Written & Edited by: Lee Fenton

1. Scrooged

Scrooged is a modern day retelling of the beloved holiday classic: Charles Dickens - A Christmas Carol. It stars Bill Murray as a television producer that has a lot in common with the iconic Ebenezer Scrooge. Although critics and fans agree this isn’t Bill Murray’s best work, it still manages some laugh-out-loud funny moments with that hint of sarcastic wit that’s a trademark of Murray’s style. 7/10

2. Bad Santa

Billy Bob Thornton is not your average mall Santa. For one - he’s crass. Secondly, he’s piss-ass drunk and not to mention the guy is just downright rude. Also, he’s constantly ‘casing the place’ because see, that's his real job - to rob the shopping-center blind the night of Christmas Eve. This film is loosely inspired by the Dr. Seuss classic ‘The Grinch That Stole Christmas’. 

Once you look past the shock-comedy and pessimistic overtones…

the similarities are glaringly obvious. 9/10

3. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation

Chevy Chase is just one of those comic actors that makes me laugh every time he’s on-screen. There’s no two ways about it, the man is a comedic genius.

This one is considered a classic nowadays - but when it was originally released it was seen as a rather rebellious take on the traditional holiday movie. Released by the same people that brought the world ‘Animal House’ and ‘Caddyshack’ the film stars the hugely funny Chevy Chase a man that most consider a comic genius. He pretty much re-popularized the prat-fall and physical comedy for a new generation, in the tradition of early comedy legends like the Three Stooge’s and Charlie Chaplin.

 Needless to say, this movie is one I love to death. It was already the third in a series of four films, so the fact that the writers still had jokes to tell with these characters - was quite impressive.

If you haven’t seen it yet… watch it this holiday and

spend some quality time with the ‘Griswold’ family.

Just avoid Cousin 'Eddy’ at all cost.

8.5/10

4. Go

Go is a fast paced, high-octane movie detailing an ecstasy deal gone wrong. It takes place during the holidays and features a rave with a 30ft tall green Frankenstein-Santa - hell, what’s more alt-christmas then that? This wacky and weird holiday movie features a still undiscovered Timothy Olyphant as the antagonist, as well as Katie Holmes in a smaller role. The narrative is told in a non linear fashion similar to the films 'Resevoir Dogs' or 'Pulp Fiction'. In a similar vein to Tarantino’s filmmaking, it showcases natural sounding dialogue in between intense scenes of action and drama.

This movie has long been a favorite of mine. 8/10

5. Reindeer Games

I considered putting Die Hard on this list, but then I realized how obvious that was. And yes, it’s a very good film, and it’s a Christmas movie (I’ve always been on the right side of that eternal debate).

But instead, I’ve decided to bring some much needed attention to a more obscure title: Reindeer Games.

This film wasn’t well received upon release and its reception has not improved much over the years.

I’m going to try to change that! 

To me, it’s a wonderfully low-budget crime drama; starring Ben Affleck in the lead and Gary Sinese as the villain. Sinese doesn’t turn in quite the performance he did in ‘Ransom’ (acting opposite Mel Gibson) but all-in-all Reindeer Games is a competently directed film with lots of twists and turns plot wise to make up for it’s un-impressing mise-en-scene and lack of set-pieces.

In other words, yes - a large part of this movie is just heated dialogue and guns being waved around. If the acting was top notch, it might have won some awards, instead I’m here stuck defending it. It’s a mid-tier thriller with a Christmas vibe to it.

What the hell is so wrong with that, people? 

Hell if you're not in a ‘grinchy’ mood - it’s a pretty good watch.

6 / 10 for rating.