Since childhood, we have loved to hear the stories from our parents about a white long-bearded man, wearing a red outfit and black boots with his gift-filled sack traversing on his nine reindeer to deliver presents to good kids on Christmas Eve. Yes, the Santa Claus- who has been long associated with awakening festive spirits, bringing joy and smiles on the faces of children. In numerous movies too, these Christmas traditions are included to tell joyous and feel-good stories centering around the holiday season, Santa Claus' origin, a festive family reunion, romance tales, and others. However, when it comes to Christmas movies, not every filmmaker likes to tell conventional stories and goes out of the way to create something unusual and challenging.
There are immense jolly Santa Claus movies which we might have seen and might even be searching for during the holiday season. But some filmmakers like to ditch typical Christmas stories and go for horror-oriented movies about Kris Kringle, which challenges the traditions and shows the patron of Christmas, as a malevolent or twisted figure, worsening our childhood's magical tales and upping our anxieties. Here are my picks for offbeat Christmas horror movies featuring scary Santa.
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Let's put it like this: Jack Skellington, a pumpkin king of the Halloween town is bored of the monotonous old spooky traditions and haunting children, and feels the spark and enthusiasm for the Halloween diminishing, as he now wants to try out something new. Once, he comes across this door which leads him to the Christmas town, where he witnesses heartwarming traditions, cheerful spirits among people, colorful lights, and obviously Santa Claus. Impressed by the festive spirits, Jack does more research on it and decides to transform the Halloween town into a Christmas one to the point where he also plans on kidnapping the real Santa Claus.
The Nightmare Before Christmas is another renowned upbeat story by Tim Burton whose fascination with the holiday season brought this wildly creative and whimsical stop-motion tale to life. The concept is indeed praiseworthy, as it combines Halloween and Christmas elements in a singular narrative while also depicting a dark character being fascinated with a vibrant thing, which is quite a rare moment. Yet, it makes a perfect watch for both spooky and cheerful seasons. The visual effects and musical soundtracks did wonders when it came to creating a dual ambiance of both festive occasions and expressing a scary character like Jack and Sally's deep feelings via meaningful lyrics, respectively. The Oscar-nominated movie (for Visual Effects) to date remains a timeless animated classic that is a combined package of horror, humor, romance, celebration, and fantasy.
Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale
Based on the 2003 short film of the same name, Rare Exports revolves around a research team carrying out an archaeological in Korvanturi, while local boys Pietari and Juuso keep an eye on the team learning that a Santa Claus tomb has been discovered. When children start disappearing and reindeer are slaughtered, Pietari and his father have to race against time to save the villagers and themselves from the not-so-cheery but malevolent force of Santa Claus.
Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale is an underrated piece that reimagines Finnish mythology by going for a different story about Santa Claus who is more interested in punishing children than being nice. What makes it even a perfect Christmas horror story is it blends elements of folklore and slasher genres such as demonstrating evil elves using harmful weapons and abducting kids. Set against the visually pleasing landscapes and scenery, the movie ditches the campy humor which many evil Santa stories opt for instead a genuine dark humor runs through the suspenseful narrative.
Deadly Games (1989)
Deadly Games sees Thomas de Frémont, a smart guy who is obsessed with action films and lives with his widowed mother, frail grandfather, and his pet dog in a high-tech castle. When Thomas makes an attempt to communicate with Santa Claus, he gets in contact with a psychopath who disrupts their lives by disguising himself as Santa Claus. Thomas is now tasked with saving everyone's life including his own.
Deadly Games often is compared to the Home Alone movie which was released a year after due to its seemingly similar premise, but it stands out as it falls more on a darker and nightmarish side which the Chris Columbus movie doesn't. If you are into stories which are led by children, you will surely like this one as it induces suspense and fright, by putting a smart kid against a murderous Santa Claus. Their cat-and-mouse game is filled with entertaining action sequences, witty traps, and amusing moments. Brigitte Fossey gives an authentic performance as a child who uses his clever tricks to stop the evil Santa from harming his family.
Sint
Fed up of Bishop Niklas and his gang's constant killings and robberies, the villagers take matters into their own hands and kill them on December 5, being totally unaware that their ghosts will return to haunt them. The people celebrate the Sinterklaas tradition and make their children believe in father Christmas who gives kids presents. Every year when December 5 occurs with a full moon, St. Nicholas arrives to abduct and murder children.
Sint makes us familiar with the Dutch traditions of celebrating Sinterklaas which is somewhat similar to Christmas, involving a figure based on St. Nicholas giving gifts to kids on December 5. It sets a creepy premise by challenging the years-long traditions and showcases Sinterklaas as a scary force all set to start a gory massacre; all credit goes to the makeup and special effects team as the mutilated face actually looked terrifying, gross, and funny at the same time. The movie is well executed by Dick Maas, a critically acclaimed director who is renowned for his Dutch horror works.
Krampus
Krampus follows the story of Max, a young boy who firmly believes in Santa Claus and likes writing letters to him. However, their family get-together during Christmas time gives rise to increased tensions, as one of the cousins pokes fun at Max's Santa Claus letter, which leads to him being furious. He tears apart the letter and throws it away from the window; this angry action unleashes Krampus ( a demon who scares children who misbehave or lack Christmas spirits). The already dysfunctional family now has to face the wrath of the devil and save themselves, this Christmas.
Krampus doesn't follow the cliche murderous Santa trope, as the movie focuses more on Krampus, the demonic counterpart of Kris Kringle, who punishes bad kids. It has a strong ensemble consisting of modern scream queen and Hereditary actress Toni Collette, along with Parks & Recreation's Adam Scott and Bad Moms' Emjay Anthony who give solid performances in their respective roles. The movie picks up a relatable scenario of chaotic family get-togethers and tosses it into a surreal narrative, further infusing it with unpredictable twists, horror elements, innovative kills, and good humor.