The Christmas season is upon us, which means time to sit down and relax with a great holiday movie. We all know about Rankin/Bass claymation specials, Home Alone, A Christmas Story, and Christmas Vacation, but what about the lesser known and more underrated Christmas movies?
With the thousands of Christmas movies available now, and the ability to stream most at the click of a button, finding the right one can feel overwhelming. Some of those films are overlooked, forgotten, or ignored and it’s time to bring them closer to the forefront. Let’s dive into 10 of those such underrated Christmas movies.
Jack Frost
Starring: Michael Keaton, Kelly Preston, Mark Addy, Joseph Cross
Released: 1998
As a touring musician clinging to dreams of stardom, aging rocker Jack Frost never had much time for his wife, Gabby, and young son, Charlie. A year after Jack’s tragic death in a car accident on Christmas Day, Charlie plays a mournful tune on his father’s harmonica. Much to his surprise, the elder Frost is magically brought to life as a snowman on the family lawn. Given a second chance, Charlie and Jack struggle to make up for lost time.
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Klaus
Starring: Jason Schwartzman, J.K. Simmons, Rashida Jones, Will Sasso, Neda Margrethe Labba, Sergio Pablos, Norm Macdonald, Joan Cusack
Released: 2019
A simple act of kindness always sparks another, even in a frozen, faraway place. When Smeerensburg’s new postman, Jesper, befriends toymaker Klaus, their gifts melt an age-old feud and deliver a sleigh full of holiday traditions.
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Fatman
Starring: Mel Gibson, Walton Goggins, Marianne Jean-Baptiste
Released: 2020
To save his declining business, Chris Cringle, also known as Santa Claus, is forced into a partnership with the U.S. military. Making matters worse, Chris gets locked into a deadly battle of wits against a highly skilled assassin, hired by a precocious 12-year-old, after receiving a lump of coal in his stocking.
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Arthur Christmas
Starring: James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie, Bill Nighy, Jim Broadbent, Imelda Staunton, Ashley Jensen
Released: 2011
Everyone knows that, each Christmas, Santa Claus delivers presents to every last child on Earth. What everyone doesn’t know is that Santa accomplishes the feat with a very high-tech operation beneath the North Pole. But when the unthinkable happens, and Santa misses one child out of hundreds of millions, someone has to save the day. It’s up to Arthur, Santa’s youngest son, to deliver a present to the forgotten tyke before Christmas morning dawns.
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Prancer
Starring: Sam Elliott, Rebecca Harrell, Cloris Leachman, Abe Vigoda, Michael Constantine, Rutanya Alda, Ariana Richards, John Joseph Duda
Released: 1989
Refusing to give up her belief in Santa Claus, a child, Jessica Riggs, discovers a hurt reindeer in the woods, which she believes to be Prancer. With the help of a sympathetic veterinarian, Jessica takes care of the wounded creature. It’s supposed to be a secret, but eventually a store Santa Claus, the girl’s dad and the entire town find out about Prancer, leading to big problems for Jessica and her family.
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Noelle
Starring: Anna Kendrick, Bill Hader, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Billy Eichner, Julie Hagerty, Shirley MacLaine
Released: 2019
Kris Kringle’s daughter is full of Christmas spirit but wishes she could do something important like her brother Nick, who will take over for their father this Christmas. When Nick is about to crumble like a gingerbread cookie from all the pressure, Noelle suggests he take a break and get away…but when he doesn’t return, Noelle must find her brother and bring him back in time to save Christmas.
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Scrooged
Starring: Bill Murray, Karen Allen, John Forsythe, Bobcat Goldthwait, Carol Kane, Robert Mitchum, Michael J. Pollard, Alfre Woodard
Released: 1988
In this modern take on Charles Dickens‘ “A Christmas Carol,” Frank Cross is a wildly successful television executive whose cold ambition and curmudgeonly nature has driven away the love of his life, Claire Phillips. But after firing a staff member, Eliot Loudermilk, on Christmas Eve, Frank is visited by a series of ghosts who give him a chance to re-evaluate his actions and right the wrongs of his past.
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The Snowman
Starring: Raymond Briggs (Original version), David Bowie (Re-released version), Howard Blake (Music by)
Released: 1982
After an English boy makes a snowman on Christmas Eve, it comes to life to take him on an adventure to the North Pole to meet Santa Claus.
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Follow That Sleigh
Starring: Denis Norden, Rivka Gannon, Daniel Gannon
Released: 1990
When Santa Claus falls asleep at the house of two children named Kevin and Jennifer, they take the opportunity to check out his sleigh and accidentally start it up. Santa wakes up to find his sleigh has been hijacked, and calls for a rescue team on his radio. It’s up to Elvis the Rockin’ Reindeer to find the sleigh and save Christmas.
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Spirited
Starring: Will Ferrell, Ryan Reynolds, Octavia Spencer, Sunita Mani, Patrick Page, Andrea Anders, Marlow Barkley, Joe Tippett, Jen Tullock, Tracy Morgan
Released: 2022
When the Ghost of Christmas Present accidentally picks the wrong person to reform, he ends up reexamining his own past, present and future.
