Christmas Horror Movies

I thought I would take the next 2 weeks to explore some Christmas horror movies I've seen, as well as discover some I've yet to torture myself with.

Christmas horror is an odd thing. It's oddly intriguing to me, and yet it is so often terribly, terribly bad. Even when it's bad though, there's a certain kitsch about most Christmas themed horror films that you're bound to get at least some excitement out of them. So, let's do it up here with some trailers.

JACK FROST (1998)

This movie is not that good. It's essentially about a guy on death row who escapes, becomes mutated and somehow fused with snow, and therefore a snowman. The science is a little shaky (as if you needed me to tell you that). It's clearly a film played for laughs, and frankly it's pretty hit or miss. Every horror fan should see this though if only for the oft-mentioned scene where clearly struggling actress Shannon Elizabeth gets raped by a snowman. How does that happen you ask? Well let's just say it involves a strategically placed nose carrot.

There are two other reasons why this film is worthy of a mention. 1) It created a lot of confusion with people who were looking for the cheesy Michael Keaton film of the same name. Can you picture a parent renting this to watch with their kids and being faced with the scene above? 2) The guy who wrote/directed this has quite the interesting filmography. Two of his other credits are "Jack Frost 2", and the thriller from 2003, "Identity". Yup, you read that right... he write "Identity" with John Cusack.

JACK FROST 2 (2000)

Next up we have the sequel, "Jack Frost 2: Revenge of the Killer Mutant Snowman". I have no logical reason for what I'm about to say, but I liked the sequel a lot better than the original. In this one, the sheriff from the first film decides to take a tropical vacation on Christmas, figuring he'd be as far away from Snowmen as possible. Through some more shaky science, Jack is able to travel to the island via the ocean, and reform into a snowman despite being in a tropical locale.

The comedy is a bit tighter, action a little better, and it even includes these adorable little evil snowballs. So hey, what can I say, I'm a sucker for this one. Enter at your own risk.

(even more hilarity due to the fact that the only trailer on Youtube is in German, go figure)

More gems like this to follow in the next 2 weeks, so stay tuned! And be sure to post your impressions of either of these films in the comments.