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Tired Of The Same Christmas Movies? Try These Obscure Holiday Flicks.

Tired Of The Same Christmas Movies? Try These Obscure Holiday Flicks. December 10, 2018

best obscure christmas movies

The holidays are a time of traditions. Because there's always the same foods, the same family jokes, the same exchanging of presents. But do you have to watch the same movies? Or would you rather switch things up with the best obscure Christmas movies? Well, we've got your back. Here are the best obscure Christmas movies to keep things interesting this holiday season.

Unaccompanied Minors

best obscure christmas movies
IMAGE BY: Mubi
Before he blew up with movies like Bridesmaids and Ghostbusters, director Paul Feig helmed this underrated holiday caper. At an airport, a group of stranded kids bands together to ward off grumpy adults (including a who's who of your favorite comedy actors), get into all kinds of shenanigans, and learn a lesson or two about the Christmas spirit.

The Ref

best obscure christmas movies
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[dx_custom_adunit desktop_id="RTK_K67O" mobile_id="RTK_5yk0"] Think your family holiday dinners are tough? You ain't got nothing on the Chasseurs, the miserable family at the center of the pitch-black comedy The Ref. Denis Leary stars as a hapless robber who wanders into the family dysfunction on Christmas Eve. He winds up getting distracted from stealing their jewels by acting as a sort of, well, referee.

The Night Before

best obscure christmas movies
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Anthony Mackie, Seth Rogen, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt play best friends who have slowly drifted apart since childhood. But every night on Christmas Eve, they come together for a night of wild debauchery. The Night Before is a raunchy romp like any other Rogen flick. But it's also stylishly directed, has a lovely amount of heart, and features an incredible supporting turn from Michael Shannon.

The Long Kiss Goodnight

best obscure christmas movies
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Geena Davis and Samuel L. Jackson are the best Christmas action duo since Harry and Marv. In The Long Kiss Goodnight, the holidays provide a fun backdrop to a twisty, Bourne Identity-esque plot in which Davis suddenly discovers she possesses all the skills of a spy. Set pieces and quippy dialogue galore in this macho gift of a film.

The Ice Harvest

best obscure christmas movies
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[dx_custom_adunit desktop_id="RTK_K67O" mobile_id="RTK_5yk0"] Why is John Cusack so pensive at Christmas? It could be because he's a corrupt lawyer for the mafia in way over his head. The Ice Harvest, from iconic comedy director Harold Ramis, is full of dark humor, shocking violence, and a Coen Brothers-esque view of the holidays. It's the perfect tonic for any Grinch or Scrooge among you.

The Holiday

best obscure christmas movies
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Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet switch places for the holidays. Diaz meets Jude Law in Surrey, England. Winslet meets Jack Black in Los Angeles, USA. The audience is delighted by a sparkling, charming, and heartwarming holiday rom-com. This one's for the Love Actually fan looking for a nice double feature.

The Family Man

best obscure christmas movies
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What if? It's a question at the heart of many Christmas tales, including It's A Wonderful Life and A Christmas Carol. And it's put to similarly heartwrenching use in The Family Man, a gentle fantasy in which grumpy Wall Street man Nicolas Cage wakes up one day to find himself in an idyllic marriage. Which life does he prefer? And is it too late?

The Bishop's Wife

best obscure christmas movies
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[dx_custom_adunit desktop_id="RTK_K67O" mobile_id="RTK_5yk0"] Here's a classic piece of Hollywood for you. The Bishop's Wife follows a bishop searching for help. He gets it via a bonafide angel, played with movie star aplomb by Cary Grant. This movie is charming and easy to watch -- and you can't go wrong with the Denzel Washington-starring remake The Preacher's Wife, either.

Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale

best obscure christmas movies
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For the bloodthirsty genre fan, we've got a movie covered in red for you -- and we're not talking decorations. Rare Exports asks a couple of sly questions: What if there were multiple Santa Clauses? And what if they were, like, kinda evil? The Finnish flick answers these questions with sticky setpieces and an understated sense of humor.

Prancer

best obscure christmas movies
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Sometimes you want a holiday film that's right down the middle. That's Prancer. It's a family film about a young girl who finds Prancer, one of Santa's reindeer. Featuring Hollywood vets like Sam Elliott and Cloris Leachman, Prancer gives you everything you'd expect in a heartwarming Christmas film, and gives it to you very well.

Less Than Zero

best obscure christmas movies
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[dx_custom_adunit desktop_id="RTK_K67O" mobile_id="RTK_5yk0"] Featuring Robert Downey Jr. and James Spader in their "pre-Marvel prime", Less Than Zero follows the foibles of young, privileged, addicted teens spending the holidays diving into heartache, substance abuse, and acidic barbs. It's based on a novel by Bret Easton Ellis who also wrote American Psycho, so that should give you a sense of its dark tone.

Krampus

best obscure christmas movies
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Krampus is like Rare Exports after eating way too much holiday candy. It's loud, has no subtlety in its characters, and features a series of scares that we could charitably call "utterly bonkers town". But if you've watched Gremlins a few too many times and need something new, Krampus will scratch that itch and thensome.

Just Friends

best obscure christmas movies
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We know. It seems like Just Friends is just a cheesy rom-com predicated on fat-shaming and friend zonnig. But if you give the mid-2000s Christmas comedy a chance, you'll find it has a surprisingly sweet and progressive message on its mind. Plus, Anna Faris gives an MVP performance as a truly insane temptress.

Joyeux Noel

best obscure christmas movies
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[dx_custom_adunit desktop_id="RTK_K67O" mobile_id="RTK_5yk0"] December 1914, World War I. Among the bloodshed, it is decided across the world that every soldier will participate in a truce for Christmas. This real story, fraught with bittersweet emotions, is depicted in the French epic Joeyux Noel. It's equal parts sweet and sad. The tears you'll cry will feel earned.

A Very Harold And Kumar 3D Christmas

best obscure christmas movies
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They went to a burger chain. Then to Guantanamo Bay. Where to next for Harold and Kumar, your favorite best friends and stoners? To find a Christmas tree, of course. This simple task propels the third and final film in the series to a litany of wild setpieces that combine vulgar horseplay with a sweet emotional core. And, yes, NPH is back.

Happy Christmas

best obscure christmas movies
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Joe Swanberg is interested in the excruciatingly real behaviors of broken people trying their best. And when he trains his lens on people at Christmas, the results are like a glass of eggnog mixed with hard, hard scotch. Anna Kendrick centers this holiday dramedy with some of the most vulnerability you'll ever see her perform onscreen.

Go

best obscure christmas movies
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[dx_custom_adunit desktop_id="RTK_K67O" mobile_id="RTK_5yk0"] If Tarantino made a Christmas movie, it might feel a little like Go. It's an ensemble picture about drugs, small-time crooks, and hanging out with friends. Plus, the whole thing's told out of order. For the Pulp Fiction acolyte who needs a new savior for the holidays, Go tell it on the mountain.

Friday After Next

best obscure christmas movies
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Did you know the third Friday movie is Christmas-themed? And as you might expect, it has an appealingly unique take on the holidays, as Ice Cube and Mike Epps deal with all kinds of crazy shenanigans and characters. Plus, the soundtrack is on fire, with some of the dopest version of Xmas songs you'll ever hear.

Die Hard 2

best obscure christmas movies
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We're all familiar with the first time John McClane dealt with a Christmas difficulty. But are you as familiar with its sequel? Die Hard 2, like the first one, takes place on Christmas Eve. And it's a bigger, wonkier, goofier affair -- not nearly as tightly constructed as the first, but it offers its own campy Christmas pleasures. 

Black Christmas

best obscure christmas movies
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[dx_custom_adunit desktop_id="RTK_K67O" mobile_id="RTK_5yk0"] Did you know one of the most influential slasher films is also a Christmas movie? Black Christmas is for lovers of dark stuff only, as the movie borders on nihilistic in its depictions of violence. Looks like The Ghost Of Christmas Future has a new unseen killer to go up against.

Arthur Christmas

best obscure christmas movies
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We'd pitch Arthur Christmas as the Paddington of Christmas movies. If that's not enough to make you immediately rent it, we'll keep going! It's quiet, charming, hysterical, and so, so, SO British. Enjoy this most pleasant of holiday imports, posthaste.

All Is Bright

best obscure christmas movies
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It's a meeting of the two Pauls -- Giamatti and Rudd. And they're sad sack losers. And they're trying to sell Christmas trees in an attempt to go straight after a stint in jail. And they're trying to redeem themselves. And it's downright criminal that All Is Bright is not more well known.

A Christmas Tale

best obscure christmas movies
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[dx_custom_adunit desktop_id="RTK_K67O" mobile_id="RTK_5yk0"] If Arthur Christmas is the most British Christmas film, A Christmas Tale is undoubtedly the most French. It stars French screen royalty Catherine Deneuve as the matriarch of an incredibly dysfunctional family. And this Christmas, she has a bit of a bombshell to drop on them. Joyeux noel indeed.

3615 code Pere Noel

best obscure christmas movies
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Love Home Alone? Chances are you'll love 3615 code Pere Noel, too. It's about a vicious criminal dressed as Santa Claus who invades the home of a precocious child. But the precocious child has some tricks up his sleeve. Director René Manzor thought Home Alone was so similar to his film, that he believed they plagiarized him.

Three Godfathers

best obscure christmas movies
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Three Godfathers is a lot of things. It's a classic Hollywood Western. It's one of many pairings between actor John Wayne and director John Ford. It's a strange allegory for the birth of Christ and the three wise men. And, most importantly, it's an incredible Christmas movie you may not have seen.