Thursday, December 20, 2018

Christmas Horror Movie Guide 2018 Updated

 By Jonathan Bilski

This is an updated post from a month ago on new Christmas Horror to check out.
From Trancers
-Trancers (available on Amazon and other online streaming services)
from Trancers
Now we know it doesn't look like it, but it's technically a Christmas movie. Take a trip with a future cop that travels back in time to 1980's LA to stop an evil psychic from taking out the ancestors of LA's future government. It's Christmas in LA and even Santa can turn into a dirty Trancer, luckily Helen Hunt might help you out.

-LAist has a good list of all the Christmas movies to see in LA playing in theaters.











It's that time of year again, when a slate of horror-themed Christmas movies hit the market. And though we see no attempt by any US company to stream or put out Deadly Games from France, we are getting some crazy and wild new holiday themed horror.



Start your holiday horror viewing right with I'm Dreaming of a White Doomsday. A mother and son must survive after the apocalypse. And it looks like Santa is outside there bunker to deliver them presents or maybe someone just dressed as Santa just wants to get them? I'm not sure, but looks like there's gonna be some sulking because of a nuclear winter.* Santa in a gas mask is always creepy.

Out now on Blu-ray and DVD
Seen: Much more of a sci-fi movie, but does take place during Christmas, but a British Christmas, so a little less Christmas-y

Already out is Await Further Instructions, which seems to have a sci-fi premise. Some creepy substance is surrounding a home on Christmas. The family inside isn't happy and wasn't happy with each other from the start. At least their TV's work, except all the get is the message saying ‘Stay Indoors and Await Further Instructions' .We aren't getting a Doctor Who Christmas Special this year, so here's the closes thing that sci-fi Christmas horror.


Streaming, digital now

Seen: This came so close to being a perfect cult classic, but the director shows he still has to learn a bit before making really good films. Great musical numbers with some good gore scenes. Still, it drags like the zombies in it it sometimes.

Coming out this week in theaters is none other than Anna and the Apocalypse. We've been waiting for this one since it hit the film festival circuit a year ago, premiering at Fantastic Fest. We got it a Beyond Fest, but who wants to see a Christmas movie in early October? It's a Christmas-horror-zombie-musical and that pretty much makes people want to see it from the get go. It's been getting rave reviews and no matter what, it'll be sure to be a Christmas cult classic just for its concept alone.

In limited theaters Nov 30th  and expands nationwide Dec 7th
Anna and the Apocalypse

Wednesday, November 28, 7pm
Followed by a Q&A with John McPhail
and Actor Chris Leveaux
Fri 11/30, Sat 12/1 & Sun 12/2 
with Director John McPhail & Actor Christopher Leveaux
ArcLight Hollywood
$

Seen: High hopes, but sadly it just wasn't that good, segments differ too much and the story keeping it together doesn't really pay off. This anthology was not the Christmas present I was looking for.

Early next week we get All the Creatures Were Stirring, an anthology horror Christmas movie. It's starts off with a story  about a couple finding a weird movie theater on Christmas Eve. From there we don't have a real theme just bad things happening on/around Christmas for the couple to view. We can wait to see what different directors are gonna do to make our holiday season a little bit more scary. Looks like it'll be so over-the-top it'll be funny.

Out streaming, digital and DVD Dec 4th


Seen: It's my least favorite of Nacho's work and that's just sad.
 On Hulu, we have the holiday horror series Into the Dark giving us Pooka and my heart went all aflutter when I found out Nacho Vigalondo was the director. He's one of my favorite directors and I've been fortunate enough to even interview him for the site. His work is great in sci-fi and horror, but at the same time his characters can be real chatty or there's a story that's way to human. Pooka has us following an actor dressing up like the most highly sought after doll for the holiday season and things start getting dark from there as the actor may be hurting people...or is Pooka?

Only on Hulu Dec 7th


That snows gonna be red when Christmas Blood comes out. It's a foreign Christmas horror movie from Norway, which always makes these movies a little bit more magical. A serial killer dresses like Santa and has been murdering people for the last thirteen years. Now it's up to two cops to stop all the killings. I'm gonna guess they don't succeed.

Out streaming, digital Dec 11th

*Extra

Now this one isn't listed for this Holiday season and it might wander the festival circuit before coming out. Hanukkah, yes, Hanukkah, has a horror movie. It's about how a son saw his serial kid killer father, the "Hanukiller" ,pffff, get taken down by New York cops in the 80's. The kid grew up and became an extremist himself whose going to repeat his father's bad call on how to celebrate the holiday on a group of Jewish teenagers. Oh vey, it sounds like it'll be a a fun ride. How do you kill people with a dreidel?

Out unknown?

*Extra Extra

Now there are some other Christmas horror films that have come out and...they look like they'll be so bad that they may be unwatchable.  Sure, they might be great to watch with friends and wonder how someone got to direct or make them, but here's three more that we don't recommend.


Elves- I guess it's a sequel to An Elf ? Someone left seven elves, one for each seven deadly sin, in a small town, and now they're gonna start killing people around Christmas.
Mrs. Claus- A serial killer is dressed like Santa Claus' wife and she's gonna kill a bunch of sorority girls.
Santa Jaws- Seen: I was wrong, this was just painful to watch, even as a joke with friends. Forget this garbage.
This came out when the last Sharknado movie hit the Sy-Fy channel, so not only is it a crazy concept, it's SyFy channel movie quality. When a boy wishes for his family to disappear, I guess a magical shark comes to eat them? Wait, this one might be fun to watch for how dumb it is.