Everyone lovesElfandHome Alone , but these Christmas classics can often be overplayed around the holiday season . The overwhelming wholesomeness of these movies might also make viewers crave something a little more thrilling , tight - paced , and fierce .

The backdrop of Christmas has been used by many filmmakers to play up some genuinely ludicrous and vehement narrative . Whether it ’s two individual investigators sample to get to the bottom of the murder of a porn principal , a matrimonial brace being stalk by a rage , or some high schoolers just trying to mark drug for a political party , there are so many challenging Christmas flick well watched when the kids are numb .

UPDATE: 2022/12/24 08:20 EST BY STEPHEN BARKER

2022 has construe an copiousness of Modern Christmas picture , more than any late year in memory , whether it ’s the Hallmark - like holiday picture or bequest sequels likeA Christmas Story Christmas . However , one picture show has taken everybody by surprise , which is theJohn Wick - influenced action at law movie , Violent Night . The new film is an infrangible hard R , as it sees Santa literally gouging out citizenry ’s eyes with tree diagram lights . And for fan front for more of that festive violence , these films are more than satisfying .

A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas (2011)

Available To Stream On HBO Max

TheHarold & Kumarfranchise is astonishingly great at spring between musical style whilst still maintain its trademark vulgar comedy . The first moving picture is a road trip film , the sequel is a heist moving-picture show , and perhaps most shockingly of all , the threequel is a Christmas picture .

The festive film is more outrageous than any that hail before it , and it ’s the most offensive and violent too , which is saying something coming from the serial that includes a film set in Guantanamo Bay . The 3D release actually used 3-D more imposingly than all the films that were commute to 3D in post - production at the time too . While the series is generally mean - peppy , the 2011 picture show is still full of Christmas Cheer , even if Neil Patrick Harris does murder Santa .

Die Hard 2 (1990)

Available To Stream On Starz

expire intemperately 2doesn’t get enough acknowledgement , as the third entry in the enfranchisement is what everyone tends to talk about after the original . However , the 2nd movie in the serial is still great even if it does essentially the same concept as the original moving-picture show . The 1990 movie is simply free-base in an airport instead of a skyscraper , but there ’s still a lot to love .

The " coincidence " of the attempt that just so happen to take place where John McClain happens to be , which is again at Christmastime , is hilarious , but it ’s just as much of a quiver ride as the first .

Office Christmas Party (2016)

Available To Stream On Fubo

Though few film critics would callA Very Harold & Kumar Christmasan influential flick , it sure enough paved the way for many other 2010s gas constant - rat Christmas comedies , which had n’t antecedently been popular . One of the 2011 movie ’s offspring isOffice Christmas Party , which again catch a group of slackers simply trying to have the wildest party potential , only everything keeps going wholly haywire .

The film is n’t go to take exception viewers , the activeness is n’t work to muff audiences ' minds , and a few of the jokes might be draw from other , better movies , but the bombastic and pathetic sequence are so entertaining and play . And the character feel like the eccentric of employees that everyone who act in the office get laid … and hates .

Happiest Season (2020)

Available To Stream On Hulu

Happiest Seasoncan totally be watch with Kyd in the room , but its funniness and jokes are a plenty more matured , and it cover much more matured theme compare to other Christmas romcoms . The movie follows a woman who bestow her girlfriend to visit her family over the holiday time of year , only her family does n’t screw that she ’s a gay woman .

The film is one of the most inventive Christmas moving picture and one of the few major LGBTQ+ vacation motion-picture show . And though the recently releasedPredatorprequelPreymight have taken the glare late , Happiest Seasonis one of the best Hulu movies .

The Night Before (2015)

The Night Beforeis an gas constant - rated holiday clowning that ’s led by Seth Rogen , and the movie sees him even more unfiltered than in classic moving picture likeThe Pineapple ExpressandSuperbad .

Three skilful champion reunite on Christmas Eve in an attempt to find the with child political party in New York potential , and it unsurprisingly leads to wild partying and a ton of cameo . With supporting work from Joseph Gordon - Levitt and Anthony Mackie , it ’s a adept - stud affair with plenty of shock value .

Lethal Weapon (1987)

Available To Rent On Apple TV

Lethal Weaponis the first of many Shane Black - drop a line pic base around the holidays , as the celebrated film writer , who often concentrate on buddy - pig crime capers , has clearly had a predilection for the season ever since the mid-80s . And the season is n’t just a backdrop to the action movie , as Christmas is what makes Riggs unfrequented .

But it is n’t all depressing , asRiggs and Murtaugh have the skilful friendshipfound in a chum - cop pic . Though it ’s one of the fourscore action movies that critics thought was middling upon release , Lethal Weaponhas since gone on to become a classic , and the unlikely attachment between Mel Gibson and Danny Glover is what makes it one of the beneficial R - rated Christmas movies ever .

The Nice Guys (2016)

Available To Stream On Netflix

As another Shane Black movie , Nice Guysis often looked at as a religious heir toKiss Kiss Bang Bang . Just like the 2006 film , The Nice Guysfollows two individual detectives ( Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe ) who detest each other but are forced to work together to unveil a murder .

The picture is free-base in the 70s and boast all the await Shane Black figure , and that include being set during the holidays . The motion-picture show ’s plot is n’t exactly beat back by Christmas - related events , but the detectives ' different opinion toward the season tell consultation a heap about their fiber . The movie was n’t so popular upon release , but it has since make headway a huge cult follow , andfans want to seeThe Nice Guys 2 .

Bad Santa (2003)

Bad Santais every nihilist ’s preferent Christmas pic , as it follow a clinically blue mall Santa who is an angry alcoholic ( Billy Bob Thornton ) and often takes his ire out on the children who sit on his lap . Thornton is perfectly honk as a conman Santa , he plan to rob a convenience store on Christmas Eve until a spanner is fuddle in the work , and it ’s one of the expert and darkest comedy of the past 20 years .

While there are tons ofChristmas movies about malign Santas , Thornton ’s picture is totally unequalled . Unfortunately , while the 2003 movie is looked at as a cult classic , its legacy continuation did n’t quite have the same issue , asBad Santa 2was bitterly unsatisfying for fans of the original .

Go (1999)

Available To Stream On Showtime

Gofeatures several intertwining story , loads of pop music culture references , and handfuls of drugs and violence , and it ’s one of the many 90s movies that was clear work by Pulp Fiction . Though the film might seem like a whang - off of the 1994 classic , it ’s actually one of the few that remain firm on its own as a swell movie .

Gofollows groups of teenagers knead dead - close jobs simply trying to get their hand on some pills for their days off . And it ’s all base around Christmastime , though viewer might not be capable to tell given that it ’s set in Los Angeles and Las Vegas .

In Bruges (2008)

Considering that the film spread with a hitman accidentally remove a consort son in a church , it ’s easy to forget thatIn Brugesis a Christmas movie . However , when Ray ( Colin Farrell ) and his pal Ken ( Brendan Gleeson ) hide out in the titular city , the movie unscramble itself as one of the strangest but dandy funniness dramas of the 21st hundred , even if it does n’t exactly fill viewers with Christmas look .

The film has become one of the most acclaimed of the 2000s and Farrell and Gleeson have become an iconic on - screen door flick duo . That ’s especially the case with the of late releasedThe Banshees of Inisherin , which is likewise dark with themes of friendship and fatality rate too .

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)

No other music director loves Christmas more than Shane Black , as not only did he writeLethal Weaponand write and directTheNice Guys , but also the 2006 movieKiss Kiss Bang Bang , which on the face of it fly under everybody ’s radiolocation . Not only is it one of the great R - shit Christmas movies , but it ’s also one of thebest 2000s crime pic .

The motion picture follow Harry Lockhart ( Robert Downey Jr. ) getting caught up in a web of murder and lies as he falls deeper into the criminal underbody of L.A. And as is the case with most of Black ’s moving-picture show , it features a great and unlikely on - screen pairing , as Downey and Val Kilmer have a hilarious unmatched couple - like relationship .

Batman Returns (1992)

ThoughBatman Returnsis one of the Tim Burton flick that screams Halloween , the movie also oozes Christmas , with a snow-clad Gotham City backdrop and the ice - cold scoundrel , the Penguin . Along withNightmare Before ChristmasandEdward Scissorhands , Batman Returnscompletes Burton ’s dark-skinned Christmas trilogy , and it ’s the good of them all .

Though it ’s a superhero film , the film is notoriously dark and completely unsuitable for children , as it sees Batman literally ready citizenry on fire and electrocuting others . The Caped Crusader breaks his only ruler innumerous times in the 1992 release , and the maniacal Penguin literally sting an unsuspecting Gotham civilian ’s nose off .

Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Being the last movie organise by Stanley Kubrick before his passing , oculus broad Shutis an incredibly ghoulish thriller that explores religious cult , the equipment failure of relationship , human trafficking , and many other emotionally release themes . And it ’s all set up during the most joyous time of the class .

Despite its get down themes and meandering tempo that many critics have complained about , it ’s a great motion picture that ask patience , and viewers will be rewarded with a lurid ending . The film is unlike anything Kubrick ever directed for better and for bad , and it ’s even one ofMartin Scorsese ’s favorite picture show of the 90 .

The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)

Another Shane Black - write XC action picture means another Christmas setting , andThe Long Kiss Goodnightis that movie . However , of all the flick of the geological era written by black , the 1996 liberation is completely overlook and does n’t get the credit it deserve .

The film follows a schoolteacher ( Geena Davis ) with amnesia who attempts to come up out who she really is . Christmas does n’t have all that much of an impingement on the movie and is more of a backcloth than anything , but its snowy setting make for a with child aesthetic , which is enough to make it one ofthe just Christmas movie of the nineties . And Davis makes for one of the most badass female activity heroes .

Die Hard (1988)

masses have been arguing about whether or notDie Hardis a Christmas moviefor a long time , but disregardless of how you feel about it , it ’s set during Christmas and watch an medium New York cop visit his married woman in L.A. for the holiday .

If that is n’t evidence enough that it ’s a Christmas movie , John McClane spell " Ho Ho Ho " on a dead homo ’s sweater , and there ’s not much more festal than that . Nothing screams " Christmas flavour " more than that … that is until a group of terrorist conk out into the building and hold everyone surety , pass to one of the most exciting games of CT and mouse ever .

NEXT:10 Unpopular Christmas Movie Opinions ( fit in To Reddit )

How Rachel Zegler’s

Ben Affleck as Christian drumming his hand on the table while talking to Cynthia Addai-Robinson’s Marybeth in The Accountant 2

A collage image of Luke Skywalker in A New Hope

Split image of A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas, DIe Hard, and Bad Santa

Harold, Kumar, and Neil Patrick Harris in holiday attire.

Bruce Willis as McClane in Die Hard 2

TJ Miller and Jason Bateman looking confused in Office Christmas Party

Mackenzie Davis and Kristen Stewart laughing together in Happiest Season

Seth Rogen looking scared in church in The Night Before.

Riggs in Lethal Weapon

Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe in The Nice Guys

Billy Bob Thornton in Bad Santa

Adam, Zack, Claire, and Mannie pose in Go

Ken and Ray sit on a bench in In Bruges

Harry and Gay Perry talk to Harmony

Penguin next to Batman in Batman Returns

Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise dance in Eyes Wide Shut

Long Kiss Goodnight Samuel L Jackson Geena Davis

John McClain with a gun in Die Hard.

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