Robert Eggers’ Nosferatu, an update of the silent vampire classic, is a Christmas film. Even the prestige-cult director thinks so.

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For years, the Christmas horror genre has helped film fans spread their terror. Think 1984’s “Silent Night, Deadly Night” and 1980’s “Christmas Evil.” Even “Gremlins,” a major 1984 studio release from Steven Spielberg, bristles with matinee-show chaos.

These films have become part of holiday film culture – and now Nosferatu could be joining them as another not-so-festive flick.

The Christmas horror spirit lives on in “The Last Drive-In” on the streaming service Shudder, hosted by trash cinema expert Joe Bob Briggs. For six years now, the series has released a Christmas special accompanied by a charity auction that gives fans a chance to bid on items ranging from props to Cracker Barrel meals with Joe Bob.

The Last Drive-In approach to the holiday isn’t exactly highbrow, but Manjourides says it’s all about fun and community.

And when it comes to Christmas horror, there’s not much daylight between the grit and grease of the Joe Bob Briggs world and Eggers’ ecstatic gothic glories. Both Manjourides and the “Nosferatu” director cited the 1974 proto-slasher “Black Christmas” as a prime example of this category.

The wintry setting also made sense for the plot of “Nosferatu.” “The vampire comes at Christmas time and that kind of ups the emotional stakes,” Eggers said.

As the vampire plague spreads, the actual holiday pictures are rarely shown. But given Eggers’ attention to detail, even that required special craftsmanship for the film set in the 1830s.

Lathrop’s team found a company outside Prague, where much of the movie was shot, that still possessed 200-year-old molds to make little glass ornaments for the tabletop tree. They also learned that the people of that time filled the decorations with wax.