Another Christmas has now passed, and a new year is right around the corner. It’s been a long year, and a lot of great movies were released, but there haven’t been many that were able to latch on to the holiday spirit. That doesn’t just go for Christmas, either. Of all the holidays in the year, there hasn’t been much that has been able to properly get moviegoers in the mood for their favorite days. But when all else fails, one can always return to the classics.
Horror was hugein the 70sthrough the 90s, and the genre practically exploded following the release ofHalloween. The film effectively redefined the horror genre and gave studios the formula for box office success for many years to come. Granted, not all the films released were as stellar. Many of these films followed similar themes. They either made maniacal maniacs out of folklore figures or injected terror into the most popular holidays of the year. This list focuses on the latter. Here are ten classic horror movies for each holiday.
9New Year’s Evil — New Year
Kicking off the list is an early-80s slasher that sees a string of killings perpetrated around the country to kick in the new year.New Year’s Evilfollows TV host Diane Sullivan, who, while hosting the new year’s countdown, receives an ominous phone call live on-air announcing that a “Naughty Girl” will die in each timezone when the New Year begins. Diane is told that she will be the last to die. And just like clockwork, bodies start dropping around the country, proving that the voice may not just belong to a drunkard. But who is it? A deranged fan, a religious psychopath, or someone Diane knows personally?
Related:Every Major Slasher Franchise About a Guy in a Mask, Ranked
8Friday the 13th — Friday the 13th
While not exactly a holiday, it’s still a day everyone looks forward to now more than ever with anew requel serieson the way.Friday the 13thfollows a group of camp counselors working to repair Camp Crystal Lake after it’s been closed for years to get it ready for campers. Its past is full of tragic occurrences and deaths, all stemming back to the murder of one boy in particular. The counselors think the trouble is in the past. Unfortunately, the bloodshed soon begins worse than ever on a night when the weather is anything but pleasant. The sins of the past have no statute of limitations, and debts are never paid in full, not whenever Friday the 13th rolls around.
7My Bloody Valentine — Valentine’s Day
My Bloody Valentineis a perfect example of why warnings should be heeded, especially when coming from psychopaths with pickaxes. The town of Valentine Bluffs holds an annual Valentine’s Day dance every year on the holiday of its namesake. The festivities end one fateful year when the supervisor of the Nanniger Mine abandons his post to attend the dance, resulting in a gas explosion and multiple deaths. In retaliation, the sole survivor, Harry Warden, kills the supervisors and warns the town never to hold the dance again. And they do so, but only for 20 years. Soon enough, Harry returns to start savagely killing youths. Some warnings need to be taken more seriously, but is it really Harry doing the killings this time around?
6Leprechaun — Saint Patrick’s Day
This famous film about a particular prankster sees the debut of one of Hollywood’sbiggest stars: Jennifer Aniston. She didn’t exactly like her time filming it, though. Dan O’Grady returned from a trip abroad with a bag of gold, hoping to turn his and his wife’s fortunes around. However, the gold’s owner came with it. Dan manages to trap the devious Leprechaun in a crate, but he’s soon after bedridden for years. In comes the Redding family who rent the O’Grady house for the summer. They think it’ll be a simple summer in the hills, but soon, the evil of the Leprechaun is set loose, and he still wants his gold.Leprechaunis one of the cult classics that define a film as being so bad that it’s good. It’s by no means good, but it is a lot of fun.
5April Fools' Day — April Fools' Day
Most fans will either love or hateApril Fool’s Day. It all depends on their sense of humor. Eight college friends gather on the island mansion of heiress Muffy St. John to celebrate the end of their last year at school together. Each of the party-goers has a dark secret, one they would never want to get out. When exactly this starts to happen, bodies soon start turning up as well. Only Muffy knows what’s really going on, but is she really the one behind everything? Is anyone really dead at this joyous event gone wrong? Is there real danger surrounding the group, or is it all for one last laugh?
4The Wicker Man — Summer Solstice
The Wicker Manis a horrifying summertime classic that has yet to be properly duplicated for the modern age. If nothing else, it’s a stark warning that one’s cultural traditions should always be respected. When a young girl goes missing on a Scottish island, Sergeant Neil Howie is dispatched to find her dead or alive. He’s a devout Christian and very set in his ways, so when he sees the people of the isle are practicing pagans, he soon starts clashing with them ideologically. The location is famous for its apple plantations, but their methods of bringing about their crops to harvest are unorthodox. If she’s still alive, the young girl may be in far more danger than the Sergeant ever could have imagined, and she’s not the only one.
3Uncle Sam — 4th of July
Uncle Samsees patriotism taken to deadly extremes, with just a small amount of necromancy. Sam Smith was a soldier fighting in Operation Desert Storm with many of the country’s finest. The enemy feared him for his brutality, but his own comrades feared him more, which is why they killed him in what was deemed an “accident.” Sam’s body is sent home to his family, but his soul isn’t resting easily. Sam soon rises from his casket, and has only one goal on his mind, kill all those who fail to show proper respect for their country. Acts such as desecrating the flag, speaking ill of the fallen, and disloyalty will not be tolerated. Sam was a monster in life, but in death, he’s become something far worse.
2Halloween — Halloween
There was no other film that could have taken this slot but John Carpenter’sHalloween. For anyone caught in thecontroversy ofHalloween Ends, fear not. Nothing could ever tarnish this classic. As a boy, Michael Myers ended his Halloween by brutally stabbing his sister to death with a kitchen knife. Almost two decades later, he breaks free of the transport bus delivering him from Smiths Grove Sanitarium to return to his hometown of Haddonfield, Illinois. His psychiatrist, Doctor Lumis, has never been able to fully understand his mindset of Michael in all the years he worked with him. However, he’ll soon discover the madness behind the blackest eyes firsthand when Michael sets his sights on Lori Strode, a babysitter stuck with two kids on the scariest day of the year. The Boogeyman has always been a specter of the darkest kind to children. On this night, he will be the same to everyone else as well.
Related:Halloween: How Michael Myers' Mask Has Evolved Over the Years
1Black Christmas — Christmas
Here’s a holiday classic that inspired Halloween, yet it doesn’t get the credit it deserves. Often duplicated but never replicated, no director has ever been able to match the tension of the originalBlack Christmas. For a group of sorority girls, Christmas break is right around the corner, but the festivities are soon interrupted by a series of alarming phone calls from an unknown man. They attempt to brush them off at first, but things start to get weird when one of their classmates goes missing. The cops don’t take the calls seriously either, but they do when a missing 13-year-old girl turns up dead. To find the caller, the police wire-tap the phones, but will they be able to save everyone in time?
