If you're looking for that perfect Christmas classic to watch this holiday season, you won't find it in this list. Here are the 25 worst Christmas films ever made:
Worst of the worst
To many, the holiday season brings images of curling up on the couch with a mug of hot chocolate, lighting a fire and watching a feel-good Christmas movie with friends and family. If you're not careful picking the right movie, however, you could find yourself watching the many failed attempts at a Christmas film.
Whether it's a quintessential hokey Christmas slasher film or the holiday sequel of a sequel of a sequel, these films can turn your cozy tradition into a cringeworthy nightmare.
To help you separate the good from the ho-ho-horrible, PrettyFamous, an entertainment data site from Graphiq, ranked the worst Christmas-themed movies of all time. To qualify, movies had to have at least 2,000 IMDb votes. Then, the worst of the worst were ordered based on their Smart Rating. This is a score out of 100 that takes into account a movie's IMDb rating, Rotten Tomatoes Critic and User rating, Metacritic rating, Gracenote rating and inflation-adjusted U.S. box office gross. In the case of a tie, the movie with fewer IMDb votes was deemed worse.
These movies are best avoided unless you have a penchant for ridiculously wacky, gory or downright campy Christmas flicks. And be warned: the movie that takes the No. 1 spot has a Smart Rating of less than 10 — a genuine Christmas miracle.
Note: Movie descriptions were sourced (with minor edits) from Gracenote.
#25. "Fred Claus"
Smart Rating: 22.44 Release year: 2007 Starring: Vince Vaughn, Paul Giamatti, Miranda Richardson
Of the two Claus brothers, Fred (Vince Vaughn) is the troublemaker and polar opposite of his saintly sibling, Nicholas (Paul Giamatti). When Fred's criminal ways finally land him in big trouble, Nicholas bails him out and brings him to the North Pole to work off the debt by making toys. The headaches mount for St. Nick, who not only must deal with his troublemaking brother, but also an efficiency expert who has come to evaluate Santa's operation.
#24. "Tyler Perry's A Madea Christmas"
Smart Rating: 21.37 Release year: 2013 Starring: Tyler Perry, Kathy Najimy, Chad Michael Murray
Madea (Tyler Perry) accompanies her niece, Eileen (Anna Maria Horsford), to the small town of Buck Tussel to pay a surprise visit to Eileen's daughter, Lacey (Tika Sumpter), who has refused to come home for Christmas. The real reason Lacey is avoiding her judgmental mother is that she has secretly married Connor (Chad Michael Murray), a white classmate from college. When Eileen and Madea arrive at Lacey's farm, she tells them that Connor is an employee, but her lie soon spins out of control.
Smart Rating: 19.75 Release year: 1998 Starring: Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Jessica Biel, Adam LaVorgna
Estranged from his father (Gary Cole), college student Jake (Jonathan Taylor Thomas) is lured home to New York for Christmas with the promise of receiving a classic Porsche as a gift. When the bullying football team dumps him in the desert in a Santa suit, Jake is left without identification or money to help him make the journey. Meanwhile, his girlfriend, Allie (Jessica Biel), does not know where he is, and accepts a cross-country ride from Jake's rival, Eddie (Adam LaVorgna).
#21. "Jack Frost"
Smart Rating: 18.97 Release year: 1998 Starring: Michael Keaton, Kelly Preston, Mark Addy
As a touring musician clinging to dreams of stardom, aging rocker Jack Frost (Michael Keaton) never had much time for his wife, Gabby (Kelly Preston), and young son, Charlie (Joseph Cross). 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.
#20. "Home Alone 4"
Smart Rating: 18.78 Release year: 2002 Starring: French Stewart, Mike Weinberg, Erick Avari
Kevin McCallister (Mike Weinberg) is upset that his parents got divorced. Worse yet, things are heating up between his father Peter (Jason Beghe) and his love interest, Natalie (Joanna Going). Forced to choose where to celebrate Christmas, Kevin begrudgingly decides to go to Natalie's mansion, where the guests include a foreign royal family. Kevin schemes to reunite his estranged parents and -- after Marv Merchants (French Stewart) reappears -- he struggles to protect a prince from abduction.
#19. "Reindeer Games"
Smart Rating: 18.73 Release year: 2000 Starring: Ben Affleck, Gary Sinise, Charlize Theron
Just released from prison, all Rudy Duncan (Ben Affleck) wants is to start a new life with Ashley (Charlize Theron), the girl of his dreams, whom he met through pen pal letters in prison. But between them and happiness stands her crazy brother, Gabriel (Gary Sinise), and his motley crue of deadly criminals who think Rudy has some inside information about a casino where he once had a job — a casino Gabriel and his short-fused posse plan to take down.
#18. "Jingle All the Way"
Smart Rating: 18.66 Release year: 1996 Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sinbad, Phil Hartman
Workaholic Howard Langston (Arnold Schwarzenegger) wants to make things up to his son, Jamie (Jake Lloyd), and wife, Liz (Rita Wilson). He promises to get Jamie the hottest toy of the season, Turbo-Man -- even though it's Christmas Eve and the toy is practically sold out. As Langston hunts down the elusive gift, he runs into mailman Myron (Sinbad), another father on the same quest. With the clock winding down, Langston's moral code is tested as he starts to learn the real meaning of Christmas.
#17. "Santa's Slay"
Smart Rating: 18.63 Release year: 2005 Starring: Bill Goldberg, Douglas Smith, Emilie de Ravin
After a millennium of spreading Christmas cheer, Santa Claus (Bill Goldberg) reverts to his demonic self and gives the gift of fear.
#16. "Love the Coopers"
Smart Rating: 18.44 Release year: 2015 Starring: Alan Arkin, John Goodman, Ed Helms
For their annual Christmas Eve celebration, Sam Cooper (John Goodman) and his wife Charlotte (Diane Keaton) welcome four generations of extended family, including son Hank (Ed Helms), daughter Eleanor (Olivia Wilde) and Charlotte's father, Bucky (Alan Arkin). Sam and Charlotte are separating after 40 years of marriage, while Hank is in the middle of a divorce. As the guests reveal their respective problems, they also rediscover the importance of kinship and the spirit of the holiday.
Nancy (Gabrielle Union), a divorced mother of three, feels especially lonely during the holidays. Sensing her sadness, Nancy's youngest daughter, Emily (Khail Bryant), has a plan to make her mom happy again. She asks Benjamin (Morris Chestnut), a department-store Santa Claus, to pay Nancy a compliment. And Benjamin, who is also a struggling songwriter, knows exactly the right words to say.
#14. "The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause"
Smart Rating: 17.56 Release year: 2006 Starring: Tim Allen, Martin Short, Elizabeth Mitchell
Christmas cheer turns into holiday chaos when Scott Calvin (Tim Allen), aka Santa, invites his in-laws (Ann-Margret, Alan Arkin) for a visit and must, simultaneously, contend with Jack Frost's (Martin Short) scheme to take over the North Pole. Scott, his family and Head Elf Curtis must join forces to foil the nefarious plot.
#13. "Home Alone 3"
Smart Rating: 17.32 Release year: 1997 Starring: Alex D. Linz, Olek Krupa, Rya Kihlstedt
When an inept group of criminals tries to get a stolen top-secret computer chip through airport security, it ends up in a toy car in the luggage of the elderly Mrs. Hess (Marian Seldes). Unable to promptly retrieve the chip, the felons follow Hess and the car to her neighborhood. After she gives the toy to young Alex Pruitt (Alex D. Linz), who is home sick from school, he becomes the target of the criminals. However, the precocious kid is on to their schemes and ready to fight the thieves off.
Documentary filmmaker Michael Malone (Kevin Farley) makes movies about America's shortcomings and is now embarking on a campaign to abolish July 4th. However, he meets John F. Kennedy (Chriss Anglin) on the eve of the holiday, who tells Malone that he will soon be visited by three ghosts. The spirits of a country singer (Trace Adkins), Gen. George S. Patton (Kelsey Grammer) and George Washington (Jon Voight) visit Malone and try to instill a sense of patriotism and love for his country.
#11. "Mixed Nuts"
Smart Rating: 16.23 Release year: 1994 Starring: Steve Martin, Madeline Kahn, Robert Klein
Philip (Steve Martin) manages a suicide-prevention hotline called Lifesavers, assisted by Mrs. Munchnik (Madeline Kahn) and Catherine (Rita Wilson). On Christmas Eve, Philip learns that their landlord (Garry Shandling) is evicting them from their office. Amid all this unrest, Catherine proclaims her love for Philip. And when a cross-dresser (Liev Schreiber) and a pregnant woman (Juliette Lewis) enter into the equation, things get even more interesting.
#10. "Christmas With the Kranks"
Smart Rating: 15.93 Release year: 2004 Starring: Tim Allen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dan Aykroyd
Finally alone for the holidays, Luther (Tim Allen) and Nora Krank (Jamie Lee Curtis) plan to eschew the Christmas traditions and take a cruise in the Caribbean instead. This doesn't sit well with their Christmas-obsessed neighbors Vic Frohmeyer (Dan Aykroyd) and Walt Scheel (M. Emmet Walsh), who are determined to win the annual "best decorated street" competition, and the Kranks soon find themselves social outcasts because of their lack of Christmas spirit.
#9. "Deck the Halls"
Smart Rating: 15.59 Release year: 2006 Starring: Danny DeVito, Matthew Broderick, Kristin Chenoweth
Steve (Matthew Broderick), suburban dad and Christmas enthusiast, finds a wrinkle in his well-ordered existence with the arrival of his new neighbor Danny (Danny DeVito). Danny has big dreams and plans to illuminate his house with enough holiday lights to make it visible from space. Not to be outdone, Steve declares a war of one-upmanship with Danny that threatens to drag the Christmas spirit through the slush.
#8. "Surviving Christmas"
Smart Rating: 14.99 Release year: 2004 Starring: Ben Affleck, James Gandolfini, Christina Applegate
A wealthy executive, Drew Latham (Ben Affleck) has no close relationships and becomes nostalgic for his childhood home as Christmas approaches. When he visits the house and finds another family living there, he offers the residents, Tom Valco (James Gandolfini) and his wife, Christine (Catherine O'Hara), a large sum of money to pretend they are his parents. Soon Drew tests the couple's patience, and, when their daughter, Alicia (Christina Applegate), arrives, things get increasingly tense.
With his parents away, an 8-year-old (Christian Martyn) engages in a battle of wits with some thieves (Malcolm McDowell, Debi Mazar).
#6. "Santa With Muscles"
Smart Rating: 14.5 Release year: 1996 Starring: Hulk Hogan, Don Stark, Robin Curtis
Amnesia makes a mean health food tycoon (Hulk Hogan) think he's Santa Claus, especially when it comes to a local orphanage.
#5. "A Merry Friggin' Christmas"
Smart Rating: 13.51 Release year: 2014 Starring: Joel McHale, Robin Williams, Lauren Graham
Boyd is forced to spend Christmas at his parents' house and has to hit the road with his eccentric father to get his son's Christmas gifts before morning.
#4. "The Nutcracker"
Smart Rating: 13.45 Release year: 2010 Starring: Elle Fanning, Nathan Lane, John Turturro
Christmas in Vienna is a dull affair for 9-year-old Mary (Elle Fanning), until her beloved Uncle Albert (Nathan Lane) arrives and gives her a special gift: an enchanted nutcracker. On Christmas night the nutcracker -- named NC -- comes to life and takes Mary to its magical land of sugarplum fairies and talking toys. Mary discovers that the wondrous kingdom faces a dire threat from the evil Rat King, and when the nutcracker is kidnapped, she must rally her new friends to save NC.
#3. "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians"
Smart Rating: 11.98 Release year: 1964 Starring: John Call, Leonard Hicks, Pia Zadora
Martian ruler Kimar (Leonard Hicks) is upset that the children of Mars are lazy and under the influence of too much pop culture from Earth. They are obsessed with the planet's television programs and don't want to do much of anything. In an attempt to get the kids peppy again, Kimar orders the kidnapping of Santa Claus (John Call), hoping that the jolly old toymaker will know how to cheer the children up again. But two Earth children are also nabbed, and this complicates things for Kimar.
Kirk's sister's annual Christmas party is about to be ruined by Christian, his brother-in-law, and Kirk realizes he has to show Christian how important Christ is to the holiday season.
