Out-of-the-box Christmas movies

Sam Vander Forest

We’re at that time of year where ABC family plays their usual “Rudolph the Red nosed Reindeer” and “A Christmas Story” over and over. Those movies are absolute classics, that can’t be refuted, but sometimes you want to see something a bit different. Here is a list of four movies that in some way, shape or form have to do with Christmas. Although they may seem a bit obscure, they’ll deliver some form of emotional appeal in the end.

1. Bad Santa- Winning the title of “Most Offensive Christmas Movie Ever Made” by large segments of the population, “Bad Santa” portrays a rugged, alcoholic Billy Bob Thornton as a mall Santa. With his foul-mouthed elf sidekick they plan a heist in the mall they work at, but inadvertently are sidetracked by a lonely boy in need of help. The crudely funny story turns around and in a messed up way shows the transformation of a man with a heart as black as coal to one with a big heart. You’ll still never look at Santa the same way after this, though.

2. Die Hard- Ah, the holiday season, time to bring out the guns, grenades and cuss words. Oh, sorry, I meant “Die Hard,” not the holiday season, but how else would you celebrate Christmas than with a hostage situation? The reason this action-packed classic makes the list is because it takes place on Christmas Eve. Further than that, there is a true testament to the holiday spirit that comes when trying to rescue your wife from extreme situations, even if it entails lots of dead bodies. I guess we could say it teaches you to really appreciate what you have, right?

3. Eight Crazy Nights- When people think of Christmas movies they don’t necessarily think of Adam Sandler. They certainly don’t think of Hanukkah, either. This is more of a holiday movie than just Christmas, and is one that follows suit with “Bad Santa” in terms of raunchiness. Following a young shmuck that is forced to do community service around the holiday season, the animated movie shows the cliché transformation from hatred to a sense of tolerance and joy- just in a more adult-friendly way.

4. Nightmare Before Christmas- The Tim Burton classic brings many of our favorite holidays and holiday icons together in really creative ways, while introducing some new faces. The story follows Jack Skellington, also known as “The Pumpkin King,” as he longs for something more than just scaring people for Halloween. He lives in the world of “Halloween Town” and opens the portal to “Christmas Town” to learn about and help celebrate the iconic winter holiday. He eventually finds that although his heart is in the right place, many things go wrong, like kidnapping Santa Clause and much more. It doesn’t have the same clichés as most Christmas films, and isn’t raunchy like the others on this list, and that is why “The Nightmare Before Christmas” stands out as not only a unique Christmas film, but an overall movie classic.