The food, the gifts, the ugly Christmas sweaters. The holiday season demands you spend a lot to make the good times roll. But here at Horror Press, we want you to stretch that dollar.
We know entertainment shouldn’t be the thing that breaks the bank when you’re burning the candle at both ends. And though we love talking about the great films you can find to stream on Shudder and beyond (with plenty of out-of-this-world streaming guides by Sharai Bohannon in our It Came From Shudder series!), we would be remiss if we didn’t address the repository of free horror you could be tapping into as well.
We are of course talking about Tubi, the free streaming service with more movies on it than you can probably watch in your lifetime. It’s known for some of its cornier offerings and shot on video dreck, yes, but it’s also an invaluable source of well-made films you can watch for free. And in particular, well-made horror films for all seasons. So, today, we introduce you to ten of the best Christmas horror movies you can stream on Tubi this holiday season.
Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toymaker (1992)
Okay, just for fairness’ sake, I’m going to limit myself to TWO Silent Night, Deadly Night films on this list, because Tubi has every single one in the franchise available at your fingertips. If you wanted, you could marathon them all like I did a few years back for my Silent Night, Deadly Night ranking article.
But Toymaker is no normal Silent Night, Deadly Night film. Which, you might be asking, “Wasn’t the fourth one about winter solstice witches setting people on fire and putting bugs inside them?” Which, yes, obviously that one is not normal, but this one is actually focused on Christmas! As the title implies, it follows a sinister toymaker with an unfortunate shop name, his creepy son, and the many people he terrorizes with his violent robotic toys.
This film has some hilarious moments, but played straight so you don’t have any of that wink-and-nudge routine that ruins your usual so-bad-it’s-good films. You absolutely will not see its ending coming from anywhere, so I encourage you to dive in and let it immerse you in its unique eggnog of weirdness.
Silent Night (2012)
And this Silent Night, Deadly Night remake is the other entry on the list I mentioned above. I promise it is also the only Santa slasher I’m putting on this list! Billy Chapman’s goofy love-hate relationship with Christmas has been replaced with a silent killer more akin to Michael Myers, whose mysterious motivations tie him to policewoman Aubrey Bradimore closer than she would think.
While Silent Night recreates a few of the original kills from its source material, it is mainly a special effects extravaganza that slams on the gas and cuts the brake line in terms of how brutal it can get. What collides with your eyes is a competent and fairly fun holiday horror. And if you need any more reason to watch it, Donal Logue plays a surprisingly significant role here as a drunken, rude Santa Claus screaming about figgy pudding. What else could you want?
Better Watch Out (2017)
Recently highlighted in another article ranking great Holiday horror kills, I didn’t have the pleasure of watching Better Watch Out without having the twist spoiled for me. But even lacking that experience, it’s still a film I was hooked on just due to its performances and one I will be watching again.
The film follows an insecure boy, Luke, who tries to impress his babysitter and long-time crush, Ashley, while his parents are away on Christmas Eve. His floundering attempts at acting like an adult get halted when intruders descend on the home. Both Olivia Dejonge and Levi Miller give stellar performances in this, with their dynamic driving the film’s best moments. You won’t regret going in blind on this one, trust me.
Maniac Cop 2 (1990)
You didn’t remember this one was a Christmas movie did you? I can’t blame you, since most of the holiday horror genre is saturated by killer santas and poorly puppeteered elves, whereas Maniac Cop 2 is a straightforward sequel to Officer Matt Cordell’s rampage in the first film (rest in peace to unsung horror legend Robert Zdar). After driving into a river with a beam pinned through his chest, he’s back! Somehow! Look, the mechanics of it don’t really matter, this movie has Bruce Campbell, Tom Atkins and Richard Roundtree in it. It’s surging with classic B-movie energy, has some pretty great action sequences in it, and its demanding to be seen.
It Cuts Deep (2020)
Breakups during the holidays are a nightmare as is, fraught with emotional turmoil during an already stressful time. But It Cuts Deep shows that staying together can be so, so much worse. Following Sam and Ashley, a couple whose relationship is on the verge of collapse while on a Christmas vacation, the film presents a dark comedy scenario of dwindling love turned into a psychological horror. As Sam loses his grip on their love life, an old friend reemerges and threatens to steal his girlfriend away from him, causing him to lose his grip on his sanity.
This is an ingenious horror comedy that I can’t recommend enough. It takes a while to fire up even with its brisk runtime, but around the end of the first act you will be hooked by how it takes awkward humor and turns it into thriller fuel with pinpoint comedic acting. The best comes from the interactions between Charles Gould’s Sam and John Anderson’s Nolan, whose comedic sensibilities synthesize into a perfect play between two deeply unlikable characters.
Rare Exports (2010)
A personal favorite of my friends, you might just become a holiday hero by introducing a horror lover in your life to this now-classic Norwegian film. Rare Exports follows a young boy, Pietari, and his reindeer-hunting friends and family as they discover that a research group might be tampering with the land and killing the local wildlife.
The truth about who has been doing this is much stranger than fiction, however, as what was unearthed from the local fell’s ice turns out to be much less friendly than legends have made them sound. With a dash of eldritch monstrosity spice, and a pinch of existential dread caused by the concepts it has on offer, Rare Exports delivers dark comedy through its unique premise and execution.
Black Christmas (1974)
At this point, what can even be said about Black Christmas that hasn’t been said? Forgive this exceptionally short entry on the list, but there’s only so many times you can expound the virtues of Bob Clark’s slasher masterpiece. If you have somehow never heard of or gotten to see Black Christmas, its haunting atmosphere, and its surprisingly dense and nuanced themes of reproductive agency, your homework is to watch it as soon as possible.
P2 (2007)
Being stuck at work on Christmas Eve is a fate I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemies (but hey, maybe I should get worse enemies). P2 takes that premise to a whole new level, as it follows beleaguered worker Angela being stalked by the parking lot night security guard Thomas. What results is a fun thriller led by a Wes Bentley performance that makes for a villain you love to hate. It has one of my favorite horror movie set pieces to boot, involving a very creative use of a fire hose. You also won’t find a more cathartic ending on this list.
Hosts (2020)
Hear me out since this doesn’t sound that complementary: Hosts is a film I wasn’t even aware of until I began writing this article. But in my search for something new, I found it to be an interesting piece of indie horror, reminiscent of one of my personal favorite horror films of all time, You’re Next.
It’s effectively about a family that invites their neighbors to spend Christmas eve with them, though an unexplainable event at the visiting couple’s home causes dinner to spiral into a nightmare even the Sawyers from Texas Chainsaw Massacre couldn’t cook up. Its effects are amateurish, but that doesn’t hamstring the rest of the film, which is horrifying in some of its moments.
Dead End (2003)
A film I had put off for a good long while, it was fellow Horror Press ghoul and or goblin Brendan Jesus who pushed me to actually watch Dead End (check out his very good review of it here!). Twin Peaks veteran Ray Wise stars in this one, as the head of a very dysfunctional family traveling on Christmas Eve and enduring one of the most uncomfortable car rides known to mankind.
If that isn’t stressful enough, their journey becomes an unending drive where the road never seems to close out, and tensions only seem to rise higher and higher as they fail to make progress. Also, there’s a spooky ghost hearse there! Predictability in its plot and ending aside, it’s still a pretty great film for the sheer atmosphere it generates and Wise’s killer performance. You’d do well slotting this one into your rotation when the wind chill hits, and things start getting dark early.