The plot focuses on a wealthy father on his deathbed who invites his four daughters home for Christmas and tells them he suspects his second wife of poisoning him.

Shortly after, the girls learn that their stepmother was accused of killing her first husband, and they begin to fall prey to a killer dressed in a yellow rain slicker.

After bidding all goodbye, she approaches the car and suddenly becomes victim to a mysterious figure in a yellow rain slicker, wielding a pitchfork.

Suffering from childhood persecution fantasies resulting in resentment of her siblings, Alex handily set up stepmother Elizabeth as a patsy.

[1] A psychological interpretation of Home for the Holidays' storyline can be found in David Deal's critique, from his book Television Fright Films of the 1970s.

He notes that the four Morgan daughters in the film all have masculine first-names, implying that "the father had always wanted sons and was therefore unforgiving of his progeny, [causing] the break in family ties.

The author goes on to assail John Llewelyn Moxey's direction as being strictly pedestrian, with "very little visual flair or suspense, where a touch of either would have gone a long way."

Ticking off the body count and describing how each victim is murdered, Thompson finally observes that "[if] you...really care whodunit, simply pick the shiftiest pair of eyes on the premises.

wrote, "Unfolding like a film adaptation of an Agatha Christie play, Home For the Holidays often feels stagebound and hemmed up; if not for beating the “Christmas horrors” out of the gate, I suspect it may be even more obscure than it already is, despite all of the talent involved.

As it stands, it's a movie you'll probably hear about this time every year when horror fans begin to discuss the holiday-tinged offerings, and this is one of the last courses you'll ever need to digest.