1. The Sure Thing (1985)
I know what you're probably thinking: "what on earth is an '80s teen comedy doing at the head of a list of thrillers and horror flicks?" I'll admit that this is, to say the least, a striking shift in tone. It's also not as if I haven't already spoken my piece about this overlooked gem before, since I've
written about it before. However, there's no un-orthodox Christmas flick that's captured my love more strongly than this one, so here I am, writing about it again. The Sure Thing revolves around Walter "Gib" Gibson (John Cusack), who spends his college days scraping by in class and pursuing Alison Bradbury (Daphne Zuniga), a smart, pretty, and stressed fellow student. Both Gib and Alison are planning on traveling to California for Christmas vacation. Alison plans on meeting her boyfriend there, while Gib anticipates being set up with a "sure thing," a blonde bombshell who will sleep with anyone (or so Gib's best friend says). Gib & Alison are randomly thrown together for the cross-country trip when they both answer the same carpool ad. The two grow close as they endure such obstacles as crazily happy car partners, the loss of wallets & purses, and kinky old men, eventually falling in love. The Christmas elements of The Sure Thing don't really have much of a bearing on the plot; the story could have unfolded over summer vacation just as easily. However, the holiday backdrop provides a warm feel that keeps the movie timeless. Christmas trappings automatically provoke warm feelings in most of us, and the fact that so many of said trappings appear in The Sure Thing is one of the things that help the film hold up today. And, after all, it really doesn't take many allusions to Christmas to make a great holiday movie. What un-orthodox Christmas classics have we missed? Let us know in the comments bel0w.