The Worst Christmas Movies of All Time

“Office Christmas Party” has an all-star cast with the likes of Jason Bateman, Olivia Munn, and Jennifer Aniston. The premise is a struggling company needs to win over a finance tycoon’s support to keep its Chicago branch open. The tycoon, Walter Davis, shows some interest but is worried that the company doesn’t treat its employees well. To convince Davis, they invite him to their office holiday party where things rapidly escalate. The party spirals into a liquor, drug, and sex rampage filled with all sorts of shenanigans. The movie did decently at the box office but poorly when it comes to ratings.

“Noel,” is a drama set around the holiday season. It follows different characters as they try to deal with heavy and uncomfortable feelings surrounding the holidays. While the film seems to have good ideas, they aren’t executed well enough to really let viewers feel the emotion and pain the characters are going through. A critic at the Observer said, “one of those unpleasant fiascoes meant to lodge a lump in the throat at Christmas, but it only ends up making you want to bludgeon the elves with their own toy-shop hammers.”

Madea has been in 11 movies with a 12th in the works as well as almost a dozen plays all written by Tyler Perry. “A Madea Christmas” was Tyler Perry’s seventh film and follows Madea (played by Perry) in her classic antics, this time around the holidays. Critics and audiences gave the film dramatically different scores. The Los Angeles Times said “the same slapdash, lightweight effort as Madea in any other season, with a few Yuletide flourishes.”

“Wind Chill” is a horror film that follows two college students’ journey home for the holidays. Emily Blunt and Ashton Holmes star as an unnamed boy and girl on a long drive home for Christmas break. Things start fine but the boy decides to take back roads to cut off some time. However, their car is forced off the road by a reckless driver and gets stuck in a snowdrift. As the boy’s behavior grows stranger, the girl starts to see strange shadowy figures occasionally passing by.

Time Magazine called it “only marginally insufferable.” “Ernest Saves Christmas” is the third film to feature character Ernest P. Worrell. Ernest originated first in television commercials and had his own television series. From there he made the jump to film. In “Ernest Saves Christmas,” Ernest must race to find a new Santa Clause after the original grows too old to keep doing the job.

“Christmas Inheritance” was released on Netflix in 2017. A spoiled New York heiress is sent to a small town in New England to see if she can survive and prove herself worthy of taking over her father’s company. Her father tasks her with hand delivering a letter to his business associate while traveling with a limited amount of money. A massive snowstorm shuts off the power and leaves her trapped in the town where she starts to fall in love with a man that’s not her fiance.

“Unaccompanied Minors” is based on a true story told by a woman named Susan Burton to NPR radio show “This American Life.” Two children are flying unaccompanied from California to Pennsylvania but a massive snowstorm leaves them grounded at a layover stop in the Midwest. Soon they are sent to the unaccompanied minors room where they meet other children and quickly plot their escape.

Another Netflix movie, “A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding” is a sequel to the 2017 “A Christmas Prince.” The original wasn’t very highly acclaimed but critics like it significantly more than the sequel. A year after a commoner and prince fall in love and are happily engaged they begin to make preparations for the big wedding. One critic said “Sigh. Magic has not struck twice for this franchise.”

“Daddy’s Home 2” is the sequel to “Daddy’s Home” and stars Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg. In the original, the rough around the edges biological father (Wahlberg) returns to his estranged family. Meanwhile, clean cut stepdad (Ferrell) vies for his new children’s love and attention. After resolving their differences, problems arise once again in the second film, this time set around Christmas. The comedy got negative reviews from critics but did well at the box office.

“A Bad Moms Christmas” is another Christmas comedy about paternal problems. It also did poorly critically but well at the box office. Three moms (played by Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, and Kathryn Hahn) have to deal with their own moms. Each mother arrives unexpectedly for the holiday season and wants to spend a lot of time with their daughter. The women navigate their relationships and lean on each other during the trying times.

With the tagline “the only thing more terrifying than being alone is discovering that you’re not,” “P2” delivers a story about a woman trapped in a parking garage on Christmas Eve. A young businesswoman must navigate a Manhattan garage while a dangerous and obsessive security guard pursues her. Empire Magazine called it “unscary, uninteresting tosh from people who should know better.”

“Four Christmases” is about a couple (Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon) visiting all four of their divorced parents on Christmas. Both normally try to avoid their dysfunctional families on the holiday by traveling far from their home in San Francisco. However, as they wait at the airport their flight is cancelled and they are filmed by a news crew, ending up on TV, where their families see them. The couple must navigate a new scenario at each household with their drastically different family members.

“All Is Bright” is a comedy about a parolee (Paul Giamatti) who takes a job selling Christmas trees with an old friend (Paul Rudd). Giamatti’s character needs to make enough money to buy his estranged daughter a piano for Christmas in order to win her back. The two travel to Canada to pick up the trees and bring them back to the United States but get into plenty of antics along their journey.

“All I Want for Christmas” is a romantic comedy set in New York City. Two siblings, Ethan and Hallie O’Fallon, plot to get their separated parents back together after meeting Santa Claus. The children create an elaborate plan to trick the two to fall back in love. Meanwhile, Ethan meets his own potential love interest along the way. The film didn’t do great with audiences, but critics really weren’t impressed.

“The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” is a fantasy film adaptation of Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker.” The Disney film follows a young girl who is given a mysterious locked ornate egg from her late mother. She sets out on a journey through a mystical land to find the key and see what her mother left her. The film did decently at the box office but received poor reviews from critics and audiences.

Vince Vaughn and Paul Giamatti star in “Fred Claus,” a story of sibling rivalries at the North Pole. Older brother Fred (Vaughn) lives in the shadow of young brother Nicholas Claus (Giamatti) who grows up to become a saint and Santa Claus. Fred gets into money trouble and Nick offers to help him if he comes to work for him at the North Pole. One critic said, “Fred Claus tries desperately for a Bad Santa meets Elf vibe.”

The third installment in the Christmas Prince series, “The Royal Baby,” has even lower ratings than the second one. This time actress Rose McIver’s character is pregnant as the family reunites once again for Christmas. The dysfunctional royals navigate the holiday in luxury while dealing with the paparazzi and swirling rumors. The New York Times said “keep a rein on your expectations and accept that you’ll need something more to salvage the evening.”

“I’ll Be Home for Christmas” is a family comedy about a college student who must travel from Los Angeles to Larchmont, New York in time for the holiday. Jake Wilkinson is a college student that hasn’t been home since his mother died and his father remarried. To convince him to come home for the holidays, his father offers him the keys to his vintage Porsche if he arrives by 6:00 pm on Christmas Eve. Jake has an easy plan to get home, but it falls to pieces when he is double crossed and left in the desert dressed as Santa Claus.

“The Perfect Holiday” is a comedy about Benjamin, an aspiring songwriter trying to break into the music industry. Benjamin gives a copy of his Christmas album to a big name rapper to try to find an in. In the meantime, Benjamin is working at a local mall as Santa Claus. A young girl tells him that her mother (played by Gabrielle Union) wants a compliment from a man for Christmas. The story follows Benjamin as he balances a new romance and his music aspirations. Critics were not enthused.

This is the fifth instalment in the Rocky franchise. The film also stars his son Sage Moonblood Stallone and real-life boxer Tommy Morrison. After a career filled with prizefights and glory, Rocky is starting to feel the wear and tear. He wants to take some time off only to find out his scummy accountant has squandered all his winnings. One critic simply said “time to hang up the boxing gloves, ol’ Rocky.”

The animated film was co-written by and stars Adam Sandler as the lead voice actor. The film compares the traditions of Christmas and Hanukkah. Davey Stone is a 33-year-old Jewish man who’s known around his town as a degenerate and troublemaker. Davey is sentenced to community service with a local little league baseball team for petty crimes. The film has a bit of a cult following but has been panned by critics.

“Love the Coopers” is a family comedy about a dysfunctional family coming together for Christmas. Sam and Charlotte invite their extended family for the holidays only to reveal that they are getting a divorce after 40 years of marriage. Meanwhile, several other members of the family are going through their own issues and antics ensue. A critic at the Irish Times said “it’s a terrible waste of talent. Bah, humbug.”

“Jack Frost” is a fantasy comedy starring Michael Keaton and Kelly Preston. Jack Frost (Keaton) is a father and musician who is killed in a car crash. However, in a twist of holiday magic, he is brought back to life in the form of a snowman. Three of musician Frank Zappa’s children play roles in the film. Entertainment Weekly said “Jack Frost is so treacly and fake it makes you feel like you’re trapped in a winter-wonderland paperweight.”

Willie Soke (Billy Bob Thron) was once addicted to alcohol. However, in the original “Bad Santa” he finds love and happiness. Unfortunately for Willie, it wasn’t meant to last and he’s back down on his luck when the sequel begins. He is drawn into a plot to rob a Chicago charity of its Christmas funds. The sequel, released 13 years after the original, did not do well with critics or the box office.

“Reindeer Games” is a holiday crime thriller starring Ben Affleck, Gary Sinise, and Charlize Theron. Nick and Rudy are inmates at a Michigan prison and will be released in a few days. However, Nick is killed in a prison fight and Rudy decides to take his identity when he’s released. He meets up with a woman Nick had been writing to and a romantic relationship begins. Meanwhile, criminals believing he is the real Nick come looking for him.

The entire premise of “Jingle All the Way” is two fathers desperately trying to buy an exclusive action-figure for their sons for Christmas. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad star as the two different fathers on the same mission. A sequel was made in 2014 starring Larry the Cable Guy. One critic wrote “still heartless and unfunny and as welcome a part of the holidays as traffic and fruit cake.”

“Mixed Nuts” is a dark holiday comedy based on the French novel “Santa Claus is a Stinker.” Steve Martin stars as Philip, a man who runs a suiсide-prevent hotline that’s behind on the rent for the office. Soon more problems begin to plague Philip along with an unexpected romance. Empire Magazine wrote “The beginning of Steve Martin’s non-funny comedies. Ephron should know better as well.”

“Trapped in Paradise” is a crime comedy starring Nicolas Cage, Jon Lovitz, and Dana Carvey. Two brothers are paroled early from prison and put into their third brother’s custody. They quickly fall back into a life of crime and rob a bank in Paradise, Pennsylvania. During their snowy escape their car crashes but they lose the cops. People passing by offer some assistance and invite them over for Christmas. However, those good Samaritans turn out to be the owners of the bank.

Tim Allen returns as Scott Calvin/Santa Claus and Martin Short plays his rival Jack Frost. Years earlier one thing led to another and Scott Calvin took over the job as Santa with many shenanigans involved. The original movie wasn’t amazing, but the franchise took a significant plunge by the third installment. Time Out summed it up as “you’ve got to hand it to director Michael Lembeck… he’s succeeded in persuading studio bosses to let him make not one but two sequels from premises that were dead in the water from the word go.”

“Black Christmas” is a horror slasher that’s a loose remake of a 1974 Canadian film of the same name. The film follows a group of sorority girls who quickly find themselves in danger from a shadowy figure on campus. Most students are starting to leave Hawthorne College for the holiday break when a vicious killer begins to terrorize the remaining students. One critic wrote “watching it, I went from bored to confused to occasionally intrigued, but never entertained or scared.”

In the third installment of the franchise our hero gets caught up in the world of international espionage and terrorism. Criminals try to smuggle a stolen missile-cloaking microchip through airport security in a remote-control car. However, a luggage mix-up means 8-year-old Alex Pruitt receives the car as a present. The spies quickly pursue the adolescent trickster.

Based on the novel “Skipping Christmas” by John Grisham, “Christmas with the Kranks” is about a family who decides to skip Christmas because their daughter isn’t coming home for the holidays. They decide to head to the Caribbean on a cruise instead but their decision not to decorate their house irks the entire neighborhood. Common Sense Media simply called it an “unoriginal, unfunny slapstick holiday fare.”

The 2006 edition of “Black Christmas” is also a loose remake of the 1974 Canadian film but is considered even worse than the 2019 one. The 2006 movie gives a bit more back story on the vicious killer. He was severely abused as a child and eventually murdered his mother and her lover on Christmas many years before. Now he has escaped from a mental institution and heads for the sorority house that used to be his childhood home.

The second move in a three-part series, “Part 2” is a violent slasher that’s told mainly through flashbacks of an 18-year-old locked up for a murder spree. Ricky first tells the story of his brother’s murder spree and then of his own after his trauma went untreated and led him to punishing “naughty” people around the holiday season.

“Surviving Christmas” is a romantic comedy about a man who just wants a family for the holidays. Drew Latham (Ben Affleck) is a wealthy executive who has no close relatives but still decides to travel to his childhood home for Christmas. There he meets a new couple that have moved in and makes them a proposition. He will pay them to pretend to be his parents and make him feel loved. Things are complicated when their actual daughter comes home.

“A Merry Friggin’ Christmas” is a black comedy about an estranged father who accidentally left all his son’s gifts hours away. Boyd Mitchler must race home and back before the sun rises to keep the magic of Christmas alive for his child. Along the way he runs into all sorts of problems and antics. The film’s ensemble cast, including Robin Williams, wasn’t even enough to carry the script and Entertainment Weekly said it “squanders a cast of actors usually able to elevate weak material.”

Suburban dad Steve is all about Christmas decorations and takes pride in being the best on the block. However, new neighbor Danny (played by Danny DeVito) arrives and plans to light his house up so brightly with decorations that it can be seen from space. Steve refuses to be outdone and things rapidly escalate. Empire Magazine sums it up saying “got any kids who’ve been naughty this year? Here’s their present.”

One of the two movies on this list to achieve a 0% critic score from Rotten Tomatoes, “Look Who’s Talking Now” is impressively bad. The pet comedy features Danny DeVito as a mutt and Diane Keaton as poodle who are constantly at odds though their humans cannot hear them. One critic said “The Look Who’s Talking series comes to a close with this absolutely terrible entry…”

The 1960s film sees Martians kidnap Santa Claus to help cheer up Martian children who have fallen into a miasma of depravity thanks to pop culture television shows from Earth. However, two Earthling children are also accidentally brought to the red planet, complicating the scheme. Time Out called it a “hilariously bad stab at sci-fi.”

“Saving Christmas” is a faith-based Christmas comedy that is considered by many to be one of the worst films ever made. Real-life Evangelist Kirk Cameron plays a fictionalized version of himself that insists that consumerism around the holiday is one of the best ways to worship higher powers. Cameron claims that the film has received poor reviews thanks to a conspiracy by ‘haters,’ ‘pagans,’ and other atheists. RogerEbert.com wrote: “Perhaps the only Christmas movie I can think of, especially of the religious-themed variety, that seems to flat-out endorse materialism, greed and outright gluttony.”