As fall turns to winter, it is time to turn our attention to the great horror films that have successfully incorporated the chill of the season. While weather is a seemingly unimportant aspect of a film, these movies manage to take advantage of how cold, desolate, and frightening the winter can be… especially in a horror film.

10. Silent Night Deadly Night (1984):

Directed by Charles E. Sellier, Jr., this Christmas-themed horror movie created such controversy that Tri-Star Pictures pulled it from theaters days after it was released. Thankfully for all of us horror fans, it would eventually be re-released. It tells the story of a young boy who was institutionalized after witnessing the brutal murder of his parents by a man in a Santa outfit. In a serious lapse of judgment, he is released as an adult… at Christmastime. Donning a Santa outfit, he decides to let his freak flag fly and exact revenge on anyone and everyone during the most joyous time of year. The movie offended the PTA and a number of other religious organizations, resulting in the picketing and letter writing that eventually got the movie pulled from theaters. Of course, all that negative attention only served to make it even more popular… forever giving it cult status among horror fans.

9. 30 Days of Night (2007):

Horror fans either love or hate this vampire movie set in Barrow, Alaska. Directed by David Slade, the film capitalizes on the lore that says sunlight kills vampires. Since Barrow, Alaska, is about to experience a 30-day “polar night,” it becomes a target for a clan of vampires, who descend with a vengeance. Isolated and unable to signal for help, the townspeople of Barrow must fight for their lives… for the next 30 days. Plus, with all the snow in this movie, it will definitely put you in the mood for the holidays!

8. Dead Snow (2009):

Tommy Wirkola directed this Nazi zombie flick about a group of students that have to battle the undead in the mountains of Norway. Based on Scandinavian folklore that says the dead will rise to protect their treasures, the undead in this film are Nazis who are out to protect items that were never theirs to begin with. This film became a hit with many horror fans and seems to show that whatever is going on in Scandinavian countries, it seems like they have a knack for making great horror.

MORE Frostbitten Flicks on the NEXT page!