10 Best Non-Christmas Christmas Movies
4. Better Off Dead (1985)
Better Off Dead is one of those quintessential '80s flicks about a teenage guy who has it rough growing up in middle America, but finds life especially difficult thanks to the holidays... specifically, Christmas.
The movie kicks off with John Cusack's Lane Myer getting dumped by his girlfriend right before Christmas. As the title indicates, he becomes suicidal but never manages to pull off actually killing himself.
This is one of those dark comedies that truly captures both the pain and comedy of the situation in a way only Cusack could have managed, which is why this film is a classic Christmas movie.
The holidays are always a problem for people suffering from depression and this movie handles it perfectly while still managing to be a Christmas movie. It didn't hurt that the entire setting was covered in snow and the film ended at Christmas with a competition on the slopes. Snow and Winter are often associated with the holiday, but in this case, it really did coincide with the season of giving.