(Credit: René Ramos; Edward R. Pressman Productions, HBO, L.M. Productions)
A bearded man makes his way into your house when everybody is asleep. No door can bar him; no chimney is so narrow that he can't pass through. Thankfully, Santa Claus typically brings you presents, but what if Kris Kringle had ill intentions in mind?
In the just-released movie Violent Night (which is in theaters but isn't available to stream yet), David Harbour plays a Santa with some seriously violent chops who battles a gang of mercenaries to protect a family. But some of the jolly fat men in films and TV aren’t actually so jolly—in fact, they’re downright evil. Here are ten malevolent Santas who are naughtier than you could ever be.
Christmas Evil
The 80s were a prime decade for slashers, especially ones with holiday gimmicks. Christmas Evil starts out with a childhood trauma: One Christmas Eve, young Harry sees his mother being groped by his dad dressed up as Santa. Thirty years later, Harry has developed a major complex and believes that he himself is jolly ol’ Saint Nick. He spends the evening bringing toys to good little children and murdering his co-workers at the toy factory. It’s a charmingly deranged little movie that looks way better than its low budget implies, and Brandon Maggart is great as our slasher Santa.
Stream it on: fuboTV, AMC+ Amazon Channel, Shudder, Night Flight Plus, Shudder Amazon Channel, FlixFling; free with ads on The Roku Channel, Vudu Free, Tubi TV, and Darkmatter TV.
Tales From the Crypt
The second episode of HBO’s adaptation of the legendary horror-comic series has a festive feel. In “And All Through the House,” a woman named Elizabeth stabs her husband through the head with a fireplace poker on Christmas Eve. As she’s disposing of the body, their daughter wakes up and asks if Santa’s here. He’s not, but an escaped maniac dressed like him is lurking outside. Cue a series of wacky and gory misunderstandings that peaks with the girl letting the maniac into the house to finish the job, as Elizabeth screams us out to the credits.
Stream it on: YouTube.
Deadly Games
This bizarre little French film is a home invasion story with a twist. A young boy named Thomas lives isolated in a castle with his family. He uses the Internet to try to contact Santa, but he accidentally winds up chatting with a mentally ill vagrant who gets his address. The homeless man acquires a Santa suit and pays a visit, slaughtering the household staff and stabbing the boy’s dog in front of him. This sets off a cat-and-mouse chase that has Thomas using booby-traps to prevent the mad Santa from killing him and his grandfather. This one is legitimately scary, which isn’t something you can say about every Santa story.
Stream it on: Amazon Prime Video or free with ads on Tubi TV.
Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale
Getting into the mythology of Santa Claus is a fun game, and this Finnish film does it in a totally wild way. A mining team is drilling into a hill in Lapland rumored to be the resting place of a mysterious creature. A bedraggled old man appears in the village and starts attacking naughty children, the miners all disappear into a mysterious pit that appeared at their dig site, and things escalate from there. We won’t spoil the big twist of this one, because more people really should see it; if you want a take on evil Santa that’s bigger and weirder than almost anything else, check out Rare Exports.
Stream it on: Hulu, Hoopla, or free with ads on Tubi TV, Popcornflix, and Pluto TV.
The Silent Partner
This late-70s obscurity isn’t a horror movie, but it offers a Santa portrayal so menacing that it deserves a spot on this list. The Silent Partner follows bank teller Miles Cullen, who figures out that his bank is being cased for a robbery by a psychopath dressed up as Santa. When the naughty Claus finally robs the joint, Miles puts one over on him and his employers—he’d been stashing deposits in a metal lunchbox, so the crook gets away with only a small amount from the till. Unfortunately, the bad Kringle catches onto the deception and sets out to make our devious hero’s life miserable with some truly gratuitous violence.
Rent it on: Apple iTunes, Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Microsoft Store, DirecTV online.
Santa’s Slay
One of the most gleefully absurd killer-Santa movies stars pro wrestler Bill Goldberg, who makes his entrance down the chimney of a bickering Canadian family to slaughter them brutally with eggnog, turkey, and the Christmas-tree star. He then embarks on a campaign of violence against the people of Hell Township, with the only holdouts being a young man whose grandfather has built a Claus-proof bunker in his basement in preparation for this very night. It’s a wild one, and Goldberg plays evil Kris Kringle very well.
Stream it on: DirecTV.
Recommended by Our Editors
Sint
The legend of Santa Claus has its roots in Sinterklaas, the mythical figure who rides a white horse through the Netherlands on December 6th. This Dutch horror-comedy mines this legend for some gory fun. In 1492, a gang led by a disgraced bishop named Niklas is killed by the villagers they robbed, and year after year since then, they rise from the grave whenever there’s a full moon on December 6th. Cut to 2010, when Niklas and his crew is tormenting Amsterdam: Only a college student and an elderly researcher can put this menacing spirit to rest before he ruins Christmas again.
Stream it on: AMC+ Amazon Channel, AMC+ Roku Premium Channel, or DirecTV.
Futurama—The Best of Robot Santa
In the year 2999, many of society’s jobs have been assigned to robots—even jolly Saint Nick’s. The Robot Santa Claus was built by the Mom’s Friendly Robot Company to evaluate the relative goodness of children and dispense presents or punishments accordingly. Unfortunately, its moral compass was calibrated too sensitively, and virtually nobody ends up on the nice list. And being on the naughty list means that he whips out his axe, chops your head off in one swift blow, and crams your neck stump full of toys. Futurama
Stream it on: The Futurama Guy Clips YouTube channel.
Silent Night, Deadly Night
Santa encounters can be a little traumatic for young kids, but the events that kick off 1984 horror classic Silent Night, Deadly Night are way outside the norm. Young Billy Chapman watched a maniac dressed as Santa Claus murder his parents. After growing up in an orphanage, he gets a job as a stock boy at a toy store. Unfortunately, the holiday Christmas party goes off the rails, and Billy is made to wear a Santa suit, which knocks his already fragile brain off-kilter. He starts murdering his co-workers and embarks on a multi-day rampage that ends up at the orphanage, where he’s shot in front of his little brother—who becomes a killer Santa in the sequel.
Rent it on: Apple iTunes, Amazon Video, Vudu, or Microsoft Store.
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