Non-traditional Christmas picks: Year Two

Merry Christmas! I figured I'd again list some movies, TV episodes, and specials I feel are terribly underrated and/or just a little unknown.

The Hunt (a horribly depressing and intense 2012 Danish drama with a climax during the holiday season)
Arthur's Perfect Christmas
When Harry Met Sally (sort of an all seasons story but key scenes during the holidays)
Justice League: "Comfort and Joy"
Scooby Doo! Where Are You?: "That's Snow Ghost"
Batman- The Animated Series: "Holiday Knights," "Christmas with the Joker, "Heart of Ice"
Nip/Tuck: "Joy Kringle," "Duke Collins," "Reefer"
American Horror Story: "Unholy Night" (a correction from the way I mistitled the episode from last year)
Arthur Christmas
The Town Santa Forgot
Rise of the Guardians
Mean Girls (key scenes during Christmas)
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: "Alpha's Magical Christmas" (some nostalgia)
Ernest Saves Christmas
A Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie
A Muppet Family Christmas
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (set at winter, but no cheer here)
Jingle All the Way (some so-bad-it's-funny)
Krampus
Prancer
Santa Claus: The Movie
Santa Claus (1959) (some hilarious and bizarre cult Mexican cinema)
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians
Any of the classic Nicktoons or Cartoon Network specials
The Night Before
Batman: Sub-Zero
Beowulf (has a winter vibe)
Hawaii Five-O: "Mele Kalikimaka," "Hana 'a'a Makehewa"
Batman: Arkham Origins (a video game, not a film)
Reindeer Games (not really a good movie, but a bit of dumb fun)
Edward Scissorhands
The Little Match Girl
The Wizard of Oz (now oft-forgotten as a holiday viewing favorite of the past)
Babes in Toyland (1934)
Courage the Cowardly Dog: "The Nutcracker"
The Toy that Saved Christmas
Fantasia 2000- "The Steadfast Soldier" segment
Toy Story (ends at Christmastime and revolves around toys)
The Ref
Happy Feet
Futurama: "Xmas," "The Futurama Holiday Spectacular"
The Nice Guys
The League: "Kegel the Elf," "Thanksgiving," "The 8 Defensive Points of Hanukkah"
The Office: "Dwight Christmas," "Classy Christmas," "A Benihana Christmas," "Secret Santa," "Moroccan Christmas," "Christmas Party"
Grindhouse "Thanksgiving" segment
It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown
Django Unchained and The Hateful Eight (both have prominent winter feel to them)
The Last of Us (video game, winter segment)

Again, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, or whatever holiday you find yourself celebrating!

 (Image: history.com)

My Picks for Non-Traditional Holiday Films/Specials

Merry Christmas! This year, I've been watching a lot more untraditional holiday specials and movies, or rediscovering ones I don't watch as much anymore, trying to find new annual favorites, and to break the mundanity of forcing myself to sit down and watch the same holiday films every year. So here's a list of my personal favorite non-traditional holiday watches:

Film:
Joyeux Noel
Die Hard
Lethal Weapon
Black Christmas
Krampus
Silent Night, Deadly Night
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Batman Returns
Edward Scissorhands


TV Episodes/Specials:
"Kegel the Elf" from The League
The Snowman
"Night of the Meek" from The Twilight Zone
"And All Through the House" from Tales from the Crypt
"A Krampus Carol" from The League
"Confrontation" from Wilfred
A Claymation Christmas Celebration
"A Very Venture Christmas" from The Venture Bros.
"Mr. Grumpy-Pants" from Superjail!
Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol
The Cricket on the Hearth
The Leprechaun's Christmas Gold
Ernest Saves Christmas (if you hate yourself)
"A Very Sunny Christmas" from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
"Silent Night" from American Horror Story: Asylum
"Birth" and "Afterbirth" from American Horror Story
"O Holy Moly Night" from F is for Family
Arthur's Perfect Christmas
The Town that Santa Forgot
"Christmas Special" from The League of Gentlemen
The Star Wars Holiday Special (only if you enjoy so-bad-it's-funny specials)
"A Very Special Family Guy Freakin' Christmas" from Family Guy
"Road to the North Pole" from Family Guy
"Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" from The Simpsons
"The Fight Before Christmas" from The Simpsons
"Tis the Fifteenth Season" from The Simpsons
"Woodland Critter Christmas" from South Park
"Sabrina's Christmas Wish" from BoJack Horseman
"It's Christmas in Canada!" from South Park
"A Very Crappy Christmas" from South Park
"Merry Christmas, Charlie Manson!" from South Park
"Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo" from South Park
"Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics" from South Park
"Red Sleigh Down" from South Park
"HappyHolograms" from South Park
"Black Friday" trilogy from South Park
"A History Channel Thanksgiving" from South Park
"Helen Keller! The Musical" from South Park
"Merry Christmas, Mister Bean" from Mister Bean
"The Draft Dodger" from All in the Family
"Blackadder Christmas Carol" from Blackadder

Krampus: The latest holiday horror film from the director of "Trick r Treat"

Krampus:

It's the modern holiday seasons: an upper middle-class family is reluctantly having their obnoxious redneck in-laws over for Christmas. Hijinks ensue, resulting in the youngest son taking back his Christmas wish for his family to better themselves. Suddenly, an intense blizzard knocks out the neighborhood's power and prevents road travel. Very quickly, the family begins to realize that a supernatural force is tampering with their lives: the Krampus, the ancient German demon who comes to punish those who do not embrace the Christmas spirit.

    I've found the legend of the Krampus fascinating for a while now. The irony of this dark and morbid story being told to children around the happiest season of the year was intriguing to me. So when I heard Michael Dougherty (director of the Halloween horror film Trick r Treat) was doing a film about a family who encounters this creature, I was hyped. Initially the trailers were very dumb, but I was confident it would be a fun little movie. And it was. Slightly disappointing, considering how great Dougherty's first effort was, but still enjoyable.

    The humor of the film blends with the horror surprisingly well, and Adam Scott, Toni Collette, Allison Tolman, David Koechner, and Conchata Ferrell were great comic relief in the film, and while initially seeming very unlikable, slowly start to grow on you as the survival portion of the film sets in. Krista Stadler, Emjay Anthony, and Stefania LaVie Owen were good supporting characters, playing the grandmother and two kids, respectively. Some reviewers complained the family was unlikable for the most part, but I found myself sympathizing them more and more as the film went on, and I believe that was Dougherty's intention. However, characters often make dumb, horror movie mistakes, but the tongue-in-cheek nature of the film makes this more understandable.

    Krampus himself takes a backseat most of this movie, which was slightly disappointing, but also built suspense to his eventual arrival. His design was pretty great in this movie, paying homage to traditional portrayals, while trying its' own thing. The special effects of the monsters in this film were fantastic, mostly practical effects, though at times the effect of the Jack-in-the-Box creature looked like a Power Rangers monster suit, and one key scene of a character falling was laughable looking and almost ruins the climax. There is, however, a short clay-mation/CG sequence that looks amazing and shows Dougherty hasn't forgotten his background in animation.

    The story at times had holes (how much of the town Krampus' snowstorm has enveloped is unclear), and the ending (as Chris Stuckmann pointed out in his review) felt a little too similar to the ending of Jeepers Creepers. The jump scares felt a little cheap, and I know from watching Trick r Treat that Dougherty can do better, and overall you can tell he wasn't having as much fun with the Christmas horror concept as with the Halloween one. In fact, the PG-13 rating seems to drag down this project with its' obviously censored dialogue ("Get away from my kids, you fudger!") and lack of blood. I'm all for "what you see is less scary that what you don't", but with a big, dumb, in-your-face monster movie like this, some gore would be a good payoff but I never got that. Trick r Treat was rated R, and therefore went all-out with the gore and was better for it. 

    The film felt longer than it was, but that's a good thing. It felt like a solid length for this type of movie. Krampus is an entertaining movie, albeit a slight let-down. Best case scenario: it encourages more viewers to check out Dougherty's Trick r Treat, which, unlike this film, was given a criminally limited theatrical run and then went straight to video and on demand for vague reasons, despite having a good budget and cast. Worst case scenario: it disappoints people and discourages them from watching ore of Dougherty's horror films, which would be a shame, as Dougherty is a talented filmmaker who should branch out and do more work outside of just writing. Give this one a watch, and then go out and buy Trick r Treat for next Halloween (or just watch it now, it doesn't matter). 7/10 stars.

                                     

(Images: Wikipedia, comingsoon.net)