Best Dark Christmas Movies

1. Gremlins

A man given a mysterious creature decides to give it to his son for Christmas, but it comes with instructions that must be abided to avoid disaster. A light horror movie that’s more funny than scary, especially now, Gremlins makes a very unorthodox Christmas movie as it features little monsters rampaging a town and killing a guy in a Santa costume.

2. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

A thief accidentally enters an audition for a movie while escaping the police and gets the part, so he is taken to Hollywood to learn his role from a detective, but when he stumbles on a murder, he and his detective buddy must solve it and avoid getting killed. Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer star in this twisted film noir.

3. Die Hard

A New York Police officer visiting his wife at her Christmas office party must fight some so called Russian (or German?) terrorists when they take everyone at the party hostage. It’s Bruce Willis as John Mclain in the best action movie set on Christmas… ever. Obviously, this had to be mentioned. It’s already a staple of Christmas.

4. In Bruges

Two assassins hold up in Bruges after a job during the Christmas season. This is the latest and greatest one to come out, and it’s a bit of an indie movie, so not many people watch it. Colin Ferrell does not do a lot of great movies, and his performances have never been that good, but this is his best performance and best movie. He plays this moronic assassin dealing with a botched hit, and has an odd interest in midgets. It’s surprisingly good, dark, funny, and almost light-hearted in its own demented way.

5. Diner

A group of guys who have a tradition of meeting at their local diner to escape life sort out their issues on Christmas. Mickey Rourke is great in this movie and pulls one of the most iconic movie theatre moves in history.

6. The Ice Harvest

A mob lawyer and his friend are stuck during an ice storm on Christmas after stealing money from mobsters. Very dark movie starring John Cusack and Billy Bob Thorton. This one really does show a darker side to the season with its backwards Christmas in strip clubs followed by multiple bloody murders.

7. The Nightmare Before Christmas

An otherworldly person learns of the real world and Santa Claus and decides to take his place to wreak havoc on the world.

8. Batman Returns

Batman fights cat woman and penguin during Christmas and new years. This is the only superhero movie set during Christmas, and just so happens to be made by Tim Burton. There is a pattern here. He has made two movies that mix the Christmas theme with the dark, sort of Halloween, theme. Either he has a problem with Christmas or he likes the artistic juxtapose of the light and dark.