4 Christmas Evil Elf Movies Ranked
Santa’s Little Monsters
Evil elf movies are a small niche in the annals of Christmas horror movies. It’s far more common to see Krampus or a psycho in a Santa suit as the antagonist.
Elves have been the villains in a small assortment of Yuletide fear flicks. When most people think of live action Christmas elf movies, they’re undoubtedly thinking of this guy:
Most of my lists are a mix of obscure and well-known movies. In this case, all of them have flown under the radar. Are any worth watching? Here are four evil elf movies ranked.
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4. The Elf (2016)
Nick (Gabriel Miller) , who is still traumatized by a murder he witnessed as a kid, and his girlfriend, Victoria (Natassia Halabi), are terrorized by a toy elf that comes to life and goes on a killing spree. The elf attacks a bunch of people who arrive at Nick’s house for a Christmas party. There’s a bunch of convoluted mumbo jumbo about a family curse.
There’s no sugarcoating it – The Elf is a bad movie. Really, really, REALLY bad. This is a painfully amateurish effort with laughable special effects, unconvincing performances, poor editing (some of the characters’ lip movements don’t match their dialogue), and a soundtrack that consists of the same generic background music playing in an endless loop the entire movie.
This film deserves coal in its stocking. It’s not even worth watching for free on Tubi. Avoid at all costs.
Somehow this movie spawned a sequel, Elves (2018). Honestly, The Elf was so difficult to get through that I couldn’t stomach watching the second. One of these movies is more than enough, believe me.
This is the worst out of all the Christmas horror movies I’ve seen. Yes, even worse than the killer snowman flick Jack Frost.
Streaming options (if you dare):
3. Killer Christmas Elves (2021)
A toy elf is brought to life by a witch’s curse and embarks on a crazed rampage. It eventually targets a divorced father and his estranged teenage son. Meanwhile, other evil toy elves show up and embark on a Gremlins-like rampage.
Like The Elf, Killer Christmas Elves is an extremely low budget effort with astoundingly awful special effects. Thankfully, this one isn’t as difficult to get through as its predecessor on this list. It has slightly more competent acting and writing.
The movie includes basic social commentary about minor Christmas-related controversies (like saying happy holidays vs. merry Christmas) and lots of references to famous horror flicks like The Shining and Psycho. It doesn’t do anything particularly clever with this material, but at least it’s not as bland as The Elf.
The weirdest thing about this movie is how unfazed the characters are by a bunch of toy elves coming to life and trying to kill them. They act like it’s just a normal everyday thing. I guess this is supposed to be satirical.
People who enjoy the Puppetmaster and Demonic Toys movies could get a kick out of this. Everyone else should steer clear.
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2. A Christmas Horror Story (2015)
All right, we finally get to a movie that features live elves instead of toys! A Christmas Horror Story is an anthology featuring several connected segments, the most memorable of which features evil elves.
Up at the North Pole, Santa Claus (George Buza) battles zombie elves while prepping for his yearly Christmas rounds. Claus is determined to put down these traitors by any means necessary! If you’ve ever wanted to see Santa butcher a bunch of his elves, here’s your chance!
This movie is like a Christmas stocking that has too many gifts jammed inside it. It’s a little overbooked, but it’s a masterpiece compared to its two predecessors on this list.
William Shatner, in one of his most random roles, plays a radio DJ who repeatedly warns his listeners about an incident at the local mall – a storyline that leads to a major twist at the end.
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1. There’s Something in the Barn (2023)
Bill (Martin Starr) moves his family from the United States to Norway. They take up residence in his family’s old farm. The teen daughter, Nora (Zoe Winther-Hansen), is bitter about leaving her friends behind in America. She has a strained relationship with her stepmother, Carol (Amrita Acharia).
The locals warn them that an elf is living inside their barn. Like Gizmo in Gremlins, there are certain rules for dealing with this particular elf. He doesn’t like loud noises, bright lights, or modern technology. And he sure as hell won’t appreciate it if they host a Christmas party!
Only the young son, Lucas (Townes Bunner), takes the rules seriously. The elf, played by Kiran Shah, quickly gets pissed off and becomes violent.
Forget the elf – the most unbelievable aspect of this movie is that Bill, a goofy middle aged dude, is married to a stunner who appears to be only a few years older than his daughter. Carol is one hot stepmomma!
There’s Something in the Barn is filled with social commentary about the cultural differences between the United States and Scandinavia, especially in regard to gun regulations. This is amusing, but it gets a little heavy handed by the end.
There are lots of fun plot twists that I won’t spoil. The acting and production values are far superior to the other movies I’ve covered here, putting There’s Something in the Barn at the top of my evil elf movies list.
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Are Any of These Killer Elf Movies Actually Good?
None of these movies will be remembered as classics, but I enjoyed the top two. There’s Something in the Barn was frankly way better than I expected. A Christmas Horror Story, which has been covered before on this blog, is fun and imaginative.
Will there ever be a great evil elf movie? None of these films are scary, which probably won’t come as a surprise to anyone. Honestly, it would be virtually impossible to take a concept as silly as an evil Christmas elf and make it frightening. It’s a great idea for campy horror flicks though!
