On The 24th Day Of Christmas... Tales From The Crypt

(1972)
Director: Freddie Francis
Writers: Johnny Craig, Al Feldstein, William M. Gaines, Milton Subotsky

When five strangers become lost whilst touring an historical crypt, they find themselves trapped in the presence of "The Cryptkeeper". This menacing figure holds them all captive with lurid tales of how they may have already met their doom.

Produced by Amicus, the spiritual successor of Hammer studios, Tales From The Crypt weaves together several stories based on classic E.C. comics into an anthology film. And quite a good one at that. While not necessarily a Christmas film, I'm including it because of the first tale, entitled "...And All Through The House". In this story (which was also adapted as the classic second episode of the HBO series) a wife murders her husband on Christmas Eve for the insurance money. While attempting to clean up the evidence, she hears a news report of an escaped homicidal mental patient in the area that may be dressed in a Santa suit. When a strange man in a Santa outfit approaches her house, she's about to call the police when she realizes that she can't do so without exposing her own crime. The whole movie is pretty great, but that segment is especially fun to view during the holidays and would be worth adding Tales From The Crypt to your Christmastime viewing. Especially late at night on Christmas Eve. Tales From The Crypt gets a classy 4 1/2 out of 6 beers.