ViewAskewbian

Mitchell (1975)

Even his NAME says "Is that a beer?

ViewAskewbian

Thanks for making this thread. Every year I try to find alternative Christmas movies that are not the usual holiday watches. This thread has given me a bunch. I mean, Psycho! I totally never knew that.

Here's some more:

Night of the Comet
The Thin Man
Edward Scissorhands
The Ice Harvest
Tokyo Godfathers
The Apartment
Less Than Zero
Stalag 17
LA Confidential
Lady in the Lake

Jay G.

I almost included The Poseidon Adventure in one of my lists, but it's technically taking place on New Year's Eve, even though there's still Christmas decorations. So it's maybe more a "New Years" movie than Christmas movie.

My criteria is that the film needs to take place almost entirely in December, and reference Christmas in some way. So no films that take place over months or years that happen to have a Christmas scene.

Dimension X

I don't know how "secret" they are, but since you mentioned Tokyo Godfathers, I thought I'd mention Three Godfathers (1936) and it's remake 3 Godfathers (1948).

ViewAskewbian

Tokyo Godfathers is the anime take on these films. In this instance, the baby is found on Christmas Eve and the plot carries through to New Years. It's a pretty fantastic flick.

Dimension X

I own a copy on DVD, that I haven't gotten around to watching yet, that I bought partly for that reason.

L Everett Scott

Either my memory is worse than I thought or I'm way off in thinking I've seen One Nite in Mongkok before. That trailer didn't jog my memory at all.

No probs! Alternate Christmas viewing was kind of in the back of my mind as well.

Thanks for bringing up L.A. Confidential...I really love that movie but totally forgot about the Christmas setting. Same goes for The Apartment...saw that for the first time not too long ago and loved it but again forgot about the Christmas aspect.

I don't believe anyone has mentioned Sean Baker's Tangerine yet. That movie takes place on Christmas Eve in L.A.

I'm pretty sure Three Days of the Condor also takes place around Christmas.

bacigalup

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
The Lion in Winter
Grumpy Old Men
Shazam!
A Bullet For Ringo (A spaghetti western!)

Jay G.

I love how E Unit wrote "every movie written by Shane Black" near the beginning of the thread, and since there's been a slow drip of each of his films being mentioned.

L Everett Scott

I was in my teens when Running Scared (no, not that one) came out but never got around to seeing it, not on VHS nor on DVD. So 36 years later, I finally got to see it and guess what? It belongs in this thread.

Gregory Hines and Billy Crystal (they're actually billed in that order) play a pair of veteran Chicago detectives who keep butting heads with a drug dealer (Jimmy Smits) who has designs on becoming the Windy City's first 'Spanish Godfather'. No one ever mentions what the date is, but there's snow everywhere. (Actually, it's more like thick shaving cream, but you probably won't notice it unless you're watching this movie in HD.) It isn't until the halfway point that we got a shot of Christmas lights in a bar, and you have to wait until the finale to see the State Building decked out in boughs of holly and all that good stuff. My guess is that this wasn't written as a Yuletide movie because no one ever says anything about Christmas, buying presents, etc.

I suspect that Running Scared is largely forgotten because it doesn't stack up to the buddy cop action comedies that came before (48 Hrs., Beverly Hills Cop) or after (Lethal Weapon). But that shouldn't stop you from seeking it out because Hines and Crystal are absolutely great together, and it has a sequence on the El that'll grab your attention because when was the last time you saw a car chase on elevated train tracks?

Trivia: 'Sweet Freedom' by Michael McDonald was the breakout hit from this film's soundtrack.

BrewCrew

One movie I just saw this past weekend again was Catch me if You Can. The whole movie certainly isn't around Christmas and covers many years but there are four scenes, some very pivotal, that revolve around Christmas.

ViewAskewbian

I just watched Hell Boy 2 for the first time last night and the start of the film takes place at Christmas. Good enough for me.

Jay G.

I think including every film that includes a scene at Christmas dilutes the term "Christmas movie" to become basically meaningless, even in a "secret" way.

Like, the thriller No Way Out has a Christmas party scene in it, but the whole story spans months, so it seems wrong to call it a Christmas movie, secret or otherwise.

L Everett Scott

Another one from 1986:

Cobra



I don't believe these have been mentioned, either:

Hold the Dark (2018)


Anna and the Apocalypse (2017)

L Everett Scott

Just watched this one:


Unlike some other movies in this thread, Spencer openly acknowledges Christmas and the characters gather to do things one would during the holiday, such as having dinner with the family and exchanging presents. Having said that, there's only the barest hint of Christmas cheer in this movie, such as when Diana gives very unpretentious gifts to William and Harry.

Although the film takes place during a brief stretch spanning Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day, it's more of a descent into hell than it is a celebration of the Yuletide. The Royals' Christmas activities are scheduled with military precision (a retired army man runs the proceedings) while Diana must wear specific outfits and jewellery chosen for her for each occasion (afternoon sandwiches, dinner, church, etc.). The focus is definitely not on Christmas but rather, Diana feeling trapped and smothered by the traditions to which her in-laws are bound.

This is a film that will cure anybody of the desire to spend a holiday with the British Royal Family.

L Everett Scott

Just thought I'd add to this thread with two Belgian movies that fit the theme:

Calvaire (2004) - Lounge singer Marc Stevens is on his way to a Christmas gig when his van breaks down in a remote area. He's taken in by Bartel, a seemingly friendly innkeeper, but shortly after finds that he might have attracted the interest to the locals in ways that he would never have imagined. This also fits nicely under threads about seriously eff'd up movies.


The Advent Calendar (2021) - You'd think a cursed Advent calendar would be a silly premise for a movie, but this horror flick manages to make it work. With its judicious use of gore effects, this makes for a pretty good introduction for people who are dipping into horror for the first time.


Since I've listed two horror movies, I'll throw in a few others:

P2 (2007) - A woman is trapped in an underground parking lot with a psychotic stalker on Christmas Eve.

Wind Chill (2007) - Emily Blunt plays a college student who's going home to Delaware for the Christmas break by taking a rideshare with a classmate. The two are terrorized by what might be a supernatural stalker.

The Lodge (2019) - Riley Keough goes to spend the holidays with her fiancé and his two children. He gets called away, leaving her and the two kids who begin experiencing seemingly supernatural phenomena.

I Trapped the Devil (2019) - Karen and Matt make a surprise Christmas visit to his brother Steve. He tries to get them to leave, but when they won't, Steve tells the couple he has the Devil locked in his basement.

Red Snow (2021) - A writer of vampire romance novels spends the holidays alone at her family's cabin in Lake Tahoe (as you do). When a bat hits her window, she nurses it back to health and discovers it's actually a real vampire.

BobO'Link

Gremlins
Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
Lady on a Train (1945)
Ghostbusters II
Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone

Alan Smithee

Maniac (1980)
Mysterious Skin
Turbulence

Dimension X

Deadly Illusion (1987)

movieguru

Gremlins
Just Friends
Iron Man 3
Silver Linings Playbook
The Godfather
While You Were Sleeping
Edward Scissorhands
Sleepless in Seattle
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
You've Got Mail
King Kong (the Jack Black version)
Die Hard 2
Step Brothers