Gremlins (1984)
Gremlins at first is a strange choice for a Christmas film. It's a film that combines elements of horror and comedy, released at a time when such a thing was popular in film (keep in mind, Ghostbusters was released the same year).
The film is about an inventor's son named Billy Peltzer who gets a creature known as a mogwai, which he names Gizmo. However, mogwai come with three rules of care: Do not expose to light (because light can kill mogwai), do not feed after midnight (because mogwai turn into monsterous gremlins), and do not get a mogwai wet (because it makes them reproduce and create more mogwai). You can guess what happens next. Yup, gremlins wreak havoc all over a small town at Christmas time.
Why do I consider this a Christmas film? Well, mainly because it's set on Christmas. As for why I like to watch it on Christmas, because it's one of the only "horror" films I can stand to watch, and I have to admit, I sometimes do get a chuckle out of the gremlins' destructive antics. I like to laugh on Christmas, and Gremlins gets a chuckle out of me. Also, check out the sequel, Gremlins 2: The New Batch. It's a great sequel. It's much lighter in tone, more humor than horror, but the new variations of gremlins that appear are awesome.
A Christmas Story (1983)
Based on Jean Shepherd's book In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash, the film is actually narrated by Shepherd himself. It tells the story of a young boy named Ralphie Parker, who only wants one thing for Christmas: A Red Ryder BB gun, and the misadventures of his family during the Christmas season.
The film, to me, is required Christmas viewing. Heck, on Christmas day, TNT plays the film for 24 hours straight. It's a sweet funny film with many memorable scenes and moments, from the father's feuding with the neighborhood dogs and his lusting over his 'special award' (a lamp in the shape of a lady's leg), to Ralphie's fantasies regarding his one desired gift, and of course, his getting the bunny suit.
Funny thing about this film, I always thought it was set in the 1950s, but according to director Bob Clark's commentary on the DVD, the film is set in a nebulous time period in the 1930s-1940s. Huh.
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989)
Much like A Christmas Story, this film focuses on a family's misadventures during the holiday season. In this film's case, it focuses on the Griswolds, especially their mishap-prone patriarch Clark Griswold, played by Chevy Chase.
The film was written by John Hughes, who based it on a short story he wrote for the National Lampoon magazine called "Christmas '59". In the years since its release, it has become a Christmas classic.
Clark Griswold desires to have a "good old fashioned family Christmas", but as typical for the Griswolds, disaster erupts. Everything goes wrong, from bickering family members to Christmas lights refusing to cooperate, even a rampaging squirrel. Through all of this, Clark learns what Christmas means to him.
This was my favorite Christmas movie as a kid, mainly for an epic tirade Clark spits out near the end. There are many scenes like this that I still remember perfectly, and have for years.
Santa Claus: The Movie (1985)
You know how many superheroes have origin tales? Superman, rocketed to earth from the doomed planet Krypton. Batman, death of parents leads him to take of the life of a crime fighter. Spider-Man, bitten by radioactive spider and learns a lesson about power and responsibility from a tragedy. This film was an attempt to tell the origins of Santa Claus, produced by the team of Alexander and Ilya Salkind, who also produced the 1977 Superman film.
The film tells how a peasant named Claus ends up becoming the Santa Claus we know of today, and also tries to explain other aspects of the Santa Claus mythos, like how his reindeer fly, and how he manages to ascend chimneys. The film also focuses on an elf named Patch, played by the late, great Dudley Moore. An inventive elf, and feeling unappreciated, Patch goes out on his own, and falls under the wing of an evil toymaker named B.Z., the step-uncle of a rich girl Santa befriends. B.Z., played by John Lithgow, seeks to displace Santa as the provider of children's toys on Christmas, and with Patch as his pawn, he just may do it.
Critics blasted the film, but I personally consider it a cheesy guilty pleasure movie. And personally, I liked the ides of exploring the origins of one of pop culture's most well-known icons.
Die Hard (1988)
This is admittedly, the most unusual choice for Christmas viewing, but I consider it a Christmas film because it's set on Christmas.
Starring Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman, the film is based on Roderick Thorp's 1979 film Nothing Lasts Forever. NYPD cop John McClane comes to Los Angeles to visit his wife Holly, only to find himself being the only man that can stop a team of terrorists who attack the building they are on. However, the terrorists' true motives are actually not about politics...
This film showed that Bruce Willis, who was mainly known for comedic performances on TV (One word: Moonlighting), could not only be an action star, but be a bankable one. Die Hard was a critical and box office smash, creating a franchise that has encompassed five films, with a sixth in preproduction. Yeah, it's about ready to start competing with Star Trek for amount of sequels.
This is one of my favorite films. Willis's McClane is hilarious and awesome, and the film is very cleverly-done, playing with a lot of action film tropes. If you're looking for an action-packed film to watch on Christmas, Die Hard is for you.
And that's the list of my favorite Christmas films. Turns out they're all from the 80s, ha ha. I guess that decade was a good one for that kind of film. Anyway, I wish you all a Happy Holidays, and happy viewing!
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