There’s an argument to be made that it’s better to put on the worst holiday movies than the best ones as you celebrate the Christmas season. After all, the holidays are a time to gather the family and catch up with loved ones, not sit down and watch TV. Put on something too good and everyone might be collectively absorbed by what’s onscreen and where’s the fun in that? By contrast, the worst holiday movies encourage a spirit of mockery or distraction, allowing people to focus on the things that matter most: each other. Awwwwww…
To determine the worst holiday movies ever made, 24/7 Tempo developed an index using average ratings on IMDb, an online movie database owned by Amazon, and a combination of audience scores and Tomatometer scores on Rotten Tomatoes, an online movie and TV review aggregator, as of December 2022, weighting all ratings equally. Directorial and acting credits are from IMDb. (On the other hand, these are the best Christmas movies of all time.)
As it turns out, however, some of the lowest-rated holiday movies are still relatively watchable. Examples include the 2008 comedy “Four Christmases” starring Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon, which goes a bit too far with the gross-out humor but nevertheless pulls off plenty of laughs. Or consider Steven Spielberg’s 1979 misfire “1941,” a bonkers satire about public panic that still has plenty of defenders to this day. (See where it falls on the list of 32 Steven Spielberg movies ranked worst to best.)
Those looking for pure dreck, on the other hand, won’t have to look far. From 2019’s abysmal “Black Christmas” remake to the 2004 family comedy “Christmas With the Kranks” and more, some holiday movies went straight onto Santa’s naughty list and have remained there ever since. Does that mean you should put them on so that you and your loved ones can get together and poke fun at their shortcomings? It probably depends on whether you want to spend more quality time or less with your family during the festivities. We’d understand either way.
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