The holiday can be stressful for all families , sometimes bringing out the worst in us . But in manyChristmas movies , the families play like boundary line psychopaths and are horrible people . Admittedly , that ’s half the reason why we like vacation movies . For some reason during the Christmas time of year , we let Hollywood get away with presenting some truly demented household dynamics .
So the next time you think there ’s nothing bad than dealing with your perpetually grumpy uncle who flew in from Florida , just remember that your family unit never accidentally bury you at rest home while they leave behind for Europe , or fought with an old lady for a give the sack ham actor , or kidnapped their boss because they did n’t get a vacation bonus . Here are five seriously awful families in vacation movies ( that we still be intimate ) .
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5. The McCallister family in Home Alone (1990)
Everyone knows the classicHome Alone , where Kevin McCallister ( Macaulay Culkin ) is incidentally left home alone during the holidays while his family takes a trip to Paris . This act is insanely gross all on its own . To labor to the airport , wait at the airport , board the plane , and let the woodworking plane take off — all while still holding the boarding pass for your Logos who is n’t with you – is mind - bogglingly horrifying . The McCallisters should have had youngster services called on them .
But even bad , the first 15 minutes of the motion picture are just Kevin being mercilessly harassed and tormented by his family , and then he gets fault for it ! Imagine stimulate Uncle Frank yell at you , experience everyone eat all your high mallow pizza , or take heed “ Kevin , you ’re such a disease . ” At one point , Kevin eventually fights back against his chum Buzz , who has been hector him all night . But after stand up for himself , Kevin ’s mama force him to stay put lock off in the attic all night , while Buzz does n’t get in trouble at all .
Two year later , Kevin ’s family lost himagain , prove that the McCallisters might be one of the speculative families in Hollywood history . With the right lighting and soundtrack , Home Alonecould be a gripping Oscar - winning play about an unloved child forced to care for himself .
4. The Griswold family in Christmas Vacation (1989)
The inadequate Griswold family never seems to catch a fracture . ButChristmas Vacationis easily their most robustious ( and hilarious ) misadventure in the franchise . Imagine being Clark ( Chevy Chase ) and having your married woman ’s parents detest you , let a homeless brother who of a sudden arrives in a prevue with his household , and take neighbors who call up you ’re a hillbilly despite your luxuriously - paying job in business district Chicago . Can you really find fault him for snap ?
Even worse , Clark has a chip of an installment after chance upon that he ’s not mother a Christmas bonus this year . To “ help ” him , his brother decides to kidnap his party boss , thus incriminate Clark and his family as accomplices in a passably life-threatening offense .
But even before that , so much more goes improper . Christmas Vacationhas route fad , explode sewers , fry cats , Christmas tree fires , a burnt joker , and a dastardly squirrel who somehow manages to make more bedlam than all of that merge . It ’s fundamentally the Christmas from hell , which equates to funniness gold for viewers .
3. The Krank family in Christmas with the Kranks (2004)
Before being adjust into a movie , Christmas with the Krankswas a freakish holiday novelette . The book is titledSkipping Christmas , and was spell by John Grisham , who is best known for his mass - market legal and political thriller novels . But inSkipping Christmas , he tells the tale of the Krank parents , who learn that their daughter is connect the Peace Corps and wo n’t be home for Christmas .
After flummox the news , Luther ( Tim Allen ) and Nora ( Borderlandsstar Jamie Lee Curtis ) decide to skip Christmas . No decorations , no presents , no holiday party , nothing . For most people , this would go unnoticed , but apparently the Kranks live in a petty , inside , impossible suburbia where their decision causes inviolable fury in the neighborhood . It ’s like Grisham was so used to writing villainous characters that he bury you ’re supposed to actually care the great unwashed in vacation stories .
The Kranks and their neighbour engage in Christmas fighting and falderol ensues , include a full - blown surety billet involving a Frosty the Snowman palm , a walkway that ’s been purposefully iced to make the neighbors fall , a frozen felid , and a group of unforgiving caroller who are dead - set on forcing the Christmas spirit upon the Kranks .
Even worse , the Kranks determine that their girl is coming home for Christmas after all and they desperately seek to put together a vacation political party with only a few time of day ’ observance . Nora is force to fight down an sure-enough lady in a grocery store store for a canned gammon and Luther almost dies trying to put up Frosty by himself . Christmas with the Kranksproves that sometimes holiday movies are n’t just about dreadful family , they ’re about painful neighbor too .
2. The Stone family in The Family Stone (2005)
The Family Stoneis a holiday read-only memory - com , but it ’s also a film about horrible , selfish a**holes who are so cringy that you kind of cease up liking them ? The picture orb around a group of adult children returning home for Christmas . But this year , Everett ( Dermot Mulroney ) is bringing home his high - strung Manhattan girl , Meredith ( Sarah Jessica Parker ) .
SJP is horrific in this movie , and I ’m not talking about bad acting . In fact , she ’s awful because she plays her role as a icky individual so well that you actively hate her the entire film . She make some demeaning comment about deaf citizenry , she can never slacken , she ’s always disordered and uncomfortable , and then there’sthatdinner scenethat demand to be seen to be believe .
Meredith get so disordered that she ends up hollo her baby ( Claire Danes ) to descend assistance , and Everett immediately starts to fall in love with her . But it ’s fine because Everett ’s blood brother Ben ( Luke Wilson ) start to light in love with Meredith . It ’s just some casual buddy - sister romantic - collaborator - swap stuff , happy holiday !
Despite all this , The Family Stoneis actually fairly engaging . It ’s weird and messy , but lots of masses are weird and mussy , so the movie ends up feel fantastically real . Whether that ’s a salutary or bad thing , that ’s up to you .
1. The Langston family in Jingle All the Way (1996)
InJingle All the elbow room , Howard Langston ( Arnold Schwarzenegger ) is a father who is so tied up at work that he hardly has any time for his wife and Word . To be fairish , the moving-picture show implies that his wife ( Rita Wilson ) does n’t act upon , so it ’s a little unfair for her to postulate that he be the sole supporter of the household and be available for all their Word ’s school and extracurricular activities .
To make it up to his son , Howard want to get the hot toy on the market , the Turbo Man action figure . The only problem is that it ’s Christmas Eve and the toy is so democratic that it ’s sold out everywhere and there are one thousand of other parent dire to encounter one too .
To get the toy , Howard will do moderately much anything , admit getting involved with a pitch-dark market place dealer and posing as a police officer . At one point , he even moot stealing his neighbour ’s toy . Even worse , his bane , postal doer Myron ( Sinbad ) , blend to even crazier lengths to get the doll , including telling constabulary officers he ’s let a dud ( trythatin post-9/11 America ) .
MakingJingle All the Wayeven crazier is the fact that just a few weeks after the movie ’s release in 1996 , a real miniature cult begin for the Tickle Me Elmo bird . Parents fought in storage , chased pitch motortruck , and expend thousands for the toy , proving that awesome parents do n’t just exist in movies … they ’re all around us !
