Killer Film’s Christmas Watch List

Holidays are here whether we like it or not. When it comes to film or TV, Christmas time can provide some great stories full of laughter, warmth and even terror. I think no matter what A Christmas Story, Nightmare Before Christmas, Miracle on 34^th Street, A Christmas Carol, It’s a Wonderful Life, and Santa Conquers the Martians (no just kidding!) should be watched religiously this time of year. But there are more, so here Killer Film’s Top Holiday Films to watch:

Jon:

5 – Black Christmas (1974): Oh, bah hum-bug if you think this is a horrible choice for a Christmas film. It’s about a dorm full of sorority girls getting ready for Christmas when a mentally-ill Billy comes to kill. Directed by Bob Clark (A Christmas Story), the film is every bit as good as Halloween (1978). A film this influential has to be applauded, as it gave birth to the iconic holiday-themed slasher films of the 1980s, but it has style. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

4 – Bad Santa (2003): How I longed for a Christmas film that captured how I truly felt this time of year! Enter Terry Zwigoff’s Bad Santa. Rude, mean, dark, and features all of the sweetness you expect from a holiday film wrapped up for us, the other group of Scrooges. I love this film. Billy Bob is hilarious and so is Brett Kelly, who plays the kid. I really can’t repeat some of the dialogue but I do outside of this website. Let’s not forget about Laura Graham!

3 – National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989): I don’t think enough people appreciate this film. To me, it represents all of my family, in that mid-west Americana B.S. Relatives are insane, Christmas is out of control, bosses suck and that damn one light won’t turn on. I see so much of my family here it’s too funny, but it’s a good holiday film, the kind they try to make now (the wacky relatives, nothing goes right on Christmas, blah blah blah) and fail. I still laugh thinking about it. 

2 -  Scrooged (1987): A spin on the whole Christmas Carol story done in the hilarious Bill Murray ‘80s style. Its fun seeing how they play with the elements of what made that story work and how Bill Murray reacts. It’s a minor classic, kind of forgotten. I love the Ghost of Christmas Future. I think Ill always remember when Ghost of Christmas Present flies up and kicks Bill in the nuts. Good holiday film.

1 – Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966): It might be a clichéd answer but who cares? It’s a bloody classic. I love Boris Karloff as the Grinch and if you really watch it, it has a little mean-spirited streak, which is great. It’s true to the story, has great animation, and its kooky and trippy all at once. I cannot go a Christmas without seeing this timeless film. 

Donny:

5 – Lethal Weapon (1987): This movie kicks Christmas ass!  Celebrating the joy of Christmas while watching Riggs kick bad-guy butt at a Christmas tree farm is simply awesome.  I watch this one every year and it doesn’t get old.  They don’t make them like this anymore.  So snuggle up with a cold beer and watch Riggs and Murtaugh take down the bad guys. 

4 – Die Hard (1988): I know I started off my list with an action movie, but here’s another one to add to the list of Christmas favorites.  Bruce Willis rocks as Officer John McClane, a cop that has to kill a slew of bad-guys just for a chance to spend Christmas with his family.  This is a fun action flick that is sure to brighten your day and put you in the Christmas spirit.  

3 – Better of Dead (1985): This is one of my favorite comedies of all time.  Lane Meyer (Jon Cusack) is really bummed out because his girlfriend broke up with him.  So much so that he’s contemplating suicide.  After various failed attempts at ending his pathetic life he meets a French hottie that helps him regain his confidence.  The flick is set against the Christmas holidays and is stupid funny.  

2 – Gremlins (1984): Joe Dante’s tale  of how a young man and his new pet unleash a plague of Gremlins on the small town of Kingston Falls is one of my favorite holiday movies.  The Gremlins themselves are amazing, and the whole film is set in a snowy white Christmas landscape.  This is an unbelievable film that is sure put anyone’s Christmas spirit into high gear.  

1 – A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965): Charlie Brown Rocks!  This is the one film that I can’t go a single Christmas without watching, because if I do it just doesn’t feel like Christmas.  Charlie feels a sense of abandonment from his friends when he realizes the overwhelming amount of materialism surrounding the Christmas holidays.  So he take a gig as the director  of his school’s Christmas pagent, only to find out that it’s not as easy as he though to find the true meaning of Christmas.  Charlie Brown is a character that was way ahead of his time, a true icon for the intellectual slacker generation, plus Snoopy is bad ass.  So pick this one up if you don’t already own it, and have yourself a killer Christmas.