MovieMuse
Over the last few years the MovieMuse team has logged more than 50 Christmas movies in our MovieViews database, which has enabled us to produce this list of films for the festive period. Some are good, some are bad and some are far less Christmassy than others, but if you’re wondering whether any of those made-for-TV movies are worth a watch, are looking for something a little different or just want a reminder of some Yuletide classics, look no further than our handy reference guide!
You can also see the MovieMuse team’s Top Ten Christmas films by checking out the YouTube video at the bottom of the page.
Please note that the below list spans multiple pages – the navigation buttons at the bottom of the list will move between them.
| Poster | Movie | Genre | Year | Comments | Rating | Reviewer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Lethal Weapon | Action, Crime, Thriller | 1987 | Apart from the pointless ending Lethal Weapon holds up extremely well and reminds us of how good Mel Gibson's psycho persona really is. | 3.5 | Gordon |
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Love Actually | Comedy, Romance | 2003 | Over the top, sentimental, awkward, comical and packed with cheese - Love Actually is all of these things but so is Christmas, so as a heart-warming festive feelgood movie it's hard to beat. | 3.5 | Mat |
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Mercy Christmas | Comedy, Horror | 2017 | A bizarre movie that takes the normal stress of cooking Christmas dinner and makes it all the more difficult by the main course being human beings! Low budget with limited acting, but still offers some original and humorous moments. | 2.5 | Mat |
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Miracle on 34th Street | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy | 1994 | Richard Attenborough is fantastic in this delightful, frequently hilarious story that also has great courtroom drama scenes and retains the old-fashioned charm of the era that the original version was made. | 4 | Mat |
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National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation | Comedy | 1989 | Incredibly dated by modern standards, this is very much a vehicle for Chevy Chase's antics and there isn’t much of a story to go with them, and they aren’t actually that funny either. A pale shadow of the original Vacation, which remains a classic. | 2.5 | Mat |
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Nativity Rocks! | Comedy, Family, Music | 2018 | Another re-tread of a well worn story. Not only is the Nativity a franchise of diminishing returns, the lead actors also reduce in stature with each entry. | 1.5 | Gordon |
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Office Christmas Party | Comedy | 2016 | A generally dreadful sequence of comedy sketches linked by the flimsiest of plots, with only around 10% of them actually being funny. The big name stars involved with this deserve better. | 1.5 | Mat |
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Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale | Action, Fantasy | 2010 | A dark, comic twist on the Santa Claus legend, which hints at being a horror film but never truly follows through with it. Well put together on a modest budget, featuring a brilliant performance from Onni Tomilla who would go on to star in Big Game. | 3.5 | Mat |
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Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale | Foreign Language, Horror | 2010 | A superb Christmas themed horror film with a difference, featuring great humour and excitement without the need for too much gore or jump scares. | 4 | Gordon |
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Scrooge | Drama | 1951 | This version of A Chrstmas Carol set the standard and the visual theming for all that followed (including The Muppets) | 4 | Gordon |
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Scrooged | Comedy, Fantasy | 1988 | An often overlooked Christmas film and made for Bill Murray at the height of his powers I would say. No one could play a modern day Scrooge any better and the film is a great take on the classic story. | 3.5 | Simon |
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Scrooged | Comedy, Fantasy | 1988 | A witty and occasionally touching retelling of A Christmas Carol with Bill Murray in fine comedic form and Carol Kane the pick of bunch from the ghosts that pay him a visit. | 3.5 | Mat |
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Snow Buddies | Adventure, Family | 2008 | A horrible family adventure film where the canine actors are significantly better than their human counterparts, but are ruined by giving them terrible kids voices. At least the scenery was nice! | 1.5 | Mat |
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Snow Day | Comedy, Family | 2000 | A predictable teen high school romance comedy set against a snowy backdrop. Mildly entertaining but nothing that hasn’t been done a thousand times before, and Chevy Chase may as well have not turned up. | 2 | Mat |
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Snowmen | Comedy, Drama | 2010 | A schizophrenic film that can’t decide if it's a fun family comedy or a serious drama. There are occasionally good moments from both but the whole thing doesn't really work as a cohesive story. | 2.5 | Mat |
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Stick Man | Animation, Family, Short | 2015 | A magically heart warming tale of a humble stick's journey home. Stunningly animated and heart breaking in places, but ultimately uplifting and joyful. Beautiful. | 4.5 | Gordon |
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The 12 Disasters of Christmas | Fantasy, Thriller | 2012 | A doomsday event inspired by the 12 Days of Christmas isn't the worst idea for a disaster movie, and this does its best with a limited cast and a presumably miniscule special effects budget. Not quite as awful as anticipated. | 2.5 | Mat |
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The Christmas Chronicles | Comedy, Family | 2018 | Predictable but watchable family christmas caper with a wonderful performance from Kurt Russell as the fat man in the beard (and what a beard it is!). | 3.5 | Gordon |
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The Christmas Chronicles | Adventure, Fantasy | 2018 | Kurt Russell makes a surprisingly good Santa in a film that borrows themes from at least half a dozen family classics and yet still feels fresh and un-patronising. Easily the best modern Christmas movie since Elf. | 3.5 | Mat |
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The Christmas Chronicles 2 | Adventure, Fantasy | 2020 | Again influenced by past Christmas movies but plundering almost every major family comedy and fantasy movie of the last 40 years for ideas too, the plot is a bit of a mess and there's some below-par CGI, but it is still a fairly enjoyable Christmas movie. | 3 | Mat |
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The Christmas Dragon | Fantasy | 2014 | The attempt to do a Christmas film in a medieval fantasy setting is laudible, but it is let down by a lack of special effects budget and acting talent, while the dragon is barely involved! | 2 | Mat |
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The Dog Who Saved Christmas | Comedy, Family | 2009 | Basically it's Home Alone with a dog replacing Macaulay Culkin, much worse acting and very little humour. Inoffensive but instantly forgettable. | 1.5 | Mat |
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The Forgotten Toys | Animation, Family, Short | 1995 | A delightful tale of the toys that get thrown away as time and technology march on. With a great voice cast and some charming characters, it is worth 25 minutes of anyones time. | 3.5 | Gordon |
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The Grinch | Animation, Comedy, Family | 2018 | Despite some token hip-hop that feels out of place, this retelling of the Dr Seuss classic does easilly as good a job as the live action alternative. | 3.5 | Gordon |
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The Knight Before Christmas | Comedy, Fantasy, Romance | 2019 | Josh Whitehouse is good value as a 14th century knight transported to modern times to fulfil a quest by Christmas Eve. Utterly predictable but above-average acting and some amusing 'fish out of water' scenes make it a perfectly watchable festive film. | 3 | Mat |