It’s that time of year again. Break out your DVD player or log on to your favorite streaming app, it's time to watch some holiday movies. There are standards like A Christmas Story and newer favorites like Love Actually. You have animated classics like Frosty the Snowman and newer ones like Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas. Then there are the remakes, the live-action, and the sequels to compare. Is the original or first movie always the best? Then the much-debated movies, such as Little Women or When Harry Met Sally, and whether they are really holiday movies. Throw in the multitude of Hallmark television movies, the incongruent holiday horror films, and those great movies you’ve never heard of, and you can get hundreds of hours of holiday magic for your viewing pleasure.
Millhopper Branch staff's favorite holiday flicks:
Are they really holiday movies?
| Batman Returns | PG-13 |
| Die Hard | R |
| Gremlins | PG |
| Kiss Kiss Bang Bang | R |
| Lethal Weapon | R |
| Trading Places | R |
There are other winter holiday films that aren't all about Christmas:
| Eight Crazy Nights | PG-13 |
| Four Rooms | R |
| Long Way Down | R |
| Love, Lights, Hanukkah! | NR |
| New Year's Eve | PG-13 |
| Nine Rides | NR |
If life's not scary enough, try these holiday horror movies:
| Anna and the Apocalypse | R | Krampus | PG-13 | |
| Better Watch Out | R | The Lodge | R | |
| Black Christmas | PG-13 | P2 | R | |
| The Children (2009) | R | Silent Night, Deadly Night | R | |
| A Christmas Horror Story | NR | Wind Chill | R |
Holiday films you may have missed:
| Almost Christmas | PG-13 | Joyeux Noel | PG-13 | |
| Arthur Christmas | PG | Last Holiday | PG-13 | |
| Carol | R | The Night Before | R | |
| The Family Man | PG-13 | One Christmas | NR | |
| Fred Claus | PG | Silent Night (2021) | NR |
Learn more about classic holiday movies with Christmas in the Movies: 30 Classics to Celebrate the Season by Jeremy Arnold. To learn about your favorite Hallmark movies and stars, try Countdown to Christmas: Have a Very Merry Movie Holiday! by Caroline McKenzie.