Some say that every time a Christmas themed Halloween movie enters theaters an avid horror movie enjoyer falls to their knees. Okay, definitely an exaggeration.
In recent years there has been a stark uprise in the production of horror movies with holiday themes. And no, Halloween is not one of those holiday themes.
There are some honorable mentions that are not completely insufferable, such as Tim Burton’s classic “Nightmare Before Christmas,” (1993) and the more recent “Violent Night,” (2022) starring the “Stranger Things” actor David Harbour.
These movies always have the potential to be decently produced. Especially since the spirit of real horror movie enthusiasts doesn’t take a break for Christmas joy–but somehow these movies always come out as distasteful and extra.
For some reason, in this subgenre directors particularly feel the need to amp-up the gore level, corny one-liners and weak jumpscares. Due to this my least favorite movie pertaining to this subgenre was “Thanksgiving.”
“Thanksgiving” takes place around Thanksgiving, which is honestly refreshing since it appears that most film directors are more interested in butchering Christmas than anything else. As a prominent stand alone film in the degradation of turkey day, one could think that they were original enough to stand out from other movies in their genre… one would be incorrect.
There was nothing scary about “Thanksgiving” besides the overwhelming amount of gore. No, seriously. A crazy amount of gore.
That being said, there is almost always an unnecessary amount of bloodshed associated with these movies. For what they lack in good storytelling and a reasonable plot they seem to try to make up in what normally is associated with horror movies–blood.
Due to this, however; “Thanksgiving” loses its charm. It follows the well known theme: masked killer everyone knew from the beginning. Maybe they should have taken notes from the “Scream” franchise.
However with all this in mind, these movies continue to be produced because they perform decently well. “Thanksgiving” received an 85% on Rotten tomatoes, and a 6.5 out of 10 on movie rating site IMDb. One explanation for this could be that horror movie watchers will flock to the theaters for the prospect of a decently produced horror movie.
That poses another question: why are holidays the cash grab? One could easily produce a horror movie with a regular, non festive plot and hope to perform well. “Baghead” (2023) was released in theaters on Dec. 23 and received disappointing reviews: 31% on Rotten tomatoes and a 5.4 out of 10 rating on IMDb.
According to numerous reviews on the movie, it was well written and had a decent plot and plot twist. It reminded a lot of people of “Talk to Me (2022)” which performed exceptionally well when released on July 28 the year prior. The problem? It’s quite simple really: people love crossovers and Hollywood loves money.
Just as people cross-over Christmas into Thanksgiving, they love to see abnormal crossover types of movies being produced and they’ll flock to theaters every time. Directors see this as an opportunity to make some quick cash and they haven’t failed yet.
The double holiday movie curse even got to the well respected horror franchise “Terrifier 3” (2024). Terrifier has in previous years been genuinely terrifying and somehow director Damien Leone makes the overwhelming amount of gore remain true to horror-esque and not just poorly attempt to fill the “scary” quota. However as soon as the Christmas season was implemented into the movie it seems to have lost what makes it horror.
All in all, double holiday movies will likely forever have the potential to be great slasher films with the fun element of holiday cheer, but moviegoers will just have to wait for a director to come along that doesn’t seem to be just up for a cash grab.
