There are two popular seasons the horror genre tends to utilize to unleash all sorts of mayhem on. Halloween (Halloween, Trick ‘r Treat) and Christmas (Black Christmas, Krampus) tend to be the big winners. Masked killers and supernatural monsters seem to love those holidays. As limited as Easter-themed horror is, it does exist. Take that sigh of relief. Brace yourself for mutated rabbits, boiling chocolate, and blood so obviously fake and bright, it could be one of the colors of the jellybeans in a candy basket.
But that isn’t to say the following movies are of the highest quality. It is very much "shock" and "schlock" for a reason. Easter certainly brings out the most wild and bizarre story ideas. There's a perverse take on religion verging on being sacrilegious. A science experiment gone wrong turns one doc into a mutated rabbit-like vigilante. Coloring Easter eggs pose a major threat too, especially when there’s no yolk inside but a very hungry alien fur ball. If Halloween and Christmas take their claim for fame, Easter might just be the black sheep in the holiday horror family.
Holidays (2016)
This anthology touches upon all the special days on the calendar. St. Patrick's Day and Mother’s Day get their spot but the creepiest might just go to the Easter segment. It introduces a fear that isn’t so far-fetched. If the Bible says Jesus returned to life, isn’t there something unnerving to that ancient tale of the undead? One little girl (Ava Acres) finds out the hard way.
Director Nicolas McCarthy got to adapt his short film into a feature, The Pact, so he has the horror chops. There’s definitely inspiration from Hellraiser and all the “glorious wonders” of its hellish realm. The monstrous hybrid that shows up is something pulled right from nightmares, with a strong satisfaction in having a wound along his ribs touched. It’s uncomfortable and doesn’t overstay its welcome. If you ever wondered what you get when you blend together an Easter bunny and Jesus Christ, you would get this. From what follows on this list, maybe Easter horror should rise up to this level.
Resurrection (1999)
Chicago becomes the city of a series of unholy killings. Two detectives (Christopher Lambert, Leland Orser) are put on the case, finding victims who are being targeted to reconstruct the body of Christ. Strangers, friends, and loved ones are not safe with this “pious” killer on the loose. With the days counting down to Easter Sunday, the detectives race around the clock before the endgame is met.
Essentially, this is Se7en if it took place during the lead up to Easter. In Resurrection, it rains constantly. The color correction is so made to fit its gritty, sleazy tone, but maybe a little too forced. It can’t compare to the bleach bypass process used on Se7en. The viciousness of the killer is on full display, with his victims alive and suffering during their deaths. The ending goes extreme but not as dark as it should be. It even has actor Leland Orser, an unlucky victim in David Fincher’s bleak crime thriller, who ends up not faring any better as one of the leading cops.
Critters 2: The Main Course (1988)
A victim in a bunny costume is attacked. Bounty hunters arrive to help or add to the chaos, maybe both? For this little town of Grover’s Bend, it looks like the kind of place its residents have fallen into traditions, where nothing new ever happens. That’s all about to change this holiday season. Directed by Mick Garris, there's also horror veteran Lin Shaye among the cast, who picks up an ax for defense instead of her trusty lantern to enter The Further.
Do you have to see the first one to understand this one? Not necessarily. The mythology isn't complicated . By far the best Easter-themed visual in this one are the Critter eggs mistaken as Easter eggs. They’re gathered to be used for the upcoming egg hunt. Some kids really take their time to carefully color in the patterns on the alien shells. The fur balls with red eyes and shark-like rows of teeth are not to be messed with. They are always hungry, whether for human flesh or cheeseburgers. And when the Critter ball forms, the townsfolk better start running away. That is, unless they wish to be so cleanly devoured, only their skeleton is left behind. Critters 2 is a B-movie, and it indulges in that all the way.
Night of the Lepus (1972)
An overpopulation of rabbits creates a big problem for a ranch town. One solution to end this crisis, not so surprisingly, causes a lot more trouble. Soon, the rabbits have mutated to enormous sizes, and they don’t want to eat carrots. They want to bite into human flesh. Upon release, this movie was panned for its lack of scares. It has since gained cult status for this criticism and rightfully so. But before the movie’s “monsters” are mentioned, there is a Hollywood star in the cast who isn’t headlined enough.
It’s none other than early Scream Queen, Janet Leigh, a few years before her daughter Jamie Lee Curtis would inherit the crimson crown. Leigh’s reliable enough, even if she is stuck playing a worried wife and mother. In what appears to be archival footage of a real overpopulation of rabbits, there’s also an authentic urgency to this story. The initial crisis isn’t so far-fetched. But really, what audiences want to see are the mutated beasts. Compared to other scary rabbits (looking at you Twilight Zone: The Movie), Night of the Lepus isn’t nearly creative enough. Close-ups on the sharp chompers they have in their mouths is scary. Wide shots of regular-size fluffy bunnies stampeding across miniature sets, not so much. That's this movie's charm.
Easter Bunny Massacre (2021)
This is a more recent Easter horror entry, and it doesn’t really rift on what came before. Wearing one creepy, mange-looking bunny mask, a killer brings together a group of friends with the plans to seek revenge on them. Revenge for what? In keeping true to its slasher roots, these friends have a secret from the past. All have kept good on their promise to stay hush on it, or so it seems.
Easter Bunny Massacre could have gone under some additional post-production tune-ups. The score is overpowering, though not in building intensity. Sometimes, the dialogue can’t even be heard. Which is kind of important when the main mystery matters quite a bit. Slow burns can be awesome in buildup, but when Massacre is part of the title, one should rightfully assume there’s plenty of it. That isn’t quite the case, at least not right off the bat. What happens in the opening and how it forces all the friends into making their silent pact, however, is pretty clever. Grab a snack to watch this one, but as boiling chocolate is used to blind a victim, maybe the packaged Hershey bunnies can wait.
Rottentail (2019)
Adapted from a graphic novel, Dr. Peter Cotton (Corin Nemec) is bitten during a science experiment gone wrong. His hand transforms and then his whole body painfully shifts into his new identity of Rottentail. This man-rabbit hybrid has lightning speed and is frequently spitting out one-liners. As for his childhood bullies, Rottentail sets plans for revenge. He doesn’t want apologies, he wants bloodshed.
Stylized neon lighting coats the sets, giving off reminders of Joel Schumacher’s Batman installments. Is it a laboratory Dr. Cotton works at, or a nightclub? The story is as zany as the production value. The past and Cotton’s backstory is broadcasted through a projector. The town he grew up in and where he plans to start leaving his path of carnage, is Easter Falls. The main bully (William McNamara) heads a ministry enterprise, fit with a Jesus-centric jingle for TV commercials. When Rottentail crushes a victim’s head in, he lets out, “That’s a lot of blood for an airhead!” Even the movie’s tagline doesn't hold back from letting everyone know the schlocky value: Hippity. Hoppity. Homicide!
Beaster Day: Here Comes Peter Cottonhell (2014)
A bloodthirsty, giant Easter bunny arrives in a town full of victims that don’t run away fast enough. With a mayor unwilling to act, a hopeful actress and an unhinged dogcatcher are left as the town’s only hope. When the credits finally roll, is it so bad, it’s good? At least it doesn’t wait on the monster reveal.
The Beaster Bunny is so obviously a puppet digitally placed into the scenes. The deaths it causes sort of just happen. In one scene, the monster bears down upon a victim, and the next, the victim is already dead. That is if the Beaster Bunny isn’t ripping off a victim’s clothes for gratuitous nudity, although it still can’t outdo My Bloody Valentine 3D (if you know the scene, you know it). For all the hell it unleashes, the Beaster Bunny has a weakness a little too easy to come by. Then again, this is the same movie where the town has a mental health facility promoting a discounted lobotomy and where the mayor (John P. Fedele) steals a kid's lollipop, only to be nice enough and return the empty stick.