A Christmas Horror Story

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Steven Hoban directs. Gavin Smith behind the camera. Alex Khaskin scores. Brett Sullivan cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Canada. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Released 11 years ago.
• 2Directed by Steven Hoban, shot by Gavin Smith. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 3Original score by Alex Khaskin. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 4Editor Brett Sullivan shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 5William Shatner and George Buza and Rob Archer carry the top of the cast.
• 6Marketing tagline: "You Better Watch Out".
• 7IMDB entry: tt3688406 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography

Gavin Smith

Original score

Alex Khaskin

Editing

Brett Sullivan

Production design

Tim Bider

Costume design

Brenda Broer

Makeup / hair

Catherine Viot

VFX supervisor

Darren Cranford

Sound

Joe Morrow

Stunt coordinator

Paul Rapovski

Runtime

99 min · 1h 39m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

NR

IMDB

A Christmas Horror Story (2015) ↗

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

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Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Official Trailer

  Trailer · Official

Community reviews

What people are saying

• furious_iz2018-12-20
  ★ 2/10

  Wow, I did not enjoy that at all. Disjointed, not scary or funny, just a huge mess. One of the worst horror movies I have seen in a long time. I love anthology horrors, usually one or two of the stories don't work as well as the others, but for me, none of the stories in this were even in the least bit compelling. This is the worst film I have seen all year... 2/10

  Read full review ↓
• Sierbahnn2026-05-09
  ★ 5/10

  Four movies in a mash, only one good This is four movies mashed together into one "narrative" and I am using that term quite loosely. One has Bill all alone on screen, doing Bill-things, and he does a decent job. One has a kid, and is the only really interesting bit. One has some kids hiding in a basement, and it is a drag. One has Santa killing zombies, which is schlock. There is surely a good movie in here, but the mishmash becomes boring, and while executed well this simply does not rise to the level where I could recommend it.

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Copperheart Entertainment

  CA

Key crew

• StuntsStephannie Hawkins
• Costume DesignBrenda Broer
• EditorBrett Sullivan
• EditorD. Gillian Truster
• Line ProducerManny Danelon
• Executive ProducerDavid Hayter
• ProducerMark Smith
• CastingJason Knight
• Production DesignTim Bider
• Art DirectionStephanie Collins
• CastingJohn Buchan
• ProducerSteven Hoban
• Creature DesignAmro Attia
• Assistant Costume DesignerEmily McHugh
• GafferJonathan Brown
• Visual Effects SupervisorDarren Cranford
• First Assistant CameraRobert Tagliaferri
• Supervising Sound EditorEd Douglas
• Steadicam OperatorMichael Heathcote
• AnimationStephan Perreault
• Music EditorKevin Banks
• Assistant Art DirectorAlison Hickey
• Script SupervisorDonna Gardon
• Visual Effects EditorKyle Cribar

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• santa claus
• christmas
• horror anthology
• krampus
• weird tales

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical2015-10-02NR

Also known as

International titles

• A Christmas Horror StoryDE
• Страшная рождественская историяRU