10 Christmas Slasher Movies Ranked - Who Will Slice Their Way to Number 1?

Welcome to Knockout Horror and to our list of 10 Christmas Slasher Movies Ranked. It’s Sunday the 8th of December 2024 and you know what that means? The shops are already packed, it’s a nightmare to leave the house during the day and Christmas is just around the corner.

With that in mind, let’s grab a drink and some snacks, throw on a few horror movies and avoid the crowds. Today we are taking a look at 10 Christmas Slasher Movies Ranked. All of these movies are set over the Christmas period. All feature festive themes and some of them even feature killer Santas. What more could you want at this time of year?

Some of these movies aren’t great but all of them are sure to find a few fans. Most can be found on free streaming services and some are even doing the rounds on YouTube. I have reviewed the majority of these so I will offer up my score in the summary and a link to the review. Without further ado, let’s take a look at 10 Christmas Slasher Movies Ranked.

I am sure some would think I am being a little harsh placing Christmas, Bloody Christmas in the number ten spot. The truth is, however, I really dislike this movie. Coming by way of Shudder, Christmas, Bloody Christmas sees an absolutely obnoxious record store owner trying to escape from a murderous robotic Santa on Christmas eve.

Dull, derivative, generic and headlined by an awful cast frequently tasked with improvising. I couldn’t wait for this one to be over. Still, if you can put up with the horrible people in the movie, as well as the constant f-bombs, you may enjoy Robot Santa’s Christmas chaos. We awarded Christmas, Bloody Christmas 1.5/5 in our review.

People LOVE this movie. They absolutely love it and I have no clue why. Labelled as “So bad it’s good”, Jack Frost sees a vicious serial killer, brought back from the dead and placed into the body of a snowman, exacting revenge on the people who put him in prison.

A terrible snowman costume, silly kills, ridiculous dialogue. It is all there in this farcical slasher but I can’t help but feel it is trying to hard. This is a movie that wants a cult following, it wants people to think it is awful. Instead, it is just an overly long, not all that funny, boring exercise in Christmas Slasher monotony. I awarded Jack Frost 1/5 in my review.

Another candidate for “So bad it is good”. The Mean One is a comedy horror parody of The Grinch. Seeing a young girl tortured by memories of a green monster killing her mother on Christmas eve. Finding herself in a battle to the death with the angry Christmas creature when she returns to her home town.

I was excited for this film but I feel like The Mean One doesn’t manage to do much with its inspiration. Terrifier’s David Howard Thornton is on top form as the Mean One but this movie is a slog. Occasionally funny, often quite silly, but just not all that watchable. This feels like a missed opportunity. Our review of The Mean One will be going live shortly.

Okay, the movies start getting a bit better now and we kick things off with 2012’s Silent Night. Malcolm McDowell and Jaime King star in this slasher that sees a police force in a small Midwestern USA town hunting for a Santa Claus serial killer who is taking lives over the Christmas period. This is a lowkey remake of 84 slasher classic Silent Night, Deadly Night but you might not guess it while watching.

Silent Night plays out like a fairly generic slasher movie but with an extra sprinkling of Christmas jeer. It has all the usual slasher goodness like interesting kills, gratuitous violence, nudity and action. But the addition of Malcolm McDowell and the festive setting make it worth more than the sum of its parts. A very fitting option for Xmas viewing; we awarded Silent Night 2.7/5 in our review.

Another Shudder offering up next, at 6, with It’s a Wonderful Knife from 2023. As you may have guessed, this is a horror parody of the classic Christmas movie It’s a Wonderful Life. The story follows Winnie (Jane Widdop) who, after stopping a murderous killer the year before, finds her life falling apart and wishes she was never born. Having her wish granted, Winnie is shown just what life would be like had she never existed.

It’s familiar stuff, especially given the story, but It’s a Wonderful Knife does enough to stay fun. Light hearted; the comedy may put a few people off but the feel good factor is there and the movie doesn’t ask a ton of the viewer. Not the most interesting slasher and lacking a little in the kills, this is still a fun time for anyone looking for a cheery Christmas horror with a difference. Our review is coming up, shortly.

We are going back to the 80s, now, for a couple of Christmas Slasher classics. The first of which is Christmas Evil from 1980. Toy factory worker Harry wants to restore the Christmas spirit. Keeping an eye on all of the kids in the neighbourhood to see who has been good and who has been bad. Harry flips, over Christmas, after trouble at work and goes on a killing spree.

Christmas Evil is an excellent mix of kills and comedy that still feels pretty fresh today. Its serious and jaded view of the hypocrisy of people, at Christmas, stands in stark contrast to its light and silly take on slasher horror. It looks fantastic, as well, for a low budget 80’s horror. You could argue that this is the movie that started the Christmas Slasher trend but that is debatable, especially given the title at number 1 on our list. A lot of fun and still worth watching today.

You could switch this movie and the last one around depending on preference. Both are great comedy horror slashers set at Christmas. It could be argued, however, that Silent Night, Deadly Night was heavily inspired by Christmas Evil, at least in themes. This movie sees little Billy witnessing his parents brutally slain by a Santa costume wearing killer on Christmas eve. Growing up with a resentment of the occasion, an adult Billy is pushed to his limits at work and goes on a killing spree of his own.

This is fairly simple stuff but what might surprise some is how much Silent Night, Deadly Night leans into the backstory of its killer. Outside of the violence, kills, nudity, and slasher silliness. This is a fairly deep story of a child suffering from PTSD and growing up in a world ill equipped to accommodate him. Silent Night, Deadly Night isn’t going to blow you away but it is fun in the way only a campy 80’s slasher can be. We awarded Silent Night, Deadly Night 3/5 in our review.

This is the most current movie on the list and, obviously, had to occupy a fairly high spot. When it comes to Christmas slasher movies, they don’t get much more bloody than this one. Terrifier 3 sees the return of Art The Clown as he haunts the residents of Miles County on Christmas Eve in his pursuit of the previous movie’s protagonist Sienna (Lauren LaVera).

It’s gory, it’s ridiculous, it’s often fairly unnecessary and it even manages to be quite funny in parts. What Terrifier 3 lacks in taste it more than makes up for in violence. It’s a slasher for the TikTok generation and, while it will probably leave traditional slasher fans wondering what all the fuss is about, it does enough to stay entertaining. We awarded Terrifier 3 3/5 in our review.

This movie feels completely different from anything else on this list. Coming as part of the New French Extremity wave of horror from the 2000s. Inside sees the heavily pregnant Sarah (Alysson Paradis) hunted on Christmas Eve by a maniacal home invader hell bent on ruining her life. Béatrice Dalle is menacing in a movie that is beyond gory and features some horrifying moments of violence that are sure to stay with you.

Inside is not for the faint of heart and, certainly, not a cheerful watch. But, if you are looking for a slasher with an atypical antagonist and an atypical approach to the genre, Inside is a brilliant, albeit disturbing, option. We awarded Inside 3.7/5 in our review. Not just one of the best Christmas slashers but one of the Christmas horror movies period.

Is this the movie that started them all? Both Christmas Slashers and Christmas horror movies, in general? You could, certainly, make the argument; hell, you could even make the argument that Black Christmas started the slasher genre, as a whole. Following the story of a group of sorority sisters being hunted by a faceless killer over the Christmas holiday. Black Christmas is just as tense and scary today as it was then.

Bob Clark, of A Christmas Story fame, helmed this one and turned the Christmas holidays into nightmare fuel. Tapping into the fear that comes from senseless violence and turning the phrase “the calls are coming from inside the house” into one of the most iconic horror concepts of all time. Black Christmas is the best Christmas slasher movie of all time, perhaps the greatest Christmas horror of all time, and one of my favourite horror movies of all time. We awarded Black Christmas 4.5/5 in our review.

Thanks for Reading

That’s 10 Christmas Slasher Movies Ranked. There’s lots more to come and a ton of Christmas content for you to check out all of December. We are reviewing Christmas Horror in our Awful Advent category and putting together Christmas horror lists so be sure to take a look. Thanks for reading and happy holidays.