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When it comes to holiday horror movies, Christmas-themed horror movies often come to mind. Christmas is a perfect holiday for a horror movie because the joy of Christmas is a great contrast to the dread of horror. Gremlins, Krampus, and Black Christmas are three popular Christmas horror movies, to name a few.
But if you are in the mood for a different holiday-themed film full of scares— there are noteworthy horror movies about other holidays, and here are a few of them.
Halloween (1978)
The first and obvious choice on the list is Halloween, the most popular horror movie on this list. Halloween is the film that launched the 80s slasher genre. There are differences in opinions around what was the first slasher movie. Some people credit Halloween as the first slasher movie. Others give credit to Psycho and Peeping Tom.
Still, others feel that Bob Clark’s Black Christmas should be credited. And then others believe that the Italian Giallo films should be credited as the first slasher films. Whether Halloween was the first, third, or tenth slasher movie is up for debate, but there is no denying that Halloween, the most successful independent film for decades, was the movie that launched the 80s slasher film movement.
Halloween can be streamed on Amazon Prime and Sling TV with a subscription or rented on YouTube, Google Play, Apple TV, or Vudu
Mother's Day (1980)
Mother's Day had a goofy poster and title when it was originally released, but it is probably the most hardcore movie on the list. It is known as one of the video nasty style horror movies that film critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert and others despised because of the gruesome violence. Mother’s Day is about a demented mother who lives in a shack in the woods.
Her sons torture and kill women campers for their mother’s amusement. When the movie was originally released, Roger Ebert was confused why anyone would want to watch a movie like this, but movies like Mother’s Day would increase in popularity over the decade of the 80s.
Mother's Day can be rented on the following: YouTube, Google Play, Apple TV, Vudu, and Amazon Prime
April Fools' Day (1986)
Technically, April Fool's Day isn't considered a holiday, but it is a tradition celebrated worldwide. April Fool's Day received a lot of hate when the movie was originally released, especially the ending. But over time became a cult classic, and it is a great slasher that has both Deborah Foreman and Amy Steel! A slasher horror nerd's fantasy dream team.
April Fools' Day is a lot like any other typical 80s slasher movie. The movie starts with a group of college students spending their spring break on an isolated island. Slasher movies usually have a prankster character, but there are more pranks than usual, even for a slasher film—since it is April Fools' Day. But then the pranks turn into deaths when a mysterious killer begins killing off the students.
April Fools' Day can be streamed on Hulu, Prime Sling TV, fuboTV, and Showtime with a subscription. It can be rented on YouTube, Google Play, Apple TV, and Vudu
My Bloody Valentine (1981)
My Bloody Valentine was a great slasher film but didn't catch on in popularity like Friday the 13th or Halloween. It was remade in 2009. The remake was more popular than the original movie. The plot? Years ago, a gas explosion caused a mining accident that killed five miners because the crew's foreman left early to go to Valentine's party. One minor survived the blast but survived by eating his dead coworkers. It drove him insane. He was locked up in an institution, and he escaped and tracked down the foreman and killed him.
He then warned the town never to celebrate Valentine's Day again, or he will kill again. The town, of course, celebrates Valentine's Day again years later. A killer wearing minor gear starts killing off people in the town in creative ways.
New Year's Evil (1981)
New Year's Evil is about a misogynist killer who kills a woman on New Year's Eve in every time zone. Talk about a party pooper!
The plot revolves around a radio host who receives a series of phone calls while having a New Year's party bash from a killer who warns that he will kill a different woman in every time zone when the clock strikes midnight.
New Year's Evil can be streamed with a subscription to the following: Epix Now, Sling TV, Amazon Prime, Paramount, and Philo
Into The Dark: Pilgrim (2019)
The insanity of Into the Dark: Pilgrim is that it is loosely based on a true story. It is the Thanksgiving horror movie you have been waiting for.
A woman invites a group of pilgrim performers into her home to reenact the original Thanksgiving. She wants to teach her family to appreciate each other. The only problem is that the re-enactors refused to break character, and a reenactment of the original Thanksgiving isn't all turkey and gravy.
Into the Dark: Pilgrim can be streamed with a Hulu subscription