7 Surprisingly Dark Moments From Your Favourite Christmas Movies

3. "That's How I Found Out There Was No Santa Claus." - Gremlins

Anarchic and subversive it may be but Joe Dante's classic horror comedy is still perceived as a festive kid-friendly flick, mainly thanks to the presence of the adorable Gizmo. For that little critter, parents seem to be able to wave away the terrible gremlins and their murderous actions. But there is one moment that is so jaw-droppingly dark it is amazing that we all watched this as young-uns. Yes, the most infamous scene in the movie occurs when Phoebe Cates' Kate tells the horrid tale of how her father died by pretending to be Santa and climbing down the chimney to surprise his wife and child - only to fall and break his neck, his rotting corpse being found by Kate days later. Apart from anything else, this is really not the sort of thing you expect from a film with Steven Spielberg's name above the title (Spielberg exec produced). Maybe there is a deleted scene out there that shows E.T dying gruesomely on his way back to his home planet.