It’s that time of the year again when you’ll have an endless stream of Christmas and Holiday Movies to choose from. Holiday classics like A Christmas Story (1983) and Elf (2003) will be playing nonstop on TV and you’ll be in endless debate with family members if Die Hard (1988) is an actual Christmas film.
Christmas films have been a staple of American cinema since the 1940’s with It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) and Miracle on 34th Street (1947). Over the years other Christmas classics emerged with Scrooge (1970), Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987), Scrooged (1988), National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989), Home Alone (1990), The Santa Clause (1994) and Jingle All The Way (1996).
The two most recent decades have seen an increase in Christmas and Holiday Films which has favored quantity over quality. However, there have still been some great Christmas and Holiday films to emerge during this period including How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), Love Actually (2003), Bad Santa (2003), Four Christmases (2008), Office Christmas Party (2016), The Christmas Chronicles (2018), The Princess Switch (2018) and Holidate (2020).
This same period from 2000 – 2021 also saw two other trends emerge – the adult-themed, horror holiday film and the Lifetime Network and Hallmark Channel romantic holiday fare. The horror holiday trend first started in the 1970’s with Black Christmas (1974) which then spawned two inferior remakes – Black Christmas (2006) and Black Christmas (2019). Other memorable Christmas or holiday-themed horror films included Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984), Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010), A Christmas Horror Story (2015), Krampus (2015) and Anna and the Apocalypse (2018).
As for the Lifetime Network and Hallmark Channel’s ever-increasing number of releases over the last 10 years, they are typically Romantic Dramas or Romantic Comedies set during Christmas and sometimes crossover into the Contemporary and Urban Fantasy subgenre. Due to the pure volume of these films released over the last decade, it will require an entire separate list we will create soon. However, a few standouts you can checkout this holiday season include A Royal Christmas (2014), Crown for Christmas (2015) and The Christmas Train (2017). In establishing an oft-repeated ‘holiday romance’ film trope, these films have also spawned a hilarious parody film called A Clüsterfünke Christmas (2021).
Our entire list of Christmas and Holiday Films includes over 150+ films and includes every variation of these holiday films from family films to romantic comedies to horror films. Our list doesn’t include animated Christmas and Holiday films at this time though we will be adding that list in the near future.
For those of you looking for some lesser-known holiday film gems, you can view our list of Top Christmas and Holiday Movies You Haven’t Seen below:
#10
Nativity!
Plot: A primary school teacher lies about Hollywood coming to watch his school’s Nativity play.
KBZ’s Take: A British version of School of Rock (2003) set during Christmas. Funny and charming family holiday film especially if your youngsters loved the aforementioned Jack Black comedy.
Plot: A jaded man and bad father relives Christmas day over and over again.
KBZ’s Take: Christmas Do-Over is basically a mashup between Groundhog Day and Scrooged. However, there are enough unique situations and laughs that kids will enjoy the film – they also don’t want Christmas day ever to end. If you enjoy this film or want to see a similarly themed Christmas time loop film, you can also check out Christmas Every Day (1996).
Plot: 5 kids get snowed in at an airport during Christmas Eve.
KBZ’s Take: If Home Alone featured 5 kids instead of 1 and they were trapped in an airport, Unaccompanied Minors is what you would have. Adults might find the humor too childish, but as a family film, most kids under the age of 12 will enjoy.
#7
Fatman
Plot: A 12 year old who is upset with his holiday gift, hires a hitman to kill Santa (Mel Gibson).
KBZ’s Take: Not for the kids, this dark action comedy shows Santa as not a jolly old man, but a force to be reckoned with while fighting for his life.
#6
The Ref
Plot: A burglar gets more than he bargained for when robbing the home of a dysfunctional family.
KBZ’s Take: A black comedy showing how far a burglar will go pretending to be someone he’s not.
Plot: A historical biopic covering Charles Dicken’s inspiration behind The Christmas Carol.
KBZ’s Take: A wonderful family film about the origins of Christmas, but younger children might find it too slow.
Plot: A successful and single investment broker, wakes up to find himself in an alternate life where he married his college sweetheart and now has kids.
KBZ’s Take: Not only a great holiday film, but a great film about family life and the ‘what if’ question that both single people and most married people with kids will ask themselves at some point. Though ultimately a romantic comedy, there’s enough holiday-themed mysticism (ala Scrooged (1988)) that the entire family will enjoy.
Plot: A babysitter has to defend a 12-year old boy from home invaders.
KBZ’s Take: This horror comedy is definitely not for the kids…but if you’re looking for an inventive holiday themed horror movie (with a surprising twist), then this is for you.
#2
Just Friends
Plot: A now successful recording industry exec returns to his small town home for Christmas.
KBZ’s Take: A very funny Christmas tale with outstanding performances by Ryan Reynolds and Anna Faris. Has some mature themes (and sophomoric screwball humor) that might be too much for younger children under 10, but a great holiday family film otherwise.
Plot: During the 1980’s, a 10-year old and his friends attempt to get a new Nintendo game system from Christmas.
KBZ’s Take: This film is the new A Christmas Story (1983) and will likely play in heavy rotation for future holiday seasons. Admittedly, this film ranks #1 due to recency bias and age, decade and location nostalgia of KBZ members. It also features many of the same themes of the older film – Nintendo instead of a BB Gun, a school bully, etc. However, where it becomes it’s own holiday classic is with the film’s underlying message about an unexpected gift that can generate true happiness. The father and son dynamic is another subtle theme of the movie that features both comedic and heartwarming scenes from the father played by Steve Zhan. Definite must see and classic Christmas film.
