13 Worst Holiday Films of All Time
Emily Ross
Published Feb 22, 2026
You know what they say: It's the most wonderful time of the year. But that's apparently not the case if you're watching one of these supremely bad holiday movies. According to the folks at ratings-aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, some holiday movies are so outrageously bad—so despicably terrible—that they haven't even earned a rating, coming in at a whopping zero percent "Fresh." (Yikes.) So read on, and if you want to keep your spirits high, avoid this stinkers at all cost. And for more things to cross off your holiday checklist, here are the 22 Worst Christmas Traditions of All Time.
1 The Nutcracker in 3-D, 2010
0% Fresh, according to Rotten Tomatoes.
Not even names like Elle Fanning and Nathan Lane could save this British-Hungarian movie's Rotten Tomatoes rating. But for way better movie options, consider the films with the Best Fictional Holidays.
2 Kirk Cameron's Saving Christmas, 2014
0% Fresh, according to Rotten Tomatoes.
Yep, another film that racked up zero score. Saving Christmas follows Cameron as he attempts to save his sister's annual Christmas party by showing everyone how to put the "Christ" back in Christmas.
3 Christmas With the Kranks, 2004
5% Fresh, according to Rotten Tomatoes.
After their daughter joins the Peace Corps, Mr. and Mrs. Krank discover that the best way to save money this year is to totally skip Christmas. They book a cruise and are completely shunned by their otherwise festive neighbors, but once their daughter makes a surprise holiday return, the couple scrambles to put together a Christmas party in under 24 hours. And for more ways to ruin your holiday, here are the Worst Christmas Trends of 2017.
4 Deck the Halls, 2006
6% Fresh, according to Rotten Tomatoes.
Matthew Broderick and Danny DeVito engage in a neighbor's war of epic proportions as each tries to outdo the other with extravagant Christmas lights and decorations.
5 Surviving Christmas, 2004
7% Fresh, according to Rotten Tomatoes.
Yeah, not exactly the movie that Ben Affleck is known for. Affleck teams up with Christina Applegate, Catherine O'Hara, and James Gandolfini for the story of a man who returns home, nostalgic for the holidays and spending time with his family, only to realize a new family has moved in. He pays them a great deal of money to pretend they're his parents and chaos ensues.
6 Trapped in Paradise, 1994
10% Fresh, according to Rotten Tomatoes.
Three brothers (Jon Lovitz, Dana Carvey, and Nicolas Cage) get out of prison around the holidays and immediately get back to their life of crime. After committing a bank heist, the brothers get lost in the getaway car with a huge amount of stolen cash in a small suburb full of suspicious police.
7 Black Christmas, 2006
14% Fresh, according to Rotten Tomatoes.
Sorority girls, Christmas, and an anonymous prank caller. What could go wrong? Apparently everything.
8 The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, 2006
15% Fresh, according to Rotten Tomatoes.
Though the original movie was a hit—and the sequel wasn't terrible, either—the third installment of The Santa Clause series falls horribly short. Santa (also known as Scott Calvin) invites his in-laws for the holidays, but his arch nemesis Jack Frost, played by an annoying Martin Short, is scheming to take over the North Pole and thwart Santa's plans.
9 The Perfect Holiday, 2007
16% ripe Fresh, according to Rotten Tomatoes.
Gabrielle Union is a struggling divorcée and single mom of three, so naturally, her youngest daughter hooks her up with a mall Santa, who knows exactly how to compliment her.
10 Santa Claus: The Movie, 1985
17% ripe Fresh, according to Rotten Tomatoes.
It's the origin story of Santa Claus! Claus is a man who delivers toys and eventually becomes Santa Claus after honing in on his craft with a toy-making elf named Patch.
11 Jingle All the Way, 1997
17% ripe Fresh, according to Rotten Tomatoes.
Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a father who will stop at nothing to beat an evil mailman played by Sinbad in order to get his son a certain elusive toy for Christmas.
12 Tyler Perry's A Madea Christmas, 2013
18% ripe Fresh, according to Rotten Tomatoes.
Madea's back—and this time it's for Christmas. If the critics are to be believed, it was not at all a smash hit.
13 Jack Frost, 1998
20% ripe Fresh, according to Rotten Tomatoes.
One boy's dad tragically dies in a car accident on Christmas Day at the start of the film, but then a year later it's revealed that Jack Frost (played by Michael Keaton) has been reincarnated into a snowman who looks after his wife and son. Yes, it's as bad as it sounds.
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Stephanie Osmanski Stephanie Osmanski is a freelance sustainability, health, and wellness writer.Read moreFiled UnderChristmas • Entertainment • Halloween • New Years • ThanksgivingRead This Next10 Things You Didn't Know about Justin Trudeau
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