5 Underseen Christmas Films for the Holiday Season

Well, it seems as though this shit storm of a year is finally at its wit's end. Granted this holiday season, we shan't be gallivanting around town with our friends, hopping from bar to bar in that gleeful inebriated state. Nor will we be having that overly crowded yearly family gathering... pitty really. But, what we'll likely be doing, is staying indoors with a selected few, and stuffing our bellies with copious amounts of glorious festive grub. And of course, feasting our eyes on some delightful holiday films. 

Sure, we each have those holiday favourites that seem to make for perpetual viewing year after year.  For me personally, it just ain't Christmas until Hans Gruber falls off the Nakatomi plaza or until Ralphie shoots his eye out. 

Non-the-less, here are five Christmas films I thought I'd list that I feel are quite underseen, and less talked about then the usually mentioned Christmas films.

Comfort and Joy (1984, Bill Forsyth)

Here we have a truly underrated gem by a criminally underrated director. His most well-regarded film by far is Local Hero, the year prior with the legendary Burt Lancaster in arguably his last great leading role, but this film is by no means second rate.

Our hero here is Alan Bird (played wonderfully by Bill Paterson), who's a local Glaswegian disc jockey known as "Dickey Bird" and is on every morning from 6 till 9. Yet now finds himself in an existential crisis after his long-term girlfriend leaves him amidst the Christmas season, whom he misses dearly. Then one day whilst driving to take his mind off of things, he witnesses a gorgeous young woman in an icecream van of all places. So he, of course, follows the van until it stops and buys ice cream. 

All of a sudden, Dickey is bewildered when a couple of masked men arrive at the scene with baseball bats and begin to bash in the icecream van for no apparent reason, then one of them recognise Dickey Bird and "ask" for a dedication tomorrow morning. Unbeknownst to him, Dickey has stumbled upon an ice cream turf war between two families and ultimately somewhat involved by even broadcasting coded messages on his early morning show in a hope to bring the families to work together. 

The film is simply, as the title entails, pure comfort and joy and embodies that real rewatchable quality that not all holiday films possess. It had received a BAFTA Award Nomination for Best Original Screenplay and even includes a great musical score from Mark Knopfler (Dire Straits). If you're looking for something cosy this season, look no further. 

One Magic Christmas (1985, Phillip Borsos)

A Disney film that seems to have been forgotten, but those who do remember this film may think it too depressing a film that takes too long for the magical payoff. Well, wasn't that the case with It's a Wonderful Life, the greatest Christmas films of all time. A film that was a commercial bomb upon its initial release and forgotten until it was brought back to life in the 1970s.

Helmed by the very same Canadian director of the criminally underrated The Grey Fox, this film, shot in Ontario, shows a down on its luck family during Christmas with a father who's been out of work for 6 months. Understandably, the mother is not exactly overflowing in Christmas spirit, nor in goodwill, as they can barely get by on her cash register job at the local grocery shop. 

However, a Christmas angel, played by non-other than the great Harry Dean Stanton (Paris, Texas/Repo Man) is sent to help the mother find her Christmas spirit, through the help of her daughter. Is it a bit corny? Perhaps. A bit of a tear-jerker? Maybe. But once the magic happens, you can't help but feel uplifted or dare I say, the spirit of Christmas. That true feeling of spreading good cheer and receiving it back in tenfold. (Be sure to also check out Prancer)

Get Santa (2014, Christopher Smith)

Here's a British sleeper that is sure to please the kids and the adults with the great Jim Broadbent as Santa, the real Santa that is. We first meet Steve, who's just been released on parole after a 2 stretch and is eager to meet his young son Tom, who lives with his mother and her new boyfriend. However, Tom has just discovered Santa has been living in their garage since he crash-landed with his new sleigh, upon which his reindeer are missing. But when Santa attempts to then recuse his reindeer from the Battersea dogs home, he gets himself arrested and thrown in the slammer. 

Now with some help on the inside from the barber (played by the always great Stephan Graham) as he gets a few tips on how to 'look the part' whilst in the big house, in a rather hilarious skit.  Meanwhile, Steve and Tom try to gather the reindeer (who communicate by farting, yes farting) in order to locate the sleigh, spring Santa, and hopefully, save Christmas in time. Unfortunately, the police are hot on their trail with one of the policemen played by Ewen Bremner  (whom you may remember from Trainspotting as Spud)

Upon release, it was well-received in the UK but never really made a dent elsewhere, which is a real shame as this film has a whole lot of heart and brimming with Christmas spirit. It has scenes that are utterly hilarious, and scenes that truly warm the coldest of hearts. Also, unlike the usual Christmas film, this one speaks to the broken family with a father doing everything in his power to help save Christmas for his son in an attempt to make up for lost time. 

Tokyo Godfather (2003, Satoshi Kon)

Who would have thought that such a beautiful wholesome film, based on a western holiday tradition, could arise in the form of a Japanese anime? To add on to the peculiarity, we have three homeless misfits (taking the place of the three wise men) in the form of a middle-aged drunkard (Gin), an ex drag queen (Hana), and a teenage runaway (Miyuki) whom after watching a children's performance of the nativity scene, stumble upon a discarded baby in a nearby dumpster on Christmas eve. 

Together they embark on a journey to locate the baby's parents and understand why she was abandoned.  However, amongst this journey, the three discover such affinity towards this child and amongst each other. Hana was abandoned by her real parents, Gin had lost his daughter due to his crippling debt and drinking and Miyuki ran away from her father because he gave away her cat.

This gorgeous film, directed by the late great Satoshi Kon (Perfect Blue/Paprika), manages to tackle such subjects as commercialism, longing, religion, family and togetherness ever so acutely.  It may not be your typical Holiday film, yet it genuinely celebrates the true meaning of the Christmas spirit, togetherness. 

The Silent Partner (1978, Daryl Duke)

OK so by now I'm sure you're probably tired of your garden variety Christmas film. Here's a great underseen thriller about a bank teller named Miles (played by Elliott Gould from The Long Goodbye) who works at the Eaton Centre mall. Here he finds out the mall Santa (played by Captain Von Trapp himself, Christopher Plumber) is going to rob the bank. 

Rather than tip off the authorities, Miles decides to do one up on Santa and outdo his crime by making out with $50k amidst the robbery whilst Miles hands Santa a measly few thousand before hitting the alarm.  However, what Miles didn't anticipate is Reikle (Santa) being one hell of a sadistic psychopath and will go to any lengths to get "his" money back after hearing on the news how much money was actually stolen. Que the amazing cat-and-mouse chase and the stellar performance from Plummer. 

This is a terrific script, written by the screenwriter (and director) of the great L.A. Confidential and even features an early appearance from John Candy. It's one hell of a '70s crime film set over the Christmas holidays in Toronto. If you want some extra zing in your egg nog... check out this underrated gem, you know, after you've watched Die Hard.

BONUS XMAS SPECIAL

A Pink Christmas (1978, Bill Perez)

This to me is pure childhood. Yes, there are countless holiday shorts, and my absolute favourite was by far (and still is) the classic stop-motion Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer from 1964 (the main inspiration for the modern classic Elf). Yet for some reason, this rarely is mentioned amongst the rest. True, I'm an absolute sucker for a classic Pink Panther skit, and this one has a real heart to it. 

We begin with Mr Pink (no not Steve Buscemi), cold, hungry and homeless on a park bench in the big city during Christmas time. He's desperate and will do anything for food, upon which he stumbles upon a Santa suit which he covets for warmth but winds up working in a department store as the mall Santa. Of course with pink panther being the pink panther, it doesn't really work out for him.

Click here for my top 25 Christmas films if you're interested.