Sitting on the sofa with your friends or family and binging a series of Christmas movies can be fun during the holiday season. It can be so much fun sitting around with your loved ones with a glass of wine or a big bowl of popcorn and watching Christmas-themed movies. But, if you’re tired of watching the same old Christmas movies, then you might want to think about reenergizing everyone that takes part in your watching tradition this year by shaking it and provide a unique mix of alternative Christmas movie that might just satisfy everyone that watches with you, if they’ve got a sense of humor, a flair for the dramatic, or love the bad, cheesy Christmas movies of recent years.
Fortunately, because we live in the age of streaming video, finding all kinds of crazy and fun Christmas movies is as easy as turning on the Roku or Apple TV and checking across Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, or Crackle. If you’re up for a little fun and appreciate the spirit of the holidays, we’re certain that you and your loved ones will be amazed by the sheer volume of weird, funny, even stupid-themed Christmas movies that are currently available to stream during the holiday season.
There are the wholesome Christmas movies of the Hallmark Channel and Lifetime Network, and then there are the weird direct-to-video gems that usually feature some kind of alternate protagonist–like a dog–in a lead role or one that features a setting in a little, unknown Rocky Mountain town. Whatever your interest or guilty pleasure, we’re sure that there are a whole slew of Christmas movies out there to watch this holiday season, that won’t leave you having, once more, to sit through yet another viewing of It’s A Wonderful Life, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Home Alone, or any of the others that play in a continuous loop during the month of December on television.
National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation 2: Cousin Eddie’s Island Adventure (2003)
Speaking of guilty pleasures, did you know that they made a National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation 2? Yep. In a lot of ways, it’s a sick and wrong premise, like something that might belong in an alternate dimension. But, if you’re anything like us and you sick to death of the original 1989 Christmas movie, then why not give this stupid, made-for-television sequel starring many from the original a try? Don’t worry: Chevy Chase isn’t in this one. Neither is Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Neither is E.G. Marshall or William Hickey (they’re both dead). But, who’s in this is Randy Quaid, that’s right: Cousin Eddie. The character that most people liked the best in the original Christmas Vacation, if you don’t believe, just look at the amazing collection of Cousin Eddie merchandise on the internet today, there are even Christmas Vacation ugly Christmas pajamas available over at UglyChristmasSweater.com. Yep, that’s right: Christmas takes place on a tropical island. What better way to celebrate the holidays with your friends or family than living vicariously through characters who have chosen to leave the snow behind during the holidays for the beach.
A Christmas Story 2 (2012)
As much as you might have been shocked to discover that someone has made a sequel to National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, someone has also made a sequel to the original Bob Clark holiday classic, A Christmas Story. Trading in nostalgia for slapstick, A Christmas Story 2 is everything that you’d imagine a sequel to A Christmas Story shouldn’t be. However, watching a really bad movie can be so much fun, especially if you’re doing it with friends and family, because it’s so wonderful to be able to share time with your loved ones. Laughing with your friends and family can really make a holiday night, so if you’re looking for a way to enliven everyone during a cold, snowy, wintery night during the holidays, you’ll need to all sit down on the sofa, and turn on one of the worst movies ever made, Christmas-related or otherwise.
A Christmas Carol (2009)
Okay, it’s very hard to believe that anyone who might read this post, hasn’t seen the original Charles Dickens’ classic, A Christmas Carol. Everyone has. But has everyone seen the 2009 Robert Zemekis-directed, Jim-Carrey version? That’s right, from the director of the Back to the Future movies and the director of Forrest Gump, here comes a new vision of A Christmas Carol that stars the one-and-only, Jim Carrey. And just as Jim Carrey dazzled everyone in Ron Howard’s The Grinch movie a few years ago, he does the same here in the role of Scrooge. You really need to see this holiday season. You’ll be asking yourself: How did I miss this back in 2009 when it first came out? Available on Amazon Prime.
A Mermaid for Christmas (2019)
Because: Why not? Another, no doubt, for the bad-movie Christmas club, A Mermaid For Christmas is everything that you think that a movie called A Mermaid for Christmas is supposed to be. Featuring a hodgepodge of actors you’ve never seen before, and ones that you’ll probably never see again in a movie, a Mermaid for Christmas is fun. Yes, there’s a mermaid. Yes, there’s a love angle. Yes, it takes place during Christmas, but what they don’t tell you before you watch it, is that A Mermaid For Christmas, is actually coming out again in 2020, but it will be a drinking game next time around. Also available on Amazon Prime.
Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas (1977)
Made for Canadian television in 1977, Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas is one of the almost-forgotten about Jim Henson specials. At one point, difficult to track down on home video, even though, it aired on HBO often during the holidays during the early-1980s, it’s a live-action take on the classic O’Henry story, The Gift of the Magi. While that might not sound super appealing, what makes it so is that it’s done by Jim Henson, which means that it features new Muppet characters. Little Emmet Otter in need of some money to buy his mother a Christmas gift, enters a local music competition. If he wins, he’ll get the money he needs to buy his mother a gift (his mother has alway entered so that she can get some money to buy her son Emmet a gift), if only he can beat the local monster hooligans and their heavy metal band. It’s an enduring Jim Henson classic, and because of its lack of availability over the years isn’t something that’s been as widely seen as other Henson specials. Available on Amazon Prime too!
This is a guest post provided by Justin Michaels at UglyChristmasSweater.com
Tammy Litke is a Dallas blogger, blogging since 2008. She loves to watch movies, play video games, spend time in the kitchen, and travel. Between recipes and reviews you’ll find many helpful and some just plain funny posts on her blog. Welcome, pull up a chair and stay for a while!
These sound like good movies to watch.