The holidays are a time for people to snuggle up, get allwarm and cozy, and dive right into the end of the year spirit. Studios, both traditional and streaming, have been flooding audiences with an outpouring ofChristmas moviesto chew through in kind. From Hallmark to Hulu, tales of love, peace, and joy are in more than abundance, full of smiling faces and even fuller bellies.
While some of these films use the holiday setting in the more traditional sense, others twist the audience’s expectations, delivering an experience that’s just the opposite of what one would expect from the typical warm and fuzzy delight. Directors and writers like Shane Black or Joe Dante have had their fair share of these, but they’re far from the only ones who do this. Plenty of films, from comedy, to action,and even horrorhave given new meaning to the term holiday spirit. So, if movies of an alternative nature are what you’re craving this holiday season, here are some of the best unconventional holiday classics for your viewing pleasure.
Update Jul 07, 2025: For fans of holiday films that aren’t quite the norm, here are some alternatives for your viewing pleasure and where each title is streaming.
10Reindeer Games (2000)
Reindeer Gamesis a holiday-adjacent thrill ride. In it,Ben Affleck playsa recently released convict who decides to steal his former cellmate’s identity so he can have a chance with their girlfriend, the beautiful Charlize Theron. He soon realizes, however, that now he’s in with a sinister Gary Sinise as a result. He soon finds himself down the chimney and in on an upcoming casino heist.
What Makes It Unconventional
It’s action director John Frankenheimer’s veteran know-how behind the camera that elevates what would otherwise be a nonsensical script. There’s nothing like a holiday heist to get the blood rolling, particularly if it’s from the point of view of the criminal! This film is a deliriously fun, if plot-hole-laden script. However, the snowy backdrop intertwined with the setting makeReindeer Gamesa hell of a good time. Plus, it stars a young Affleck alongside a just as young Theron three years prior toThe Italian Job, another early 00s heist film.Rent on AppleTV+
9The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)
The Long Kiss Goodnight
The Long Kiss Goodnightis the opportunity to catch badass heroine Geena Davis at the height of her powers as Charly Baltimore alongside a Samuel L. Jackson fresh offPulp Fictionas Mitch Hennesey. With two names that only Shane Black’s foul-mouthed pen could conjure, this film follows Baltimore’s shattered sense of reality after her holiday season is interrupted by the emergence of repressed memories of her former life as an elite super agent. Gone is her quaint family life, and in are the increasingly violent action scenes.
Directed by Renny Harlin, this film is easily one of the more bizarre action films of the 1990s. This film is known for its over-the-top penchant for violence. From its wild stunt work to its serious show of pyrotechnics, this film has all themakings of an action flick. All throughout, the beating fervor of the holidays thrums in the background, adding a nice sheet of snow that adds texture to the violence.Rent on AppleTV+
8Black Christmas (1974)
A horror film that lives under the artificial neon glow of Christmas lights,Black Christmasis a slasher film that has terrorized the classic teen victims of horror films for decades. Inspired loosely by urban legends along with a series of murders that occurred during the holiday season in Montreal, this movie follows members of a sorority house who are being stalked by an unseen killer during the holiday break. An already hectic time of year for students comes to a screeching halt as the reality of their situation ensues.
Hailed as one of the first slasher flicks of all time, it and the 2006 and 2019 remakes have greatly impacted the specificity of theclassic holiday break timeline. While director Bob Clark — his other famous Christmas movie,A Christmas Story— isn’t a genre staple, he knew the exact kind of aesthetic and technical approach to create the eerie sensation laden in the film’s compositions. The director constantly cross-cuts, uses split diopter shots, and dramatic use of POV — in short, creating a slasher holiday classic.Stream on Peacock
7Batman Returns (1992)
Batman Returns
Batman Returns sees the return of Michael Keaton’s Bruce Wayne after his victory over the Joker. This time, the Dark Knight faces a new threat in the form of The Penguin, an outcast who wants revenge on Gotham City. Featuring Danny DeVito as Oswald Cobblepot, Michelle Pfeiffer as Selina Kyle a.k.a. Catwoman, and Christopher Walken as Max Schreck, Batman Returns is Tim Burton’s second and final movie based on the iconic DC comics character.
Tim Burton’s first twoBatmanfilms are nothing short of iconic, but making the sequel weirder, more expansive, and fixated with a slick, holiday glow to juxtapose the dark criminal underworld of Gotham,Batman Returnsis as good as a superhero-holiday crossover there is. Alongside Michael Keaton, who returns as the titular hero, are newcomers Christopher Walken as Max Shreck, Danny DeVito as The Penguin, andMichelle Pfeiffer with her iconic turn as Catwoman.
What Makes It Iconic
Burton clearly went all in on the creepy with this, emphasizing the dichotomy between the Dark Knight during a season of loneliness. While Penguin is clearly a shoo-in for any holiday-themed romp, Pfeiffer’s Catwoman serves in equal measure as a chance for Bruce to make nice with people for once. All in all, this film is a memorable tour around a never-snowier Gotham.Stream on Max
Related:10 Holiday Movies That Have Nothing to do with Santa Claus
6Gremlins (1984)
Between Joe Dante’s looney toon ambitions and love of creating child-like creatures, critters, and mayhem came to fruition with his iconic creation of the iconic Christmas classic,Gremlins. Set against the suburbanbackdrop of 1980s America, Dante came up with an idea to turn a small-town Christmas into a small-town nightmare as they’re invaded by the titular monsters.
In addition to being a film about holiday gifts gone wrong (as well as a PSA for those looking to adopt this holiday season), there is a distinct fable-like approach to this classic comedy that works well for the season. One almost expects a visit from Krampus in the wind while watching. Unheeded warnings aside, between the story structure and the off-the-wall set pieces, the Spielberg touch can be felt throughout.Stream on Max
5Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
Eyes Wide Shut
Eyes Wide Shut is a 1999 drama mystery directed by Stanley Kubrick centering on a Manhattan doctor who goes to unexpected lengths to please his wife after she admits she was unsatisfied and almost had an affair a year earlier. Eyes Wide Shut stars Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman as husband and wife.
Eyes Wide Shutis a film that always pops up in conversation during the holidays, in spite of its subject. In it, Tom Cruise plays Dr. Bill Harford, a man whose marriage to Alice, played by Nicole Kidman, is in dire straits. This surreal picture plays out mid-crisis as Cruise slides into the underbelly of a world completely disassociated from the comfort of his normal life, stumbling instead upon a unique secret society while wandering the dim-lit streets.
DefinitelyNOT for kids, Stanley Kubrick’s last and highest-grossing film came from the 1926 novellaDream Storyby Arthur Schnitzler. Kubrick had retained the rights to the story in the 60s and considered it one of his greatest achievements, even though he’d never get to see it actually premiere. What makes this unconventional is not just how surreal it truly is, but how the holiday season is woven throughout the festivities. The ending, in which the couple are holiday shopping after Harford admits to joining a sex cult, is particularly throwing.Rent on Prime Video
4Carol (2015)
Carolstars Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara as secret lovers destined for heartache, the sadness of which is perfectlydistilled by the holidays. Based on the 1952 romance novelThe Price of Saltby Patricia Highsmith, the story tells of a forbidden affair between an aspiring photographer and a 50s divorcee. The film shows how painful it is to long to do the mundane holiday fixtures with the one you love, but to not be able to do so.
What Makes It Unique
In a film where every shot matters, Todd Haynes manages to string together a beautiful succession of fades, dissolves, and small encounters that weave the fragility of a love hidden in the shadows. Haynes paints their romance in a cold hue.Carolis a gorgeous vision of love in which its two stars manage to whittle the most intimate details out of each other, despite the cost.Stream on Netflix
3Die Hard (1988)
Set in the adjacent afterglow of the holiday spirit,Die Hardfollows an embittered beat cop Bruce Willis (aka John McClane) as he tries to reconnect with his estranged wife during a holiday hostage crisis. Featuring a group of European terrorists, played by Alan Rickman as Hans Gruber, their combined characterizations are just the perfect alchemy to set the screen ablaze.
Is this a Christmas movie? It does, after all, take place at a seasonal holiday party. While Bruce Willis has dispelled his feelings about the question, the film still remains one of the greatest holiday action films ever made. The setting of a tall plaza is nothing short of ingenious as an obstacle and the theme of reconciling for the holidays is on full display in this beloved classic.Rent on AppleTV+
2Anna and the Apocalypse (2018)
Anna and the Apocalypse
Anna and the Apocalypseis a British horror dramedy that’s about as genremashing as it gets. Set on the eve of small-town Christmas activities, the town undergoes a zombie outbreak that causes its residents to reconsider the meaning of the season. The film follows the titular Anna and her mates as they attempt to flee to safety, all of which is set to some particularly classy tunes. As ifthe winter seasonwasn’t horrific enough!
This film is about as unconventionally holiday-related as it gets. Juxtaposing two seemingly diametrically opposed genres, one in which everything ends happily ever after and one in which most, if not all the cast dies, must have been particularly rough. Besides juggling the spirit of the season, audiences are forced to reassess what they consider a holiday spectacle in light of this film. Oh, and did we forget to mention that it’s a musical as well? Yup… that happens.Rent on AppleTV+
Related:Best Christmas Musicals, Ranked
1The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
The Nightmare Before Christmas
The Nightmare Before Christmasis a beloved masterpiece of stop-motion production whose meticulous craftsmanship still holds up to this day. Recently inaugurated into The National Film Registry alongside holiday fan favoriteHome Alone, this film follows the antics of Halloween Town residents as they take on a brand-new holiday - Christmas.Unlike the classic Christmas claymations, this feature takes advantage of the medium to create some truly horrifying ghostly ghouls, from Oogie Boogie to Jack Skellington and, of course, Sally.
There will be those who gripe over whether or not this is a Christmas movie, but what is great about the film is that it can be enjoyed as a Halloween and Christmas movie (and technically Thanksgiving movie if you consider a good portion of the film takes place during the early November months) While this beloved animated feature was originally not released under the Disney banner, it has since been made part of the mainline Disney branding. It has wound its way into the hearts of audiences for years with its iconic characters, world-bending, and catchy tunes. Plus, its message of differences and acceptance isn’t too hard to swallow.Stream on Disney+
