10 Alternative Christmas Movies

10. Silent Night

This is a remake of Charles E Selliers’ Silent Night Deadly Night (1984), but all that remains is the plot device of a serial killer in a Santa costume and a sequence where a female victim is impaled on a set of antlers. Everything else has been jettisoned in favour of a more traditional (to say nothing of entertaining) narrative where a small town’s police force search for the killer.

The film’s LA Times review should’ve been plastered across the DVD box: “The movie’s intended audience will be satisfied by its parade of gory mayhem, cheap thrills and groan-worthy dark humour. Everyone else: you’re on your own.”

Considering that the original was picketed on its release by groups who took issue with the portrayal of Santa as a homicidal rapist, that was probably a good idea. Then again, Steven C Miller’s film gives Santa a flamethrower and in one sequence has him chase a naked starlet through the snow before feeding her to a shredder.

Miracle On 34th Street, this is not.