Holiday films far from the norm

SILENT NIGHT DEADLY NIGHT

While the soundtrack for Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984) is quality, and the kill scenes are creative, if only they deviated a little from the Jason Vorheeves/Michael Myers damaged youth psyche that lay within the protagonist. Gratuitous breasts and an underlying positive message that squirmed from the decadence of the mid-80s, Silent Night, Deadly Night is one not be overlooked for its triteness, but examined for its glaring representation of a hedonistic culture gone awry due to a lack of gratitude. "Punishment is necessary" is the mantra of this slasher flick, and respite from the obscenely droll and punishing holiday fare dished up to Christmas audiences is what the film offers.

BADDER SANTA

Regardless of the enormous indecency of the Christmas caper that is Badder Santa (2003) the filmmakers do not want to defile the holy holiday. Billy-Bob Thornton manages to break every rule of decency, most of them while wearing a Santa costume, but all in all he ends up a good guy. As surreal as it is hearing Santa sodomize a woman inside of the big and tall section dressing room and getting hammered on every alcoholic beverage west of the Mississippi, decency is still maintained within the sum of the product, no matter how many profanites one has to sit through to arrive there.

DIE HARD

Die Hard (1988) is the hallmark of Christmas action films. Christmas Eve has never been so bullet ridden; a truck load of terrorists, a floor full of revelers, the LAPD swarming and the die hardest, John McClane, killing all bad guys with no shoes on. For extreme and hot Los Angeles Christmas violence, Die Hard is by far the rowdiest of the holiday films.

GREMLINS

Gremlins (1984) is a generational classic incorporating some of the older-elements from true classic holiday cinema. Entertaining, yes. But Gremlins, more importantly, is a cautionary tale centered on the most indicative (of our greed) holiday our culture celebrates. The old Chinese man warns the Peltzer's that "we are not ready," and our culture's hubris and conspicuous consumption proves this. So, next time you see something cute and cuddly with calico fur, do not feed it after midnight.

LESS THAN ZERO

Less Than Zero (a watered-down adaptation from Brett Easton Ellis' novel by the same name) is by far the darkest of Christmas films, but the hippest. Less Than Zero (1987) contains absolutely no real snow, but plenty of fake ‘snow,' and for a serious deviation from the holiday norm, this is the movie. Spoiled rich kid coke-zombies, broken homes with plenty of money and so many things that are not said are all elements in the film set to a great soundtrack in sunny LA.

ICE HARVEST

Harold Ramis' The Ice Harvest (2005) is the seediest of these Christmas films. It contains hand-job houses, a thieving lawyer, the Kansas City mafia and a strip club, not to mention loads of alcohol. John Cusack's performance is wonderful. Oliver Platt's short screen time is memorably hilarious, and Randy Quaid's appearance as the witty mob boss is just a wonderful gift in this noir/black comedy. The film opens with these words, "People say there is no such thing as a perfect crime, but I don't agree with that," indeed, Ramis stole the holidays with this one.