Amid the uplifting holiday films such as Miracle on 34th Street and It's a Wonderful Life, a few darker stories have emerged for less-traditional movie fans.
Dark comedies about the holidays take the usual iconic messages about Santa Claus, holiday cheer, and goodwill toward men, and twist them around a little bit. The following eight films offer an assortment of unusual holiday goodies for naughty movie lovers.
Dark Comedy Christmas Movies
Fred Claus (2007)
- This comedy features the obnoxious, wisecracking, troublemaking brother of Santa Claus.
- Starring Vince Vaughn, Paul Giamatti, John Michael Higgins, Miranda Richardson, Rachel Weisz, Kathy Bates
- Director: David Dobkin
- Rating: PG
Bad Santa (2003)
- A conman and his diminutive partner pretend to be Santa and his helper during the holiday season in order to steal from department stores.
- Starring Billy Bob Thornton, Tony Cox, Brett Kelly, Lauren Graham, Bernie Mac, John Ritter
- Director: Terry Zwigoff
- Rating: R
Go (1999)
- Told from several different perspectives, this early Doug Liman film tells of young men and women spending a long Christmas Eve trying to work out a complicated drug deal.
- Starring Katie Holmes, Sarah Polley, Suzanne Krull, Jay Mohr, Timothy Olyphant, Scott Wolf
- Director: Doug Liman
- Rating: R
Trapped in Paradise (1994)
- Three brothers rob a bank in the town of Paradise, Pennsylvania, on Christmas Eve, but get trapped there with the money because of a snowstorm.
- Starring Nicolas Cage, Dana Carvey, Jon Lovitz, Richard Jenkins, Florence Stanley, Donald Moffat
- Director: George Gallo
- Rating: PG-13
The Ref (1994)
- A burglar gets abandoned by his partner during a Christmas Eve heist and is forced to take a quarreling dysfunctional husband and wife as hostages (and serve as referee) until he can find a way out of the situation.
- Starring Denis Leary, Judy Davis, Kevin Spacey, Robert J. Steinmiller, Jr., Glynis Johns, Christine Baranski
- Director: Ted Demme
- Rating: R
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
- This story by Tim Burton tells the animated tale of Jack Skellington, the King of Halloween, discovering a happy little place called Christmas Town.
- Starring the voices of Chris Sarandon, Catherine O’Hara, Paul Reubens, (the singing voice of) Danny Elfman.
- Director: Henry Selick
- Rating: PG
Scrooged (1988)
- Three spirits visit a cold-hearted television executive on Christmas Eve in order to teach him a lesson in this comical update of the Charles Dickens classic “A Christmas Tale.”
- Starring Bill Murray, Karen Allen, John Forsythe, John Glover, Carol Kane, David Johansen
- Director: Richard Donner
- Rating: PG-13
Dark Humor for Chanukah
Eight Crazy Nights (2002)
- An obnoxious 30-something drunk with a bad attitude gets one last chance to redeem himself during Chanukah in this outrageous animated musical comedy.
- Starring (voices of) Adam Sandler, Jackie Sandler, Austin Stout, Kevin Nealon, Rob Schneider
- Director: Seth Kearsley
- Rating: PG-13
For more information about holiday movies, read Romantic Comedies for the Holidays.
Copyright Leslie C. Halpern. Contact the author to obtain permission for republication.
Leslie C. Halpern - Leslie C. Halpern, Romantic Films/Comedies Topic Editor, authored Passionate About Their Work, Reel Romance, & Dreams on Film.
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