One of the great modern traditions of the Christmas season is watching classic holiday movies. For many families, it's an annual tradition to turn on Elf, It's A Wonderful Life, The Family Stone or some variation of A Christmas Carol to get in the holiday spirit.

The concept of the holiday movie began back in 1898 with G.A. Smith’s pioneering silent film Santa Claus. The first of its kind to show the depiction of Santa that only runs just shy over a minute. Since then Hollywood has belted out an array of films that have either been true to the genre

Now through December 31st, Regal Cinemas has a rotating schedule of Christmas classic movies for you to watch on the big screen in theaters.

These movies are wonderful, but it was definitely a gamble releasing them during Christmas week. They aren't typical holiday fare.

Black Christmas,' 'Deep Red' and some holiday horror movie recommendations shared by PEOPLE's Bailey Richards, a writer/reporter who suggests swapping classic Christmas movies for scary films set during the holidays.