11 Great Winter Horror Movies

Is it just me or does anyone else find cold as it is already unpleasant? Seriously, being cold or freezing sucks, and I would rather be sweating my butt off, than shivering to death. The eleven films I selected below, all take place in a wintery and snowy setting and are my personal favorites for this time of year. If I missed any of your favorites, chances are I haven’t seen them yet but I am open to any suggestions since I love discovering new horror flicks to watch.
So grab a blanket or two, turn the heat up– since these types of movies tend to make a cold house feel even colder, and start watching some of these great chillers (no pun intended).

The Thing (1982)
Synopsis:“An American scientific expedition to the frozen wastes of the Antarctic is interrupted by a group of seemingly mad Norwegians pursuing and shooting a dog. The helicopter pursuing the dog explodes, eventually leaving no explanation for the chase. During the night, the dog mutates and attacks other dogs in the cage and members of the team that investigate. The team soon realizes that an alien life-form with the ability to take over other bodies is on the loose and they don’t know who may already have been taken over.”

Why you should watch it: Quite possibly one of my favorite horror movies of all time, The Thing is a great winter-time watch. The Thing is set in a very cold, secluded and eerie research facility that gives you the chills just thinking about it. The special effects in this one are stellar and very impressive for it’s time. This film not only should be a required watch for winter time, but it should be required for any horror fan in general.

The Children (2008)
Synopsis: “Elaine and Jonah and their teenage daughter and young son and daughter, come to spend New Year with her sister Chloe and husband Robbie and their two young children at their isolated country home. One by one the children, after apparently being sick, become increasingly malevolent.”

Why you should watch it: The Children really is a hidden gem and really knows how to get under your skin. Taking place around Christmas time, this film takes a family-friendly holiday and turns it into something much more gruesome. I remember after watching it, I was left with a very disturbed and uneasy feeling.

Let the Right One In (2008)
Synopsis: “Oskar, a bullied 12-year old, dreams of revenge. He falls in love with Eli, a peculiar girl. She can’t stand the sun or food and to come into a room she needs to be invited. Eli gives Oskar the strength to hit back but when he realizes that Eli needs to drink other people’s blood to live he’s faced with a choice. How much can love forgive? Set in the Stockholm suburb of Blackeberg in 1982.”

Why you should watch it: Let the Right One In is an amazing Swedish horror flick. It’s a definite slow-burner but it works quite well for the story. The ending is something that gives the film a spine-tingling twist that will satisfy any horror fan. The American remake Let Me In is not too shabby either.

Black Christmas (1974)
Synopsis: “It’s time for Christmas break, and the sorority sisters make plans for the holiday, but the strange anonymous phone calls are beginning to put them on edge. When Clare disappears, they contact the police, who don’t express much concern. Meanwhile Jess is planning to get an abortion, but boyfriend Peter is very much against it. The police finally begin to get concerned when a 13-year-old girl is found dead in the park. They set up a wiretap to the sorority house, but will they be in time to prevent a sorority girl attrition problem?”

Why you should watch it: Christmas horror flicks are always fun.. taking a holiday full of love, family and happiness and turning it into something much more sinister is a great recipe for any horror flick. Black Christmas is a very twisted film that will make anyone feel unsafe in your own home. I originally saw the film’s remake first and was very unsatisfied.. when I finally checked out the original, I must say, I was creeped the hell out.

30 Days of Night (2007)
Synopsis: “This is the story of an isolated Alaskan town that is plunged into darkness for a month each year when the sun sinks below the horizon. As the last rays of light fade, the town is attacked by a bloodthirsty gang of vampires bent on an uninterrupted orgy of destruction. Only the small town’s husband-and-wife Sheriff team stand between the survivors and certain destruction.”

Why you should watch it: Not only is this film amazing in HD, it’s an unique story set in a town that doesn’t see sunlight for thirty days with scary-ass looking vampires taking control. There are many on-edge intense moments featured in the film that make you want to hide under your blanket and never plan a trip to Alaska in your life. And, man, that ending… a heart-wrenching but heroic one.

Frozen (2010)
Synopsis: “At Mount Holliston, snowboarders Dan Walker, his girlfriend Parker O’Neil and his best friend Joe Lynch don’t have enough money to buy lift tickets. Parker bribes Jason, a lift-worker, with one hundred dollars. When the system is nearing closure, they force Jason to let them have one last pass. However, Jason needs to resolve a problem and his colleague misunderstands his instructions and stops the lift. The trio of skier and snowboarders gets stranded on the chairlift near the top of the mountain. When they see that the lights of the ski resort had been turned off, they need to make a choice: leave the chairlift or freeze to death.”

Why you should watch it: The quote on the poster is true, Frozen is packed very tightly with tension filled scenes that it will literally keep you glued to your seat. Not to mention, there are also plenty of gruesome scenes that will seemingly make you sick to your stomach.

The Shining (1980)
Synopsis: “Signing a contract, Jack Torrance, a normal writer and former teacher agrees to take care of a hotel which has a long, violent past that puts everyone in the hotel in a nervous situation. While Jack slowly gets more violent and angry of his life, his son, Danny, tries to use a special talent, the “Shining”, to inform the people outside about whatever that is going on in the hotel.”

Why you should see it: You guys had to know I was going to include this one right? Set in pretty much the creepiest secluded hotels ever, this is one winter horror flick that knows how to scare the crap out of anyone watching. And, the maze chase scene could easily go down as one of the scariest chase scenes of all time.

Wind Chill (2007)
Synopsis: “A couple of college students known only as the Girl and the Guy are traveling home to Delaware the day before Christmas Eve. They’re on a frozen road that the Guy is convinced is a scenic short-cut. In the middle of nowhere in below freezing conditions they are run off the road by a hit and runner. They soon realize they’re caught in a supernatural bubble where a crime from 1953 is doomed to repeat itself, year after year threatening new victims. The Guy attempts to walk back to the last petrol station but his wounds from the crash are worse than he let on.”

Why you should watch it: Wind Chill is a very character-driven horror flick that works wonders at messing with your mind. As if being stuck in a car in the middle of nowhere on the side of the road with horrifically low temperatures isn’t scary enough, being stuck in some sort of evil time-loop where creep creatures lurk makes things a million times worse.

Evil Things (2009)
Synopsis: “On January 9, 2009, five college students left New York City for a weekend in the country. 48 hours later, all five students have simply vanished without a trace. There were no leads and no evidence – until now.”

Why you should watch it: Evil Things is a film that never garnished much attention and generally stayed well under the radar. Lucky for me, I was able to watch it one evening on demand. It’s a very slow burner but has a lot of creepy, tension building moments to it. The ending had more than enough scares to it with a weird twist in the point of view.

Devil’s Pass (2013)
Synopsis: “The Dyatlov Pass follows a group of American students on a trek to investigate the true life mystery of nine Russian skiers who befell unexplained deaths while skiing in the Russian mountains in 1959. To this day, their deaths have been one of the most bizarre unsolved mysteries of the 20th century.”

Why you should watch it: Trust me, this movie takes forever to really get going, but oh man, it is worth it! The ending or last half hour or so of Devil’s Pass is truly terrifying. You couldn’t ask for a more better ending to a horror flick than this one. Check it out!

Storm of the Century (1999)
Synopsis: “A small village off the mainland is about to receive a huge winter storm. It won’t be just another storm for them. A strange visitor named Andre Linoge comes to the small village and gives the residents havoc. He knows everything about them, and when he tells the truth about one of them, that person denies it. The town constable, Mike Anderson, tries to keep everyone in check with the huge storm and Linoge. Linoge keeps telling the people, “Give me what I want and I will go away.'”

Why you should watch it: A Stephen King delight that is about a small village where the devil takes over by trying to take the children is a must-watch.  Colm Feore does an awesome job at playing a creepy villain that just hearing him speak gives you goosebumps.