative Christmas horror film on this list, there are no killers in Santa suits or a seasonal slasher with a vendetta, but something far more evil. BETTER WATCH this movie. And stick around for a mid-end credits scene.

3. ONCE UPON A TIME AT CHRISTMAS (2017)

Starting on December 14th, two Santa-dressed serial killers, Nicholas Conway and Michelle Weaver, use the 12 Days of Christmas as the basis for a wild killing spree in the town of Woodridge, New York.

There’s a lot of bad festive horror out there; ONCE UPON A TIME isn’t one of them. Director Paul Tanter gets more mileage out of his low budget than the usual independent horror feature. The film’s wild card are the performances of the two lead maniacs, Mr. and Mrs. Claus played by Irish actor Simon Philips and British actress Sayla de Goede. Both are righteously over the top comic book personas; so much so that one wonders if the mental facility they've escaped from wasn't Gotham's own Arkham Asylum. This was a nice surprise and would make a great stocking stuffer for its place on the Nice List. 

The Terrible Two returned to slaughter anew in THE NIGHTS OF CHRISTMAS (2020). That title suits the first film better since the events cover twelve nights leading up to Christmas Day. A third film was announced for production in 2021. Christened ONE CHRISTMAS NIGHT IN A TOY STORE, the concluding chapter was to find Mr. and Mrs. crazy Claus spilling more blood and taking hostages inside a toy store while the FBI try to get them out alive. Sadly, the film has stalled.

4. MRS. CLAUS (2018)

Sorority members at a Christmas party are targeted by a killer wearing a Mrs. Claus outfit. The deaths are connected to a hazing prank that resulted in a murder-suicide years earlier.

An ugly, mean-spirited movie, MRS. CLAUS feels more like a DTV horror flick from 1988 than 2018. The gore is nowhere near Savini superlativeness but effective nonetheless; the camera lingers on the gory finality making this mediocre movie a grimier experience. A by the numbers slasher, the film’s main inspiration is apparently BLACK CHRISTMAS (1974), the greatest holiday horror of all time. 

 

Set mostly inside a sorority house (or someone's apartment), the plot of MS. CLAUS (formerly STIRRING) follows Bob Clark’s creepy classic minus the obscene phone calls along with the polish and chilling atmosphere. Former Scream Queen Brinke Stevens is top-billed even though she pops in and out of the movie as a local police officer. There’s a double twist at the end and a third, downbeat cliffhanger in the final shot that, for such a low budget effort, shows that the filmmakers definitely had the holiday spirit.

5. SECRET SANTA (2018)

An annual family gathering for one wealthy, and heavily malfunctioning family, descends into a bloodbath on Christmas Eve.

 

SECRET SANTA is an hilarious movie. The pacing is perfect in building the outburst of violence that escalates to bloodthirsty murder. The film then devolves into a more serious tone, leading to a final scene that suggests what afflicted this family was about to spread like a virus. Director Adam Marcus was behind the most daringly creative Jason Voorhees adventure with JASON GOES TO HELL: THE FINAL FRIDAY (1994). He does the same for Christmas with this insanely wacky holiday horror about a family that redefines dysfunction. There's a great homage to THE THING (1982) via one of that film's funniest lines. And as divisive as this film will likely be (much like Marcus's FRIDAY flick), any movie that goes from a festive slaughter-thon to zombie outbreak via contaminated Christmas punch deserves your attention at least once. SECRET SANTA is Naughty and Nice in the best possible way.

6. THE NIGHTS BEFORE CHRISTMAS (2020)

Three years after the Woodridge massacre, serial killers Nicholas Conway and Michelle Weaver, alias Santa and Mrs. Claus, track down the remaining victims on their Naughty List while evading the FBI who are in hot pursuit.

This is the bigger, more ambitious sequel to 2017s impressive holiday fright-fest ONCE UPON A TIME AT CHRISTMAS (at one point, going by the title of TWICE UPON A TIME AT CHRISTMAS). Think SILENCE OF THE LAMBS Clarice Starling versus the NATURAL BORN KILLERS in Santa Claus outfits. 

 

The plot is more convoluted due to the increased number of characters; although most of them are eventually killed off by the deliciously overacting pair of scene-stealing seasonal slashers. NIGHTS is bigger in scope and even more polished than its already slickly made predecessor. The movie ends on a cliffhanger so hopefully we’ll get that intended third chapter--ONE CHRISTMAS NIGHT IN A TOY STORE--to give this impressive series proper closure.

7. SILENT NIGHT (2021)

A family and their close friends gather for a final Christmas dinner before an impending apocalypse wipes out all of humanity.

Not to be confused with the awful John Woo movie SILENT NIGHT (2023) also set at Christmas, this is the bigger budgeted version of SECRET SANTA (2018); only instead of the family killing each other, they come to grips with the possible reality they will all be dead by the next day whether by the forthcoming apocalypse or via suicide pills the government urges citizens to take. Camille Griffin’s film starts off with this off-kilter, kooky and comical atmosphere but halfway through, the tone changes to THE MIST without the monsters. There’s lots to digest at this last supper, so if you’re expecting blood and guts flying everywhere, you’re probably better off partaking anywhere else besides the most depressing film on this list.

8. CHRISTMAS BLOODY CHRISTMAS (2022)

 

A young record store owner must battle a malfunctioning robo-Santa delivering death on Christmas Night.

Likely inspired by recent robotic killers seen in the CHILD’S PLAY remake and then M3GAN (2022) that came shortly thereafter, we have here a robot killer Santa Claus. Unfortunately, aside from the ROBOCOP footfalls, it never moves like anything more than an actor wearing a Santa Claus suit. The practical gore is refreshing and it's occasionally entertaining, but that's as far as the gift-giving for this movie is going to go. CBC is never as hip as it wants to be with the Tarantino-like dialog written for grandly unlikable characters generously peppered with annoyingly excessive use of the word 'fuck'. It's used so much, you expect Rob Zombie to be seeking legal action.

9. SANTA ISN’T REAL (2023)

 

Nikki awakens from a year-long coma after nearly being killed by what she described as Santa Claus. The following Christmas, her friends take her to a secluded, snow-bound cabin to relax. The vacation turns to a night of horror when Jolly Old Saint Nick returns.

There are several movies of varying genres featuring Santa Claus as the main character, but this is the first to feature Old St. Nick as a purported slasher killer. SANTA ISN’T REAL revels in holiday ambiance, even going so far as to write new Christmas songs for it by a band called The Imaginaries. One of the best things director Zac Locke (executive producer of the second and laughably anti-male, feminazi-fueled BLACK CHRISTMAS remake from 2019) does with his movie is the sense of dread he creates; this isn’t always wrangled visually but audibly—such as the sound of blowing wind pounding the house from the outside. 

 

The lead actress Kaya Coleman is a standout and a huge plus for this under-seen independent horror. The depiction of Santa as Slayer is genuinely creepy with his almost waxen facial image, reminiscent of the electronic Santa seen in the toy store stalk and kill sequence of the original SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT (1984). Watch out for a mid-end credits scene where a pizza delivery man is greeted by Old St. Nick.

10. SLAY RIDE (2024)

 

The Kris Kringle Killer has slain 11 women and plans for one more to complete his 12 Days of Christmas killing spree. His last potential victim ends up being a woman who lives in the house the killer grew up in.

Starring, produced and directed by Olivia Dunkley (she also contributed to the music), the rambunctious SLAY RIDE is definitely on the Naughty List (as the psycho Kringle killer keeps saying) but has more than a few Nice things going for it. A film with a main character named Holly Woods (played by Dunkley) is clearly in on its own joke; and Holly isn’t having a jolly Christmas… at all. It’s like an 80 minute Texas Death Match—no disqualification, falls count anywhere. Anything goes. Did everyone do their own stunts? 

 

Mitchel Gene Shira as the crazed Santa slasher is hilarious; and the most enjoyably over the top krazed Kringle performance since Eric Freeman in SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT PART 2 (1987). This RIDE operates on the same level of lunacy as FREEWAY (1996). It’s a gift that keeps on giving, totally unwrapping itself during an unexpectedly outrageous finale. SLAY RIDE could've used a much better advertising campaign, but it's the thought that counts; a lot of that went into this goofy, blackly humorous, Yuletide surprise.

11. I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST CHRISTMAS (2025)

 

A group of friends meet at an isolated cabin for a Christmas reunion only to discover they're being set up for the kill over a deadly holiday prank a year earlier.

Just by the title alone, this barely feature-length flick (72 minutes including end credits), is the biggest rip-off on the Naughty List. It takes the plot of the popular slasher franchise (heavily influenced by the recent 2025 sequel) and turns into a lazily plotted holiday horror. Never leaving the confines of the vacation home it's set in, I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST CHRISTMAS feels much longer than its scant running time. Easily forgotten once it's over, watching this movie is akin to receiving a last minute gift with the feeling that little to no thought went into it. 

12. HE SEES YOU WHEN YOU’RE SLEEPING (2025)

As a small boy, Chester witnessed his parents slaughtered by a maniac in a Santa suit. 17 years later, he returns to his childhood estate where conniving and vindictive members of his family plot to steal his inheritance from him. Meanwhile, an axe-wielding madman wearing a Santa suit begins a new murder spree.

One of the better Christmas horror films about bickering, back-stabbing (literally) families is this nifty thriller mixing CLUE-style theatrics with familiar holiday tropes and an occasional nod to merry scary horrors of Christmas past. The crazy old man warning the young Chester about Santa Claus recalls the similar sequence in SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT (1984) where Grandpa scares the absolute hell out of Billy about what Santa Claus does to little kids who haven't been good all year. 

 

Caroline Williams (THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2; THE STEPFATHER 2), one of the best Scream Queens still working in the horror genre, headlines the show, and resoundingly steals it in the films last half. The most recent example of the maladjusted, and quite demented, holiday family gathering features a killer Santa Claus, too; and looks back to the similar and underrated seasonal slasher, ALL THROUGH THE HOUSE (2015). HE SEES YOU WHEN YOU'RE SLEEPING is worth staying awake for.

 

On this 25th Day of December,

In the year 2025,

A Christmas you'll always remember,

If you're lucky to still be alive,

 

Till next year's season of Yuletide,

When Santa stalks anew,

For the Naughty with nowhere to hide...