10 Best Alternative Christmas Movies

4. Silent Night, Deadly Night

The last thing you're expecting during a heady period of mince pies and stomach cramps is to be brutally murdered. That was exactly the sense of unsuspecting bloatedness the makers of Silent Night, Deadly Night capitalized on. It being a festive story, the gory goings-on are as straightforward as a Christmas special of Downton Abbey, or the formative journey of Will Ferrell's Elf. Only a bit more violent, as a man a few turkey sandwiches short of a really cold picnic went on the rampage dressed as the Big Beardy One himself.

Many knocked it, but there was clearly a demand for second helpings. Indeed, the movie spawned four sequels, not bad going for an Eighties exploitation flick. And Malcolm McDowell, clearly not learning his lesson from appearing in the Halloween reboots, took part in the inevitable remake in 2012.