Writer: Christina Lewis
Editor: Austin Lang
Reviewer: Lynn Cadet
Rather than a Merry Christmas, how about some Merry Mayhem? That’s seemingly what a certain number of Americans prefer when it comes to streaming movies over the festive season.
Rather than drowning in the syrupy sentiment of films such as It’s a Wonderful Life, Elf, The Polar Express, or Miracle on 34th Street, some of us are choosing to have a dark Christmas instead of a white one.
We surveyed 3,000 Americans to find out what their favorite ‘anti-Christmas’ movie to stream over the festive season is, whether it’s an outright horror flick or even something vaguely festive but not too feel-good.
Mogwais and Krampus Take Christmas
At number one throughout the country was Gremlins. This 1984 movie, starring Phoebe Cates and Zach Galligan, could be considered Christmassy, as that’s when it’s set, and the main plotline involves Galligan’s character receiving an early Christmas gift from his father.
But that’s when it descends into mischievous chaos because his gift is a Mogwai, an otherwise adorable creature who turns into an evil gremlin if he’s fed after midnight and gets wet. And then that gremlin spawns other gremlins, and, well, suffice to say, Christmas does not go well.
Top Anti-Christmas Movies
| Ranking | Movie |
|---|---|
| 1 | Gremlins (1984) |
| 2 | Krampus (2015) |
| 3 | The Silence of the Lambs (1991) |
| 4 | The Shining (1980) |
| 5 | A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) |
| 6 | Black Christmas (1974) |
| 7 | Friday the 13th (1980) |
| 8 | Psycho (1960) |
| 9 | The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) |
| 10 | The Exorcist (1973) |
In second place, and proving particularly popular, is the 2015 movie, Krampus. The Krampus is a folklore legend from Bavaria and Austria; a hairy, horned figure, he is said to accompany Saint Nicholas around all the houses on December f5th, and while Santa rewards the good children with gifts, Krampus punishes the naughty ones with beatings.
Krampus becomes angry when a family fight causes the youngest son to lose his Christmas spirit and punishes them all. Only by coming together can the family defeat the monster, so there’s a bit of a semi-sentimental ending after all.
1991 Oscar-winning movie, The Silence of the Lambs, is the third most popular anti-Christmas film in our survey. There is resolutely nothing festive whatsoever about this tale of a cannibal, played by Anthony Hopkins, who plays cat-and-mouse games with a young FBI agent, Jodie Foster, to help her track down a serial killer.
But it’s still a great, quality movie that won five Academy Awards, including for Best Actor and Actress.
Others Prefer Straight-Up Horror
Some Americans definitely have an even darker side, showing a preference for slasher movies over the holiday season; Friday the 13th was the seventh most popular anti-Christmas movie, Psycho came in eighth on the list, while The Texas Chainsaw Massacre made it to number nine. And that Steven King epic, The Shining, came in at number four.
People have good reasons for turning away from classic Christmas movies; When asked what their most repetitive or tiresome aspects were, the majority (34%) of respondents said the same old movies were shown every year, suffered from predictable storylines (28%), and had a kind of fake, over-the-top cheeriness (23%).
Another 15% said there was a distinct lack of variety in the themes — although, if you watch a movie about Christmas, it’s kind of going to be about… Christmas.
Americans Will Stream Movies For Nearly 5 Uninterrupted Hours This Season
Home Alone took the top spot as the most overplayed classic Christmas film (26%), coming just ahead of A Christmas Story, which, incidentally, Americans have watched, on average, four times in their life (24%). Elf and It’s a Wonderful Life tied at 19%, while The Polar Express was lower on the list, with 11%.
And over half (52%) thought there weren’t nearly enough fresh or modern Christmas movies being made.
That said, on average, the longest uninterrupted stretch of movie-watching over the festive period is a substantial 4 hours and 55 minutes, placing a significant demand on streaming platforms’ web servers.
“It makes complete sense that people are streaming more over the Christmas break — what better way to spend time with the family than with a great movie? For many, movies are a great way to balance out the sometimes-cheesiness that comes with the holiday season, though some certainly embrace it instead,” said HostingAdvice expert Christian de Looper.
“Regardless, time spent streaming is only likely to continue to go up, as more Americans switch to entirely streaming, instead of turning to their cable subscription or even dusting off their old DVD collection. Here at HostingAdvice, we’ve studied streaming usage on multiple occasions, finding that it’s only on the rise, especially as more rural locations gain access to broadband internet.”
So, whether you’re watching a boy defend his palatial home from a pair of bungling criminals or a boy who sees terrifying apparitions in a palatial remote hotel while his father goes slowly insane, we wish you all the best of the holiday season!
Methodology
We carefully selected 3,000 respondents from a geographically representative online panel of double-opt-in members.
This selection was further tailored to meet the precise criteria required for each unique survey. Throughout the survey, we designed questions to carefully screen and authenticate respondents, guaranteeing the survey’s alignment with the ideal participants.
To ensure the integrity of our data collection, we employed an array of data quality methods. Alongside conventional measures such as digital fingerprinting, bot checks, geo-verification, and speeding detection, each response underwent a thorough review by a dedicated team member to ensure quality and contextual accuracy.
Our commitment extended to open-ended responses, subjecting them to scrutiny for gibberish answers and plagiarism detection.
