Starring David Harbour and John Leguizamo, Violent Night promises to be a most irreverent holiday movie. Using the typical Christmas movie iconography and twisting the elements so it seems straight out of a high-octane action movie, Violent Night infuses its ironic own personality into a holiday movie.
Will Violent Night give Die Hard a run for its money for being the must-watch violent holiday movie? Time will tell, but until then, there are many other unconventional holiday movies that even the most curmudgeonly Scrooge will enjoy.
Office Christmas Party (2016)
A ragtag group of coworkers throws a crazy Christmas party in the hopes of impressing an important client and saving their branch from closure in Office Christmas Party. A raunchy comedy, this holiday movie is definitely not one to watch with the kids.
Despite the festive decoration of the movie, it has its share of dirty jokes and drug humor, making clear why this movie did so well with men in their 20s when released as per Box Office Mojo.
Anna and the Apocalypse (2017)
Combining zombies and the crumbling of civilization would not be considered typical of a Christmas movie. Yet, Anna and the Apocalypse does just that, as the title character along with her friends must fight zombies in an apocalypse at Christmastime and adjust to the new world in this movie musical.
Truly, the only thing this film has in common with traditional Christmas movies is the production design that signals the holiday season and also the film being a musical. However, even the musical numbers are unconventional, with decapitations and melancholic lyrics populating some of the film's tunes.
A Christmas Tale (2008)
Starring an icon spanning decades of French cinema, Catherine Deneuve portrays the ailing matriarch in this drama-comedy that looks at the strained relationships in a family coming together for the holidays. With dark humor sprinkled throughout, A Christmas Tale relishes in the tense moments between the family , whether it be in the form of drunken toasts or cruel jabs being thrown at each other.
While the film may not give viewers the warm fuzzies like most Christmas movies, this French-language film still has a lot of heart, just delivered in a sardonic way.
Mon Oncle Antoine (1971)
A French Canadian film, Mon Oncle Antoine is a coming-of-age story set at Christmastime in a mining town in Quebec before the Asbestos Strike of 1949. The film combines a traditional coming-of-age story for the 15-year-old male protagonist while also examining Quebec on the cusp of social and political changes that transformed the conservative and clergy-centric culture of the region at the time of the movie's setting.
While the film takes place on Christmas Eve where snow is bountiful and a character even throws Christmas candy to children while riding a sleigh through the village, Mon Oncle Antoine is actually about the loss of innocence; a departure from the typical Christmas movie fare.
Krampus (2015)
Krampus follows the squabbling family of young Max who unleashes Krampus onto the neighborhood when he loses his Christmas spirit, tasking the at-odds family to band together for survival. Using the Bavarian folklore character of Krampus, the film is a Christmas horror comedy that sees the demon-like character of Krampus attacking and killing people.
With dysfunctional families and a horned beast who punishes the naughty, Krampus is not the cuddly, families-hugging Christmas movie that most would expect from the Yuletide season.
L.A Confidential (1997)
L.A Confidential takes place in a corruption-laced 50s Los Angeles, where three contrasting policemen try to solve a series of murders.
Despite the film being a crime drama (with a memorable femme fatale) that looks at the intersection of corruption and Hollywood, the film is set at Christmas, so there are Bing Crosby holiday songs playing as well as many scenes glittering with jubilant lights. Beneath the polish of the film's festive Christmas atmosphere lies a dark story of murder and disillusionment.
Fanny and Alexander (1982)
A semi-autobiographical tale from the classic European director Ingmar Bergman, Fanny and Alexander is about two siblings, the eponymous Fanny and Alexander, who struggle when their mother marries an abusive bishop after their father dies in turn-of-the-century Sweden. The film starts with a big Christmas celebration that was expertly brought to life by the film's production designers. The opening scenes read warmly, as if the audience can feel the love and care that is embedded in the grandmother's house and the family in the film before a tragedy occurs.
However, what makes this film an unconventional Christmas film is that Fanny and Alexander takes a dark turn when the family's joy and light get snuffed out by the death of the patriarch, and a new solemn, controlling male authority figure enters the picture.
Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
Notorious for its onscreen presentation of sexuality, Eyes Wide Shut is one of the A Clockwork Orange. Ironically, the movie's events take place at Christmastime, with glittering Christmas lights as well as holiday shopping and parties providing the backdrop, making it frequently regarded as a Christmas movie, albeit not one to watch with the parents.
Starring real-life spouses (at the time) Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, Eyes Wide Shut follows Dr. Bill Hartford, who goes on an odyssey through New York City's underground after learning his wife Alice daydreamed of cheating on him.
Black Christmas (1974)
The slasher film that started the holidays-as-a-horror movie craze (i.e,Black Christmas tracks the goings-on of a sorority the day Christmas break starts as a killer attacks the campus residents. Christmas is a major part of the story, as everyone in the film refers to going home for Christmas or dreading going home to dysfunctional families for the holiday break. Pillowy snow, colorful Christmas trees, and holiday decorations are bountiful throughout the film's setting.
However, sorority sisters getting murdered one by one would be unconventional for a traditional Christmas movie even by the most iconoclastic individual.
Violent Night (2022)
Santa Claus takes action to save Christmas when mercenaries invade a wealthy family's estate in Violent Night.
This film reads as Santa Claus turned Rambo, with the jolly old St. Nick not so jolly when Christmas is at risk. As the title would suggest, violent fight scenes are plentiful in this yuletide flick, making the Grinch at his meanest seem as sweet as a candy cane. With dark humor, some bloody fighting, and a cynical twist on Christmas movie components, Violent Night has the ingredients to possibly become an unconventional Christmas movie classic.
