Bah! Humbug! Alternative Christmas Movies To Enjoy This Festive Season!
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Carl Roberts 
Carl presents some alternative Christmas Movies that won’t spoil your festive season. But are the antidote to all the sugary flicks!
You can put your Elf back on the shelf. You can keep your White Christmas. And no, It’s NOT A Wonderful Life! OK, I’ll be fair. Many people love watching the classic Christmas movies that appear this time of year. Those terrific, sugary-sweet films that make you feel good by the end credits. Have you crying emotionally into your mince pies by the end. BAH HUMBUG! I much prefer watching the darker Christmas movies. The ones that most certainly don’t celebrate the holiday season. Of course, you know what movie just HAS to appear on my list. But let’s have a look at what I like watching over Christmas.
DIE HARD
The ultimate Christmas movie in my eyes. There’s nothing better than to sit down with a Christmas beverage and watch terrorists take over Nakotomi Plaza. And to see Bruce Willis completely destroy them and anything else he can get his hands on. For a film that came out in the United States in the summer of 1988, the film is the perfect antidote to all that schmaltz. The sequel, Die Hard 2, is also good as Christmas movie entertainment. But nothing can top the original movie for thrills, spills, action and violence.
GREMLINS
The ULTIMATE Christmas nightmare. What better way to celebrate the holiday season than with some horrific little monsters that run riot in a small town? I adore the movie. Its blend of black comedy, comedy, and frights and scares is the perfect tonic to cut through the saccharine of 99% of the usual Christmas movie fare. Youngsters will fall in love with Gizmo the Mogwai but I’m a fan of the main Gremlin, Stripe.
BATMAN RETURNS
What’s better than having a dark superhero movie to cut through the niceness of Christmas? Tim Burton’s 1992 summer blockbuster sees the Dark Knight, once again played superbly by Michael Keaton, take on the double threat of Danny DeVito’s Penguin and Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman. Action, violence, and shenanigans descend on Gotham City for the festive period. Dark, brooding, gothic, and brilliant.
LETHAL WEAPON
Oh yes, a Christmas movie set in Los Angeles in the blazing sunshine! There isn’t much snow in the air or on the ground in this movie (unless you count the drugs that get blown into the air near the climax, but hey.) Shane Black takes the tired buddy cop formula and rejuvenates it for a new generation. Mel Gibson has never been more crazy and violent as Martin Riggs while Danny Glover gets in on the fun as Roger Murtaugh. Sure, it opened in the summer of 1987 but it’s set at Christmas. What more do you want?
BLACK CHRISTMAS
Halloween (1978) refined it, Black Christmas started it. Bob Clark’s 1974 Chiller is one of the most scary movies set during the holiday season. During their Christmas break, a group of sorority girls are stalked by a stranger who leaves them threatening phone calls. The first of the killer’s victims is seen throughout the movie sitting dead in a rocking chair in the attic, her head covered with a plastic bag used to suffocate her. It is a disturbing image and one that lasts with you even after the end credits have rolled. And it doesn’t end pretty either.
VIOLENT NIGHT
Or Die Hard with Santa as the hero! You read that right. When a team of mercenaries breaks into a wealthy family compound on Christmas Eve, taking everyone inside hostage, the team isn’t prepared for a surprise combatant: Santa Claus is on the grounds, and he’s about to show why this Nick is no saint. David Harbour is a perfect action hero as the not-so-jolly Saint Nick with great support from John Leguizamo as Scrooge, the leader of the mercenaries. A violent, gory, nasty, but often hilariously funny Christmas treat.
OVER TO YOU!
That’s MY kind of Christmas movie entertainment. Yeah, some may say I’m a Scrooge but hey, each to their own. Some may say how can I miss out Silent Night, Deadly Night? I confess, I watched it once and was completely bored by it. But others enjoy it for what it is. So, it is now over to you. What alternative Christmas movies do you like watching? We would love to hear what your selections are.
But come what may, I wish you all a very merry Christmas and a prosperous new year! Just don’t go to a party on the 30th floor of a company building. Don’t feed your new pet after midnight. Don’t launch a penguin rocket attack on Gotham. Annoy a suicidal cop over the festive period. Investigate that noise in the attic. Or allow mercenaries to spoil the party. If you do, you’re asking for trouble!
Introducing Carl! As the News Editor at Future of the Force, Carl has been an invaluable member of our team since early 2016. His expertise and dedication have made him an integral part of our editorial staff. Beyond his professional role, Carl is a fervent supporter of Liverpool F.C. and an avid follower of pop culture. He has a deep passion for Halloween, Friday the 13th, and the iconic movie franchises Star Wars and Star Trek.
He can be found either at his neighborhood cinema, enjoying the latest releases on the big screen, or at home streaming the newest blockbuster movies.
