Jay's Top 5 Christmas chillers

'Tis the season to be jolly... and more than a little bit spooky. Sure, there's lots of Christmas cheer to be found in movies like National Lampoons Christmas Vacation and It's A Wonderful Life, but there's also plenty of dark and horrific tales to haunt the Yuletide season.

Below are my Top 5 favourite horror movies set during the holiday season. So, in no particular order...

Silent Night

Steven C. Miller updates the notorious slasher flick Silent Night, Deadly Night with this fun, and violent, slasher film. We've got a great, over-the-top performance by Malcolm McDowell, and an effectively subtle one by Jaime King. Lots of good kills and boobs. Everything a growing boy needs

Black Christmas (1974)

Yes it was remade in 2006, and we're getting yet one more reboot next week, but none can surpass the low-key chills of Bob Clark's classic. This predated Halloween by four years, and arguably set the bar for every slasher movie to come. Crude and shocking in its day, Black Christmas is still effective 45 years later.

Better Watch Out

A recent seasonal effort, Better Watch Out offers an effective twist on the home-invasion thriller. I'm not going to say anything more than that. It almost runs out of steam a little too soon, but solid performances by Olivia DeJonge and Levi Miller, and a wicked sense of humour, carry the flick.

Gremlins

A lot of people forget this is not only a Christmas movie, but it's technically a horror movie too. It's one of the best gateway horror movies money can buy, and a great blend of laughs, spooks and gore. And Phoebe Cates is still a classic movie babe.

Krampus

Michael Dougherty does for Christmas what he did for Halloween with this one. Although not as good as Trick r Treat, it's still a fun mix of horror and humour, and brings the legendary bad Santa to life in an effective B-movie way. Another solid, gateway horror movie.

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