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‘Tis the season to watch holiday-themed horror, so we here at Arrow in the Head have decided to compile a list of the Best Christmas Horror Movies! All of the films below are, at the very least, set around Christmastime, and some of them take the connection to the holidays further than that. Here are the top 12 horror movies that we recommend checking out over the next week:

I Come In Peace (1990)

It’s easy to forget that I Come in Peace (a.k.a. Dark Angel) is set around the Christmas holiday, because Christmas is mostly just represented by some set decorations – and you’re distracted from those decorations by all the awesome stuff going on around them. Dolph Lundgren stars as Jack Caine, a Houston detective who doesn’t play by the rules. He’s stuck working with stuffy, suit-wearing FBI agent Larry Smith (Brian Benben), and these...

This article contains some spoilers

Late on Christmas Eve, a precocious young boy dashes away from the strange man who has entered his home. His mother miles away, the boy must stop the invader himself, deploying an arsenal of traps and gadgets. But just when he thinks he has a chance to escape, the invader suddenly returns. The camera swirls chaotically around the invader as he batters the boy’s hiding spot with a sledgehammer while discordant metal music squeals on the soundtrack.

No, I’m not describing a deleted scene from Home Alone. This is a scene from that movie’s predecessor, 3615 code Père Noël aka Deadly Games aka Dial Code Santa Claus. Released in France in 1989, just one year before Home Alone hit American theaters, Deadly Games has a strikingly similar premise to the Macaulay Culkin hit. Alain Lalanne stars as Thomas, a single mother’s son whose...

Tommy Wirkola‘s Violent Night is taking the holiday movie season by storm (and force). As you already know, David Harbour plays an action-hero version of Santa Claus who eliminates mercenaries during a hostage crisis on Christmas Eve. Commercials are everywhere, selling what’s now dubbed “Die Hard meets Home Alone.” That’s very much correct as a description of Violent Night, but it’s stated like the concept is brand-spankin’ new — which is not true. Horror fans already know there’s a title on Shudder called Deadly Games that beat Violent Night to that logline punch, which deserves just as much attention as the hard-hitting Harbour headliner.

If Violent Night became your new Christmas tradition, I implore you to check out Deadly Games. Both are wicked riffs on Home Alone that would complement wonderfully if watched as a double bill. Violent Night gives audiences Santa as a machismo action...

Every family has their stable of Christmas movies that have to be watched during the month of December. New additions like "Spirited" starring Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell attempt to find a way into that annual rotation by updating "A Christmas Carol" and other holiday mainstays, which is a mild form of cheating as far as I'm concerned. Tried and true classics like "White Christmas" and "It's a Wonderful Life" may seem a little outdated, so take no shame in updating the Christmas movie list with "Love Actually" and "Die Hard", or even scarier entries like "Rare Exports" and "Krampus."

The big question for the new holiday action comedy "Violent Night" is whether or not an R-rated, butt-kicking Santa Claus (David Harbour) will end up being worthy of a re-watch each year. In any case, director Tommy Wirkola hopes that his version of a Christmas classic can deliver some crowd-pleasing...

Here's something to add to your Christmas wish list… Dial Code Santa Claus (1989) Director: René Manzor Stars: Alain Lalanne, Louis Ducreux, Brigitte Fossey When a psychopathic Santa Claus invades his house and kills his dog on Christmas Eve, a young boy dressed like Rambo must defend his home and his family at all costs. Dial Code Santa Claus (aka 3615 Code PÈRE…...

A year before Kevin Mcallister defended himself against the wet bandits in Home Alone, French writer/director René Manzor released a little known film called 36.15 code Père Noël. The film is about a young boy left alone over Christmas who dresses up like Rambo and protects himself form a home invasion form an evil Santa.

The film has been recently restored and the Alamo Drafthouse is running it for a limited time as "Dial Code Santa Claus".

Synopsis:

Thomas, a very intelligent and resourceful child, is left alone with his beloved and fragile granddad on Christmas Eve, when a psychopath dressed as Santa Claus breaks into their mansion and starts chasing them.

Thomas will do whatever he can to save himself and his granddad.

Check...

Originally released in the late ’80s and early ’90s, the French thriller Dial Code Santa Claus pits a resourceful boy against a murderous man dressed as Santa, who comes lurking down the chimney in the boy's mansion one fateful Christmas Eve. Recently rediscovered as a cult Christmas horror film, Dial Code Santa Claus was given its first official Us premiere at Fantastic Fest earlier this year, and now it's coming to theaters in select cities in the Us and Canada.

From the Press Release: "Dial Code Santa Claus is a newly rediscovered holiday cult classic from France, previously available only via VHS bootlegs. The film actually pre-dated Home Alone, annihilating a generation of French kids weaned on action-packed Christmastime gems such as Gremlins and Die Hard. It disturbed critics and the moviegoing public with its uncompromising look beneath the surface of the beloved holiday. From there, the film went on to worldwide distribution…...

Fantastic Fest unveiled their second wave of programming today which will include the continuing bloody knife-happy adventures of Michael Myers via David Goron Green’s Halloween starring the original scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis — who will be in attendance alongside producers Malek Akkad, Jason Blum and Bill Block. And for all you Halloween purists out there, don’t worry, this installment is canon.

The fest, which kicks off on Sept. 20 and continues through Sept. 27, will also include the U.S. premiere of Jeremy Saulnier’s new psychological thriller Hold the Dark starring Jeffrey Wright, Alexander Skarsgård and Riley Keough. Gaspar Noe’s trippy fever dream of dance movie Climax will also make it’s U.S. premiere.

Fantastic Fest will continue its championing of genre titles including the World Premiere of haunting shocker The Boat, an insidious tale of man vs sea vessel; Girls With Balls, where a female French...