For many cinephiles, Christmas means being able to turn your brain off for once to enjoy some heartwarming Christmas flicks. Sadly, some of these are so bad, we can't turn a blind eye to find any good.
Luckily, there are still some that aren't just forgivable Holiday romps. Many Christmas films are bonafide classics and deserve the same amount of recognition as any other great movie. Citing Rotten Tomatoes' metric, here are five of the worst and five of the best Christmas movies ever made.
Best - Miracle On 34th Street - 96%
Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade is a favorite holiday pastime for many, and a great follow up to it is the classic 1947 original Miracle on 34th Street. The story of the supposed real-life Santa Claus being put on trial has remained a classic since its release.
Full of outstanding performance, clever writing, and a great message of the season, this film is lauded for a reason. Edmund Gwenn is the perfect Santa, and Natalie Wood is the most adorable skeptic you could find.
Worst - Surviving Christmas - 7%
Christmas movies that are set in reality, without an ounce of magic, seem to be the least believable. Surviving Christmas is a great example of this. Ben Affleck plays a young Millionaire with nowhere and no one to spend Christmas with. So what does he do?
Apparently instead of making friends like a normal human being, he decides to hire the family who lives in his childhood home to pretend to be his own so he can spend Christmas with them. Looking past the god awful empty jokes and the half baked performances, the premise alone should turn you away.
Best - Holiday Inn - 100%
This precursor to the arguably better Irving Berlin musical White Christmas stars two of the most iconic performers of the 20th century: Bing Crosby and Fed Astaire. Through fantastic songs and dance routines, the two face off to win the affection of Linda Mason.
Though the film is a great example of the classic Hollywood musical, it's surprisingly high on this list. Particularly, the use of blackface in the Lincoln's Birthday routine is shockingly offensive, even during its time.
Worst - Deck The Halls - 6%
Listen, Danny DeVito can do no wrong in our eyes. He is a godsend if there ever was one. But, Deck the Halls starring DeVito and Matthew Broderick is an absolute mess of a Christmas comedy. Like Christmas With The Kranks, it is full of cheap physical comedy and gags that amount to a nothing experience.
The film follows Broderick's character who is known in his family and community as the Christmas guy. All of that is threated when DeVito's character moves in next door only to try and outdo him in his holiday decorating. So essentially, it is a film about two insecure men trying to outdo each other over Christmas decor. 'Tis the season.
Best - Remember The Night - 100%
Remember the Night might not be as well known as other classic Christmas hits, but it certainly has the chops to hold up against them. Starring Barbara Stanwyck of Double Indemnity fame, Remember the Night follows her journey of redemption as a shoplifter.
The attorney who is prosecuting her upcoming trial takes pity on her, giving her the family Christmas she never got in her rough childhood. What results is a film that never falls to steeply into sentimentality and that offers enough comedy and heart to fit perfectly alongside films such as It's A Wonderful Life.
Worst - Christmas With The Kranks - 5%
This Tim Allen and Jaime Lee Curtis led Christmas comedy Christmas With The Kranks is anything but a Christmas dream come true. After their daughter decides to go abroad and volunteer for a Christmas, these empty nesters decide to skip Christmas and go on a cruise instead.
What results is a Christmas romp full of baffling choices by multiple characters throughout, and that relies on cheap laughs and sickly sweet schmaltz. The film is full of the worst cliches you could find in a Christmas film, and a cast that is just barely holding it together.
Best - Meet Me In St. Louis - 100%
Meet Me In St. Louis is probably Judy Garland's second most beloved film ever made, and for good reason. This film follows a family of sisters who are navigating trials and tribulations in both life and love while set during the backdrop of the St. Louis World's Fair.
This musical is full of wonderful song and dance numbers, but the most heartwarming of all is Judy Garland's performance of Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas. It has remained maybe the best version of the song for years and probably will continue to be.
The Nutcracker in 3D - 0%
This adaption of the classic ballet is one of the most baffling bad Christmas films ever concocted. According to its credits, the first entity mentioned isn't a cast member, director, or producer, but instead, a bank. Something is obviously shady about this whole affair.
The entire film is bizarre in the worst way, with tragically bad CGI animation, weird costumes and makeup, and terrifying rat creatures who want to "ratify" the world. How so many big names got involved with this one is anyone's guess.
Best - How The Grinch Stole Christmas! - 100%
While the Jim Carrey/Ron Howard adaption certainly has its fans, there is no denying that the best version of Dr. Seuss' Christmas tale is the classing Warner Bros. Animated version. Featuring the voice talents of the iconic Boris Karloff as both the narrator and the Grinch himself.
This version gave us the classic song You're A Mean One Mr. Grinch, along with some of the most iconic Christmas images ever. Who can forget that sly smile that creeps across that mean Grinch's face, or to see him carve the roast beast? It the ultimate Christmas classic as far as Rotten Tomatoes is concerned.
Kirk Cameron's Saving Christmas - 0%
The formally beloved sitcom star Kirk Cameron brings his Evangelist role to the big screen in this awful so-called motion picture. The overall plot plays out about Kirk attempting to put on a Christmas party, but his cynical brother keeps getting in the way.
In reality, the whole film is nothing more than strange sermons delivered by Cameron. The film would fit right in with the likes of God's Not Dead, except this one is ten times worse at it attempts to ruin Christmas for the rest of us. Not even Kirk Cameron's outdated breakdancing can save this one.