10 Best Christmas Horror Movies

Black Christmas is often forgotten in the conversation of classic slasher movies, perhaps because it didn't spawn a long line of sequels like Halloween or A Nightmare on Elm Street did (apart from its 2006 and 2019 remakes of course). It was released the same year as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and before any of the big slashers like Halloween, Friday the 13th or A Nightmare on Elm Street came out and is therefore noted for being an early prototype for the modern slasher movie.

In terms of quality, it ranks up there with the very best slasher films as it provides a genuinely compelling and suspenseful take on the subgenre. Its premise is a fairly standard one for these kinds of movies: a sorority house full of college students receive threatening phone calls and are subsequently picked off one by one.

The film delivers some expert shocks and scares and features some very solid performances, particularly that of Margot Kidder and Olivia Hussey.

Although it received very mixed reviews upon release, it has been retroactively praised for being one of the more original early slasher movies.