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What are your favorite ridiculous/absurd/campy Christmas movies?
Open to anything from Hallmark-style movies with particularly ridiculous storylines, horror movies with a Christmas twist, or childhood classics that are a lot crazier than we might remember them as children.
Spirited, the Apple+ movie that released last year, is IMO a genuinely great Christmas movie and an instant classic.
Let me rip this band-aid off: Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell play the same characters they always play. It's Deadpool and Buddy the Elf. To me it's the biggest problem with the movie, but if you enjoy those characters then you'll likely enjoy them here.
But on the other hand...
The music? Catchy! I particularly like this early number about exploiting culture wars to sell real Christmas trees.
The story? Surprisingly creative. I don't want to say too much, but this movie does something REALLY interesting with the Christmas Carol story here I had never seen done before. Worth watching for this alone IMO.
The comedy? Genuinely good. Ryan Reynolds cyberbullies an 8th grader.
I will admit, I am biased because my buddy worked on this and gave me a tour of the "Victorian England" set (actually downtown Boston IRL). But it's a fun time, highly recommend.
Are you kidding me? I'm already sold. I mean, that sounds obnoxious, but I'm down.
Watching it tonight, haha!
This was a fantastic pitch, thank you
I did thoroughly enjoy it when I watched it last year, so I’ll second this as a “if you like Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell’s style of humor, you’ll enjoy this movie”.
I saw Spirited in theaters as part of Regal's Mystery Monday Movie. I enjoyed it a lot, and I'm surprised that it hasn't actually been more popular than it currently is. All the songs in it are better than they have to be. Specifically Bringing Back Christmas and Good Afternoon.
I'm so excited that both of you have mentioned the music being good.
My favorite Christmas movie made in the past 10 years is probably Jingle Jangle, mostly because the music is so fantastic.
I'm a sucker for Christmas music, and it's so fun when new Christmas songs are created that can stand up to the catchiness of the old classics.
Mine to throw into the ring: Last night I watched The Santa Clause starring Tim Allen, for the first time since I was 8 years old.
I was delightfully horrified to realize that this movie is essentially a Christmas-themed body horror film, in which the main character is gradually transformed into a fat, jolly, 70 year old man against his will. The main conflict is that the estranged, divorced father slowly loses everything in his life, including custody of his child. The climax of the movie is Tim Allen literally commiting parental kidnapping on Christmas Eve.
Every chance the filmmakers had to make the story more wholesome/goofy, they said nope, we're going realistic with this, we're digging into parental alienation and custody disputes. And then Tim becomes the ultimate "Disney dad," and all his problems are solved by literally becoming Santa Claus. (No consideration that many children watching the movie may be experiencing painful custody/parental situations in their real lives, and could come away with unhealthy ideas or confusion.) Absolutely amazing, and by that, I mean absurd.
Don't forget: it starts with him killing the previous Santa. When I saw it while scrolling the other day, I told my mom about the premise with a comment along the lines of, "Oh, that's the movie where a guy becomes Santa after accidentally killing him." She responded, "That's horrifying," to which I gleefully responded with, "Right!?" In retrospect, the fact this children's movie hinges on Santa dying is really disturbing.
Gets even better with the sequel, where it's revealed he needs a Mrs. Claus to keep the role. And that raises the question of what happened to the original Mrs. Claus??
Now I need the backstory on the Santa he accidentally killed. Was that Santa also a cheesy neglectful 90s corporate dad archetype? Maybe the same archetype, but from the roaring 20s? I assume that part of the curse is that all the Santas have some kind of sin to atone for or a lesson to learn; maybe the last Santa was worse than an estranged father.
Also, they should make a final Tim Allen installment in which the next Santa kills him. There are endless franchise possibilities here.
Well there's apparently a Disney+ show now where he tried to retire and chose an even more corporate Santa as his replacement that he has to overthrow. And I think season two has an evil Santa from the past?
My thought: it could be even worse if the previous Santa was highly beloved and always a good man. His Mrs. Claus was an angel who the elves worshipped. And Tim Allen killed him in cold blood. I kinda want to know how the elves reacted while he was gone the first year.
I've got bad news for you if you're a man ;-)
I've been telling my wife that The Santa Clause is a horror movie for years. So glad to not be alone in this. Haha
THANK YOU.
I posted a similar sentiment on my Instagram story the other day, and a friend had the nerve to ask "were you high when you watched it though?"
(I was.) But it's still a body horror movie. I will stand by this.
While we're at it, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is basically Saw with candy.
...more twisted than saw: it's the prequel to snowpiercer, after all...
I like Klaus. It's a different story on Santa.
A simple act of kindness always sparks another, even in a frozen, faraway place. When Smeerensburg's new postman, Jesper, befriends toymaker Klaus, their gifts melt an age-old feud and deliver a sleigh full of holiday traditions.
https://youtu.be/taE3PwurhYM?si=U1pEVBVm5wrleaWP
Had to make sure Klaus was in the list. 10/10 have watched every christmas since it dropped.
I just saw Klaus for the first time this week with my mother. It's a solid 10/10, an animated film with soul. It actually got us to tear up a couple times, particularly the scene with the sled. It is now my preferred origin for every Santa-related tradition and belief.
My favorite off-brand Christmas movie is Scrooged (1988) starring Bill Murray. It's a (relatively) modern retelling of A Christmas Carol, featuring Bill Murray as a profit-obsessed TV exec. It's not quite as campy as other Murray films of the time, but it's still funny and fun. I haven't seen it in a few years myself but I think it might be time for a re-watch!
Great recommendation, I just watched this last week! That movie is ...a lot. My husband was horrified by how unhinged it is. I love it, personally.
Wow how could I forget about Scrooged, this was required watching around this time of year growing up. It's been at least a decade for me. Definitely gonna have to watch it, thank you for reminding me of this classic.
The Ref
You know how, in My Cousin Vinny, Gambinis love to argue? It's foreplay and fun, and they enjoy going at each other? How it brings them closer as a couple to unload with insinuation and vitriol?
Yeah, none of that applies to Lloyd (Kevin Spacey) and Caroline (Judy Davis) Chasseur in The Ref. They fight over everything. Viciously, no holds barred. They fight over life, over family, over stop signs. You name it, they're fighting about it. At the drop of a hat, without regard for decorum, or who or what else might be around.
Constantly.
Meanwhile, Gus (Denis Leary) is a burglar operating in the small Connecticut hamlet Lloyd and Caroline live in. He manages to trip an alarm on a job and trigger a village-wide lockdown/search for him.
He ends up taking the Chasseurs hostage while he waits for his lackluster and sad sack partner to pull together some sort of exit route. With the inlaws, and Lloyd's real piece-of-work mother (Rose - Glynis Johns) coming over for Christmas Eve 'festivities'. Actually, saying that about Lloyd's mom is an insult to run-of-the-mill problematic and difficult mothers. She dials the concept of narcissistic burden that everyone within three zip codes will hear live narration from her about up to eleven.
Saying hilarity ensues is an understatment. It's black comedy delivered full bore without cringe or slapstick. Wonderfully written and performed; the entire cast delivers great performances. Over the course of the film, we get to see how Gus and his armed intrusion into their lives helps Lloyd and Caroline rekindle the spark that once brought them together.
Gus, to Rose, after she's driven everyone in the house to the brink of insanity. Which is impressive considering Lloyd and Caroline have been going at it through everything. Lloyd tells his mom he's going to get her a big wooden cross next Christmas, so she can nail herself to it when she feels unappreciated and everyone else is like "yeah, good idea."
A great movie that explores how just because Christmas is "supposed to be about family", that doesn't mean yours is going to bring you joy.
Absolutely love this, I will be watching.
Christmas was always slightly traumatic for me as a child, as my mom has some sort of undiagnosed mental illness that always seemed to ramp up around the holidays. We'd start off perfectly fine opening presents on Christmas morning, but without a doubt there would always be adult tantrums or screaming fits of some kind by the late afternoon.
Geez, maybe that's why I'm drawn to over the top, chaotic Christmas films because they're more realistic for me. 😂
The film for Terry Pratchett's Hogfather was well done and the book and the film are satire of the concept of a magical being who travels yearly to distribute gifts to children along with other recognizable Christmas traditions.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Pratchett%27s_Hogfatherhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Pratchett%27s_Hogfather
The Muppet Christmas Carol is Muppet fun.
I'm trying to figure out what the qualifications for this would be.
From last year I liked Violent Night. Which is a Die Hard esque story with Santa Clause being the main character. Except Santa is made to have been some sort of hyper violent warrior in a previous life.
I'm a big fan of Krampus and the practical effects used in it.
Black Christmas is a 70s exploitation classic.
In 2019 a film called Last Christmas released which was written by Emma Thomspon and directed by Paul Feig. I remember being excited for it because I liked the trailer. The movie takes this ridiculous turn, and it's kind of bonkers. It's based on the Wham song, and it basically takes one lyric from it and takes it at face value. I think there was a missed opportunity to make a light fluffy Love Actually classic here. But the twist in it would definitely fall under this criteria.
My wife loved violent night. I thought it was a bit much, but maybe I was just being a Grinch.
Okay- this is a deep cut that I’ve not seen since my kid was in first grade, but Martin Freeman did this BBC movie in 2009 about a class Nativity play gone wrong. It’s kind of a sanitized bad news bears meets Christmas play evidently nearly fully improvised. I remember being shockingly entertained for what was essentially a TV movie. It’s called Nativity
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1242447/
It's really good, it's got a great cast (especially the kids), and it's so infectiously cheerful! And there are some great comedy moments like the retelling of the massacre of the infants by overly dramatic primary school children.
There are at least two sequels, but it's very clear that they didn't capture the magic of the first film.
Rare Exports - it is a Finnish dark comedy/horror movie!
I love Rare Exports so much! It's so silly in that excessively dry Scandinavian way, and the base premise wasn't something I'd encountered before, but I'm here for it. Just delightful.
One of my all time favorites :)
There's only one Christmas movie I actually like and that's Die Hard.
There's no Christmas without Die Hard!
(And also National Lampoon's Christmas vacation)
The Hebrew Hammer is my favorite weird Christmas movie. It's a Jewish blaxploitation film about The Hebrew Hammer, a hardened rabbi detective, saving Hanukkah from a plot by Santa's son, and saving Christmas in the process. It is exactly what it says on the tin, if you had a VHS or DVD of it.
This one is a tradition around my house, too. So many amazing casting choices all around, but usually all I have to say to get someone to watch it is "Andy Dick as evil santa."
They also released a trailer for the sequel back in 2017, alongside a slightly successful crowdfunding campaign and simultaneously launched a merch store... But it doesn't seem like anything else has come of the project lately.
Jingle All The Way (1996)
starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sinbad, and the kid who went on to play Anakin in Star Wars Episode 1
Such a stupid movie, I love it. Has some ridiculous quotes and Arnold really beefs up the ham in this Christmas flick.
It's not as christmassy as most, and it's probably in part why I like the movie more than other Christmas films.
Jingle all the way is my absolute favorite Christmas movie of all time.
Sometimes I forget how truly absurd it is because of how many times I've seen it!
If Christmas specials that aren't full-length films count: Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer, a 2000 animated special. Premise is based on the song, with Grandma getting run over by Santa's reindeer who get attracted to her fruitcake after an evil cousin pours some perfume into the mix, wanting to sabotage the fruitcake because Grandma refused to sell out her quaint little store to a big corporation. Said evil cousin and her lawyer later accuse Santa of kidnapping Grandma so the climax involves a big trial.
Also, it's a musical. And Santa wears a tracksuit.
It's just full of the late-90's/early-2000 energy, and it's overall fun to me. Realized it was a low-key favorite of mine a couple years ago when browsing Cartoon Network's schedule for Christmas Eve and day to see if anything stood out to me for nostalgia's sake. It had absolutely nothing Christmas related scheduled (it actually played Wonder Woman for some reason??), and I found myself specifically disappointed this one wouldn't play.
I will contribue The Long Kiss Goodnight. Set around Christmas time, it's a rollicking action flick about an assassin with amnesia, featuring memorable performances by Sam Jackson and Geena Davis. Directed by Renny Harlin and written by Shane Black. It's just quality material all 'round.