Nice question! Gremlins certainly takes place around Christmas, but the holiday really doesn’t have much to do with the plot, other than the father trying to buy a gift.
So I would answer No.
Home Alone? That certainly has more Christmas elements in it, especially with the old man next door, and his family. There my answer would be yes.
I’d rather watch this than the sentimental dreck that usually plays around Christmas. (That doesn’t include claymation Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and the claymation story of where Santa came from and Frosty. Those are some of my fondest childhood memories.)
I would say that it is a christmas horror flick just like Frosty. that killer snowman. It is a christmas movie to me ‘cause that’s the biggest gift… er… surprise ever! crazy little men running around causing all sorts of trouble.
Not really. At least, when I used to watch this when I was little, even though it took place on Christmas, for some reason what strikes out to me the most is old creepy Chinese dudes and pizza.
@filmfann So I guess that’s also a no for Die Hard? I mean, it does end with “Let It Snow”….
@Haleth Yes those are classics! Especially The Snowman – Frosty comes to life and flies the boy away (that’s right…Frosty flies) and takes him to a party where there’s a bunch of other snowmen gettin’ down….so good.
No, it never crossed my mind as a “Christmas movie”; just yet, another, Spielberg, vehicle for preying upon (our) fears. He failed, miserably, in this one. Go back to the basics, Mr, Spielberg, “Jaws” and “Close Encounters”; if you desire to inspire a collusion of the senses. ;)
@ Symbeline: “Bruce; the mechanical shark” does not have the savvy of today’s “modern CGI (crap) manipulation”. The movie “Jaws” was (almost/equally) about camaraderie (the human element) than “Guts, glory, and ‘Mayor Vaughn: Fellows, let’s be reasonable, huh? This is not the time or the place to perform some kind of a half-assed autopsy on a fish… And I’m not going to stand here and see that thing cut open and see that little Kintner boy spill out all over the dock.”. :)
@CorwinofAmber I know that. That’s usually what I love about most horror films-the human element, rather than the graphic content. Never said Jaws was no good. But it’s still ridiculous. :)
@Ansible1 Die Hard would not be a Christmas movie in my book. The holiday has no influence on changes in the characters behavior. That might be my criteria.