Nothing warms the heart like a classic Christmas movie, and just like Santa, we’re making a list that’s both naughty and nice. Here is our top five Christmas movies that you may have missed:

DEADLY GAMES (1989)

A year before the debut of Home Alone (1990), a much more sinister home invasion film with a child protagonist booby trapping his mansion during Christmas was released. Too familiar? Director Rene Manzor thought so and even threatened legal action, stating that John Hughes “Remade my movie”. While they do have a lot in common, the tones could not be more different. Deadly Games (also know as 3615 code Pere Noel, Dial Code Santa Clause, Game Over and Hide and Freak) carries an impending sense of doom due to a sadistic killer dressed as Santa who revels in the torment he causes, as opposed to burglars Harry (Joe Pesci) and Marv (Daniel Stern) who deliver most of the laughs and are never a real threat to Kevin (Macaulay Culkin). In Deadly Games, young Thomas (Alain Lalanne) must protect his feeble Papy (Louis Ducreux) as well as himself from the maniacal Kris Kringle; and being that Thomas is a child prodigy with a healthy obsession for action films and an endless budget for booby trapping his mansion, he, like Kevin, levels the playing field in this action-horror Christmas film you didn’t know you missed. Overall, it’s a suspenseful nostalgic thrill ride that despite the terror maintains a Christmas warmth.

WATCH OR NOT: WATCH

Additional Musings: More of a curious watch than a classic.

RARE EXPORTS: A CHRISTMAS TALE (2010)

Speaking of killer Santas, Director Jalmari Helander explores the myth of Krampus for an extremely unique Santa satire that maintains the holiday cheer while flipping the traditions into negative connotations. Naked elves with a penchant for killing children, massive reindeer massacres and a claustrophobic Aliens (1986) vibe make this black comedy a truly original festive special that explores the impact of man’s love of capitalism on cultural traditions.

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Additional Musings: A rare Christmas horror for the whole family (over the age of 15).

8-BIT CHRISTMAS (2021)

This film really hits home for me as it’s set during the winter of 1987 or ’88 (according to Neil Patrick Harris who tells his story in flashback) and revolves around a group of friends hellbent on acquiring a Nintendo game console, because only the richest kid in town has one and everyone is tired of pandering to his whims. It’s funny ‘cuz it’s true. In the late eighties, nothing was more popular than the Nintendo entertainment system (NES), thus having a group of friends comically trek through various hair-brained scenarios to attain their dream gift, all the while learning about the true meaning of Christmas, is a hallmark vehicle for this nostalgic romp. Unfortunately, there are some inconsistencies with the timeline. For example, Nintendo’s Power Glove didn’t debut until ’89 yet it’s featured heavily throughout the film, and why are the Cabbage Patch Kids relevant? It’s hard to believe they would be still selling out in 20 minutes during the late ’80’s. The infamous Billy Ripken Fleer baseball card that reads “Fuck Face” on his bat is to be pawned by the kids, but that card didn’t come out until ’89; plus I find it hard to believe that only one kid in this entire Chicago suburb has a Nintendo. So as good as the nostalgia berries taste, a lack of attention to detail sours the final product, but just a tad.

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Additional Musings: If you love A Christmas Story (1983) this is not that, but not bad at all.

A VERY HAROLD & KUMAR 3D CHRISTMAS (2011)

Well if 8-bit Christmas implied you would be getting a lot more Neil Patrick Harris in your stocking (by the odd choice to give him top billing), and you’re left thirsty for more, then might I offer an R-rated super-straight telepathic version of NPH. What more can be said about the Harold & Kumar franchise? For one, it filled the void left by Cheech and Chong while delivering performances that the stoner genre doesn’t typically get right. Sex jokes, race jokes, drugs, cameos and Jesus! If you like that sort of superabundance with your Christmas…Hark! The Harold & Kumar sing.

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Additional Musings: Roll up and enjoy, it’s not rocket science.

VIOLENT NIGHT (2022)

Director Tommy Wirkola’s Dead Snow and Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead (2009/2014) films were about as entertaining as one might imagine Nazi zombie horror-comedy movies could be. And so who better to helm a film about a beaten down, drunken version of St. Nick (David Harbour), disgusted by the commercialism of Christmas, who viciously maims mercenaries, all the while being “too old for this shit”. John Leguizamo stands in as “Mr. Scrooge” (and/or the Hans Gruber character) and is, regrettably, the only uncomical weak link (my guess is he thought he was in a different movie). Leah Brady shines in her first major role as Trudy, the granddaughter within the rich and powerful Lightstone family, and Cam Gigandet is hilarious as the shallow actor Morgan who’s thus far only starred in straight to DVD action films. Throw in a classic Home Alone sequence on steroids (see honourable mention Better Watch Out (2016) for another gory Home Alone tribute) and you have a contender for the Die Hard Christmastime fans.

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Additional Musings: Best enjoyed with a few stiff eggnogs.