Three Christmas Movies for Friday the 13th
Friday, December 13, 2013 at 3:00PM Anne Marie here to spread some holiday scares. Friday the 13th has crept up on us again, bringing joy to thousands of horror fans. If you're a Christmas lover, then these three movies should scratch that holiday horror movie itch. And if you hate the holiday season, then that's all the more reason to watch an evil naked Santa go on a murder spree.
Black Christmas (1976) - This is considered a slasher classic alongside its more famous calendar-themed cousin, Halloween. Black Christmas follows a group of sorority sisters in what I swear must be Canada as a deranged unseen killer picks them off one by one. The cast alone is worth the watch: Olivia Hussey six years after Romeo & Juliet, Margot Kidder two years before Superman, and Andrea Martin twenty six years before she fondled John Corbett's hair and offered him lamb in My Big Fat Greek Wedding. While the kills themselves are relatively tame by today's ridiculously gory standards, the true chills in the film come from the babbling and screaming phone calls the killer makes to the sorority house every time he claims a new victim.I should point out that Black Christmas was remade in 2006. However, I'm hoping that a Christmas miracle will happen and the remake will be vanish, never to be seen again.
Gremlins (1984) - The Gremlins are proof that giving your kid a pet for Christmas can be a very, very bad idea. This 80's classic strikes a very difficult balance. On the one hand, it is adorable, as when the fluffy mogwai Gizmo drives a toy car around a department store for the last third of the film. On the other hand, it can be downright violent, as when the gremlins murder a neighbor by causing her stairlift to fling her out a window. Overall, the flim tends to err on the side of campy humor: Gremlins get drunk, breakdance, and mostly act like tiny, lizard-like bros at a frat party. This mischief and mayhem make Gremlins the most light-hearted movie on this list. Fun trivia: Gremlins is actually responsible (along with Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom) for the creation of the PG-13 rating. Apparently the MPAA agreed that mogwais were too cute for an R rating but too bloody for a PG one instead.
Rare Exports: A Christmas Story (2010) - "He sees you when you're sleeping. He knows when you're awake. He knows when you've been bad or good. And he doesn't give a ****!" Finnish horror movies have a strange sense of humor. In Rare Exports, an archaeological dig uncovers an old man with a long white beard frozen in stasis. When he awakens, he immediately starts kidnapping children and hauling them away in potato sacks. For this monster is only the helper to Santa Claus. The true Father Christmas is far, far worse. This movie gets serious points for being one of the most bizarre reinterpretations of the Santa Claus mythos. On top of that, it's an engaging, funny, scary movie. I promise you'll never look at mall Santas the same way again.
What scary ghost stories do you save for the holidays? Post your Friday the 13th suggestions below. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good fright
Reader Comments (4)
Great idea for a post, partly because I already followed your advice (before you gave it) and watched Black Christmas some days ago. To be honest, I didn't like it much. But many people will!
Of course I love Gremlins, and I think I'll watch Rare Exports.
I did see (yesterday) another killing Santa (and a very hot one) in the creepy and kinda tragic Silent Night, Deadly Night. Not a great movie, and imdb tells me not many people love it, but I thought it was OK. "Punish!"
Gremlins is so good. A guilty pleasure Christmas movie if ever there was one. Whenever it's on TV (and whatever time of year) it still sucks me in and I end up watching all or most of it.
I saw Black Christmas a few years ago but it's only okay. I get that it is a campy slasher classic but it pales in comparison to the still chilling Halloween (or even Texas Chainsaw Massacre). I think it's the music that makes Halloween perfect after all these years. Black Christmas also has Keir Dullea six years after 2001: A Space Odyssey too.
Yeha, I think Black Christmas is considered a "classic" because it's old, not because it's particularly stellar. Surprising (frustrating) ending though.
James: Silent Night, Deadly Night is recorded on my DVR right now. I guess I'll look for something else. You should *definitely* check out Rare Exports. It's just. so. weird.
I disagree---Black Christmas is a classic because it's legitamitely creepy as hell in some parts, especially toward the end, and it's a well-made film on top of that. It's scary because you don't know who the killer is--it could be anybody from anywhere. It's easy to dismiss the film because it basically started some of today's modern horror film cliches, and it's been eclipsed by other, bigger films that stole from it. That still dosen't make it any less better of a film---I like it for its genuinely quirky characters, its genuine tension and suspense, and it's cool seeing both the talented pre-SUPERMAN Margot Kidder and the funny pre-SCTV Andrea Martin before either one of them got big. Plus, I'm a sucker for '70s horror films, so that's another reason I like it.
Gremlins is both charming and creepy, and Rare Exports is definitely a whacked-out, and genuinely unique take on the Santa Claus legend--it's definitely weird as hell, and a must-see.