{"id":13386,"date":"2023-12-17T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-17T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.moviemaker.com\/anti-christmas-movies\/"},"modified":"2023-12-17T10:58:43","modified_gmt":"2023-12-17T18:58:43","slug":"anti-christmas-movies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.moviemaker.com\/anti-christmas-movies\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Unconventional Christmas Movies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here are 10 anti-Christmas movies perfect for releasing your inner Scrooge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Black Christmas<\/i> (1974)<\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Margot Kidder in one of the original anti-Christmas movies, Black Christmas<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Black Christmas<\/i> is widely recognized as the granddaddy of slasher movies, a sub genre that would become wildly popular four years later with the release of John Carpenter<\/a>\u2019s iconic Halloween<\/i>. Many of the stylistic touches utilized by Carpenter originated here, such as long tracking shots from the killer\u2019s point of view. The movie revolves around a sorority house that starts receiving disturbing phone calls from a deranged killer during Christmas break. By the time the girls realize the calls are coming from inside the house, the body count has already started to rise. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The eclectic cast includes Olivia Hussey, Margot Kidder, Keir Dullea and John Saxon. With its eerie renditions of perennial Christmas songs like \u201cSilent Night,\u201d its solemn winter atmosphere and chilling, ambiguous ending, Black Christmas<\/i> is perfect to watch on a cold, quiet December night. (Ironically, Clark would return to the holiday nearly 10 years later to direct the universally loved classic A Christmas Story<\/i>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Gremlins<\/i> (1984)<\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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This unconventional Christmas movie for kids (and adults) deals with the pesky, mischievous monsters of the title, which wreak havoc on a small town during Christmas season (although, oddly enough, the movie was originally released in June). While the movie provides a cavalcade of creatures to entertain the kids, especially the adorable Gizmo (voiced by Howie Mandel before his current game show gig), Dante\u2019s anarchic humor gives the movie an offbeat, unpredictable edge (it was one of the films that inspired the MPAA to create the PG-13 rating, although it received a tame PG). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Especially noteworthy is the sequence in which the gremlins are hatched in the young hero\u2019s house, while his blissfully unaware mother bakes Christmas cookies and hums along to the easy-listening version of \u201cDo You Hear What I Hear?\u201d by Johnny Mathis. Like Tales From The Crypt<\/i>, the syrupy music is a perfect counterpoint to the horrific events going on upstairs. Also noteworthy is Phoebe Cates\u2019 weirdly funny monologue about a horrific Christmas experience\u2014her father dressing up as Santa and dying after getting stuck in the family\u2019s chimney\u2014that forever ruined the holiday for her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Scrooged<\/i> (1988)<\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Bill Murray and Karen Allen in Scrooged<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although dismissed by many critics during its initial theatrical run, this darkly funny, contemporary take on the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol<\/i> has developed something of a cult following over the years. and is an obvious addition to our anti-Christmas movies list. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bill Murray stars as Ebenezer, er, Frank Cross, a cold-blooded and selfish TV network president who despises the Christmas season and is visited, as in the classic novel, by three ghosts who aim to change his ways. Despite its upbeat ending, the tone of Scrooged<\/i> is refreshingly more mean-spirited and irreverent than the previous adaptations of Dickens\u2019 classic tale. The result is a memorably quirky, original spin that breathes new life into the iconic story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

National Lampoon\u2019s Christmas Vacation<\/i> (1989)<\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Chevy Chase (center) plays Clark Griswold in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third outing in the Griswold family saga finds the accident-prone clan getting ready for a big family Christmas, which of course, quickly turns into one disaster after another. Leading the way is the patriarch of the family, na\u00efve yet lovable buffoon Clark (Chevy Chase), who\u2019s determined to make the Griswold Christmas the best it can be, even as the chaos and destruction unfold. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the reasons Christmas Vacation<\/i> has remained a perennial favorite is because it doesn\u2019t sugarcoat things\u2014such as having to deal with an army of annoying relatives\u2014the way most other \u201cheartwarming\u201d holiday movies do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n


Home Alone<\/i> (1990)<\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Macauley Culkin as Kevin is all tied up in Home Alone<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This blockbuster Christmas movie hit centers around Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) a resourceful, quick-witted eight-year-old whose family flies to France for Christmas. Unbeknownst to them, they accidentally leave Kevin behind and before long two dim-witted burglars (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern) turn up to rob their house. A battle of wits ensues as the cunning kid sets up elaborate traps for the bumbling burglars. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neither Columbus (screenwriter of Gremlins<\/i>) nor writer John Hughes (who also penned Christmas Vacation<\/i>) are strangers to offbeat Christmas hits and Home Alone<\/i> was no exception, though it lacks the wit and creativity of their previous holiday-themed efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Nightmare Before Christmas<\/i> (1993)<\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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This Tim Burton-produced, stop-motion animated movie works equally well as both a Halloween and Christmas classic. Jack Skellington, the king of Halloweentown, is getting tired of scaring people. When he unwittingly stumbles upon Christmastown, Jack becomes determined to take over the holiday from Santa, even though his macabre mindset doesn\u2019t quite mesh with the cheery concept of Christmas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With its off-the-wall songs composed by Danny Elfman and unique, hand-crafted characters, The Nightmare Before Christmas<\/i> is a wonderfully odd movie that somehow blends together two distinctive and extremely different holidays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Ref<\/i> (1994)<\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Kevin Spacey in The Ref<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before Kevin Spacey<\/a> took on his Oscar-winning turn as Lester Burnham in American Beauty<\/i>, he played another frustrated suburbanite tired of his dull life in The Ref<\/i>, helmed by the late Ted Demme. Spacey and Judy Davis play a couple on the verge of a rancorous divorce who are held hostage on Christmas Eve by a desperate thief (Denis Leary). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, Leary has captured two of the most annoying, constantly bickering people alive. As their extended family arrives, Leary pretends to be the couple\u2019s shrink, and it soon becomes clear the dysfunctional clan has far greater emotional problems than the career criminal. With its hilariously profane dialogue, increasingly awkward situations and memorable ranting and raving, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ref<\/i> is the perfect holiday movie for those whose family Christmas isn\u2019t complete without at least one extended shouting match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Bad Santa<\/i> (2003)<\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Billy Bob Thornton in Bad Santa<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Going from one profane Christmas movie to another, Bad Santa<\/i> is about a foul-mouthed conman named Willie (Billy Bob Thornton) who pulls off a yearly scam in which he and his partner (Tony Cox) pose as Santa and his Little Helper to rob department stores on Christmas Eve. Things go awry when the misanthropic yet lonely Willie befriends a troubled kid and a suspicious security boss (the late Bernie Mac) discovers his plot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Directed by Terry Zwigoff, an idiosyncratic moviemaker with a special love for outsiders (Crumb, Ghost World<\/i>), Bad Santa<\/i> is perhaps the most subversive, offensive Christmas movie ever made\u2014with Thornton as a truly despicable character who, for once, does not receive a total personality transplant by the movie\u2019s end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s one of our favorite grumpy Christmas movies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Ice Harvest<\/i> (2005)<\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Billy Bob Thornton and John Cusack in The Ice Harvest<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the rare Christmas movies to mix black comedy and noir, this one also stars Billy Bob Thornton<\/a>. Here, he plays the devious partner of Charlie (John Cusack), a shady lawyer who stages a Christmas Eve robbery, stealing $2 million from the local mob. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The partners-in-crime have to get out of town, but complicating matters is the seductive strip-club owner (Connie Nielsen) Charlie wants to run away with and his troublesome, alcoholic best friend (a scene-stealing Oliver Platt). The body count begins to rise as Charlie\u2019s Christmas Eve gets progressively worse. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite its lack of commercial success, The Ice Harvest<\/i>,<\/a> a refreshing change-of-pace for director Ramis (best known for broader comedies like Caddyshack<\/i> and Analyze This<\/i>), is a must-see for fans of wintry crime tales like Fargo<\/i> and for those in the mood to see one of the worst Christmas Eves in the history of cinema. (It doesn’t hurt that the script was written by Pulitzer Prize-winner Richard Russo.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Tales from the Crypt<\/i> (1972)<\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Joan Collins in Tales from the Crypt<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first and best segment of this British anthology of five horror tales, based on classic EC Comics stories, is an ideal way to start off your anti-Christmas movies marathon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll Through The House\u201d is a wicked little black comedy set on Christmas Eve and starring Joan Collins. In the tale, Collins, who has just murdered her wealthy husband, must ward off an insane asylum escapee as he attempts to break into her house dressed as Santa Claus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The constant, cheery Christmas songs playing on a radio in the background are a perfect contrast to the murder and mayhem in the segment. With its tense atmosphere and clever ending, \u201cAll Through The House\u201d is a darkly satisfying twist on the tradition of Santa entering people\u2019s houses and delivering presents on Christmas Eve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Tangerine (2016)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Tangerine<\/em>, Sean Baker\u2019s 2015 film about transgender sex workers struggling through the holidays, topped Rotten Tomatoes\u2019 recent list of Modern Christmas Classics.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI love this,\u201d said Baker,\u00a0Tangerine<\/em>\u2018s writer-director, in response. \u201cI remember setting out on this adventure with my co-writer Chris Bergoch (who was the one who suggested the Christmas backdrop) and it was Chris\u2019s hope that audiences would not only see\u00a0Tangerine<\/em>\u00a0as a Christmas film but return to it year after year\u00a0because of that. So we are just really tickled pink about this news.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

By the Way<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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This is where our main image is from \u2014 an updated image of sweet Gizmo for the holiday re-release of Gremlins in time for Christmas 1984.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Liked These Unconventional Christmas Movies?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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We love old-fashioned Christmas movies, too \u2014 like It’s a Wonderful Life<\/em>, on our list of 12 Old Movies That Are Still a Total Pleasure to Watch.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Main image: Tales From the Crypt<\/em>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Here are 10 anti-Christmas movies perfect for releasing your inner Scrooge.","protected":false},"author":850,"featured_media":1165336,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"disable_comments":false,"tpd_featured_posts_arr":"","hide_featured_img_single_post":false,"msn_featured_video":[],"_msn_custom_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[93,91],"tags":[7672,7675,6610,7673,7671,7674],"feeds":[],"class_list":["post-13386","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-distribution","category-articles-moviemaking","tag-black-christmas","tag-christmas-movies","tag-gremlins","tag-home-alone","tag-tales-from-the-crypt","tag-the-nightmare-before-christmas"],"primary_category":{"term_id":93,"name":"Articles - Distribution","slug":"articles-distribution","taxonomy":"category","url":"https:\/\/www.moviemaker.com\/category\/archives\/moviemaking\/distribution\/articles-distribution\/"},"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.moviemaker.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/width=428,height=208,fit=crop,quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/Joan-Collins-1.jpg","fimg_url_thumb":"https:\/\/www.moviemaker.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/width=428,height=208,fit=crop,quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/Joan-Collins-1.jpg","featured_img_medium":"https:\/\/www.moviemaker.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/width=788,height=444,fit=crop,quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/Joan-Collins-1.jpg","author_name":"MM Writers","author_avatar":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/68d39fcaea3102e0089148511686456f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","author_link":"https:\/\/www.moviemaker.com\/author\/mm-writers\/","post_categories":["Articles - Distribution"],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"10 Unconventional Christmas Movies","url":"http:\/\/www.moviemaker.com\/anti-christmas-movies\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.moviemaker.com\/anti-christmas-movies\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.moviemaker.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/width=428,height=208,fit=crop,quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/Joan-Collins-1.jpg","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.moviemaker.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/width=1076,height=524,fit=crop,quality=80,format=auto,onerror=redirect,metadata=none\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/Joan-Collins-1.jpg"},"articleSection":"Articles - Distribution","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"MM Writers"}],"creator":["MM Writers"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"MovieMaker Magazine","logo":"https:\/\/www.moviemaker.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/mm_site_logo-2.svg"},"keywords":["black christmas","christmas movies","gremlins","home alone","tales from the crypt","the nightmare before christmas"],"dateCreated":"2023-12-17T19:00:00Z","datePublished":"2023-12-17T19:00:00Z","dateModified":"2023-12-17T19:00:00Z"},"rendered":"