The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

Film details

View on IMDb ↗
DirectorHenry Selick
Year1993
CountryUSA
GenreMusical
TypeMovie
Runtime76m
CastDanny Elfman, Chris Sarandon, Catherine O'Hara, William Hickey, Glenn Shadix, Paul Reubens, Ken Page, Edward Ivory, Susan McBride, Debi Durst

Review

"Only the deliciously demented imagination of Edward Scissorhands director Tim Burton could have come up with such a dark vision of the holiday season. Producing here, Burton called on the services of innovative animation director Henry Selick and composer Danny Elfman for this wonderfully weird fable. Packed with scary spooks, gags and dazzling décor, it enchants with every busy frame as spindly Jack Skellington, the mastermind behind Halloween, hijacks Christmas out of boredom, becoming a frightening Santa delivering nasty surprises instead of presents to terrified children. The film's affectionate trashing of Christmas traditions is conceptually cunning and clever enough to please every generation, making it an unmissable treat that's destined to become as great a yuletide favourite as The Wizard of Oz." - Alan Jones, Radio Times

Ranking history

The 1,000 Greatest Horror Films

EDITIONS IN TOP 1,00011
HIGHEST#2692026
LOWEST#7232024
Top 1,000Outside Top 1,000Missing ranking data

Dashed lines indicate missing ranking data. Select a point to view that year's published list. The 1,000 Greatest Horror Films list was not updated in 2022.

Lists featuring this film 77 lists

100 Years of Terror's DarkForest's 13 Weihnachts-Horrorfilme, die ihr gesehen haben solltet [Christmas horror movies you should have seen]2018Ranked#1
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Collegiate's Best scary movies to watch on Halloween2019Unranked—
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Collider's Haleigh Foutch and Chase Hutchinson's The 10 Best Christmas Horror Movies for Yuletide Terror2023Unranked—
Confessions of a Pop Culture Addict's House of 100 Horrors2010Unranked—
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Creepy Catalog's Holly Riordan's Horror Musicals - A List of Gothic Dark Musicals2020Unranked—
Daily Dead's Patrick Bromley's Kid-Friendly Fright Flicks for the Halloween Season2015Unranked—
Den of Geek's Vanessa Thompsett's 11 horror films it's safe to watch with your kids2018Unranked—
Digital Spy's Stefania Sarrubba and Ian Sandwell's 11 best Christmas horror movies of all time2023Unranked—
Dreadit's Top 20 Christmas Films2020Ranked#3
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Elle's R. Eric Thomas and Amy Mackelden's The 80 Best Halloween Movies of All Time2023Unranked—
Empire's Top 400 Horrors Results2012Ranked#99
Endless Popcorn's 6 Best Animated Horror Movies2020Unranked—
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Esquire's Gabrielle Bruney and Emma Carey's 15 Best Scary Christmas Movies2020Unranked—
Fatherly's Ben Marx's 31 of the Scariest Kids Movies Ever Made2017Unranked—
Final Girl Shocktoberfest Poll2017Ranked#346
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GamesRadar+'s Gem Seddon & Louise Blain's The 30 best Christmas horror movies2022Ranked#21
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Good Housekeeping's Marisa LaScala's 40 Scary Christmas Horror Movies That Are Definitely on the Naughty List2023Unranked—
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Heavy's Lauren Weigle's Top 15 Best Halloween Movies to Watch2014Unranked—
Hollywood Reporters' Shawn Kotzen & Chris Godley's Family Frights - 18 Kid-Friendly Scary Films for Halloween2013Unranked—
Horror Freak News' Joshua Millican's 31 Christmas-Themed Horror Movies to Bloody Up Your Holiday Season!2016Unranked—
Horror Freak News' Matt Molgaard's 25 Horror Movies Your Kids Can Watch2016Unranked—
HorrorMovies.ca's MovieMaven's Ten Kid Friendly Horror Movies2015Unranked—
Horrornews.net's Adrian Halen's Top 20 Horror Christmas Movies2017Unranked—
Horrornews.net's Marisa Mirabal's Top 10 Animated Horror Films for the Holidays2018Unranked—
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Jarvis City's 25 Greatest Christmas Horror Movies2017Ranked#5
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Little Things' Angela Andaloro's 18 Scary Movies That Will Teach Children To Appreciate A Good Scare2020Unranked—
MAAC Animation Kolkata's 10 Scariest Animated Movies Capable Of Giving Goosebumps2019Unranked—
Macabre Daily's Rhiannon Irons' Top 13 Christmas Horror Movies2020Ranked#5
Men's Health's Lea Anderson and Josh Ocampo's The Most Terrifying Christmas Horror Movies Ever Made2020Unranked—
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MomJunction's Rohit Garoo's 35 Best Scary Movies For Kids And Teens2019Unranked—
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Paste's Jim Vorel's A Century of Terror - The 100 Best Horror Movies of the Last 100 Years - Honorable mentions2019Unranked—
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Rank & File Top 250 HorrorThrillers of All Time2025Ranked#13
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Rotten Tomatoes' Rafael Motamayor's The 10 Scariest Animated Children's Movies2020Unranked—
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Steve Hoban's 5 Favorite Holiday Horror Films2015Unranked—
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