Weird, Alternative and Underrated Holiday Films

[Cult_Moody_Movies]

The last couple of years I've been looking for different films to watch around the holidays outside of the standard movies we all watch this time of year. I love Home Alone, It's a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, and A Christmas Story like many but you can only rewatch them so many times. Even the standard alternative Christmas films like Die Hard, Gremlins, Silent Night Deadly Night or Black Christmas I've seen quite a few times.

List your movies (good or bad) below:

On Sunday me and my wife watched The Night They Saved Christmas [1984]. A TV movie in which the North Pole is at risk of being blown up by an oil company.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqU9-IfRQp8

[Gabriel Knight]

You can always watch SANTA CLAUS CONQUER THE MARTIANS. I'm not sure about the underrated part, but it sure is weird and alternative.

[Rev. Powell]

Mexican SANTA CLAUS (1950)
SANTA AND THE ICE CREAM BUNNY
RARE EXPORTS
You could try the Flaming Lips' CHRISTMAS ON MARS (super-weird, but be prepared for lots of vaginas)
I don't like the whole Santa-slasher genre much, but CHRISTMAS EVIL was surprisingly fun
MONTY PYTHON'S THE MEANING OF LIFE for the final "Christmas in Heaven" scene

[Morpheus, the unwoke.]

I like the musical Scrooge with Albert Finney and Alec guiness. It features a scene of scrooge in hell in the uncut version.

[Alex]

As Indy showed his students, you could always go with The Star Wars Xmas Special.

[Dr. Whom]

As Indy showed his students, you could always go with The Star Wars Xmas Special.

A true classic

[Trevor]

Die Hard
Lethal Weapon
Gremlins

Best holiday movies ever 😊😊

[claws]

Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990) (3.5) - Fans usually label this underrated or even better than the first. I'd say it is neither but still makes for a fun watch.
Krampus (2015) (3.0) - Good but not as good as I hoped it would be.
Reindeer Games (2000) (2.5) - I have a soft spot for this one.
Dead End (2003) (3.5) - This one usually shows up on most 'underrated' holiday horror lists.
Wind Chill (2007) (2.5) - A snowbound limited setting, ghosts plus Emily Blunt. Has its moments.
Santa's Slay (2005) (1.5) - Bill Goldberg as a killer Santa in an R-Rated family fantasy comedy action horror film. Its bad but Imaginative and kind of fun.
Alien Raiders (2008) (2.0) - Limited supermarket setting plus nasty aliens. Bad but not bad for what it is if that makes sense.
Decoys (2004) (0.5) - "American Pie" meets "Species", kinda. Its like Troma with a budget.
The Ghouls (2003) (0.0) - Dirty and digusting but also very original. It has the stuff to be a cult film but I think its just too bad. It did win Best Movie at the Saints and Sinners Film Festival so, there's that.

[M.10rda]

THE GHOULS! There's one that doesn't get name-checked much. I didn't think it was terrible, just disappointing... though of course I don't know what I was expecting. Oh yeah - I was expecting more James Gunn! Already a fan of TROMEO & JULIET and THE SPECIALS, I got excited 'cause Gunn is like third-billed or something. Turns out he's only in 2 or 3 brief scenes and (iirc) dies offscreen. Also, y'know, he didn't write it, so...

[claws]

THE GHOULS! There's one that doesn't get name-checked much. I didn't think it was terrible, just disappointing... though of course I don't know what I was expecting. Oh yeah - I was expecting more James Gunn! Already a fan of TROMEO & JULIET and THE SPECIALS, I got excited 'cause Gunn is like third-billed or something. Turns out he's only in 2 or 3 brief scenes and (iirc) dies offscreen. Also, y'know, he didn't write it, so...

I've been telling people on message boards about The Ghouls since I bought the DVD in 2004 or 2005. I think yours is the very first reply to The Ghouls.
Nice to know I'm not the only one who has seen it.

[M.10rda]

 

[ER]

When I was on Christmas break in 1992 I was up late and alone at my grandparents' house and some UHF station showed a 1972 flick called Home for the Holidays, starring Sally Field, about violent murders of family members gathered for Christmas, including one slaying with a pitchfork and another with a tire iron, so I think that definitely covers the "weird" portion of this thread. (I wish I could see that movie again out of nostalgia.)

[Rev. Powell]

Just saw ADULT SWIM'S YULE LOG and it qualifies. A future holiday classic.

[ralfy]

Hail Mary (1985)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hail_Mary_(film)

[ralfy]

Violent Night

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a53e4HHnx_s