Summary

• Amazon Prime Video offers a wide range of Christmas movies for subscribers to enjoy during the holiday season, catering to both family-friendly and more adult tastes.
• The selection of Christmas movies on Amazon Prime Video is constantly changing, with new releases added annually and older titles being removed. However, there are always great options available for the entire family.
• From classic films like "It's A Wonderful Life" to more recent releases like "Last Christmas," Amazon Prime Video has a variety of Christmas movies to choose from, each offering its own unique take on the holiday spirit.

Amazon Prime Video features a wide range of Christmas movies that are perfect for subscribers to festively binge over the holiday season. When it comes to Christmas movies, opinions vary and everyone has their favorites, but the best offer something for everyone and usually leave viewers with a smile on their face by the end, feeling that warm holiday spirit. When it comes to the best Christmas movies on Amazon Prime Video, there are plenty of genres and types of films available, both for family viewing and for those looking for something more adult for their holiday viewing.

With new Christmas movies released annually, there's never a shortage of new movies for the Holiday season, and Amazon Prime Video has a mix of both newer titles and classic films for the festive period. With Prime Video adding and subtracting movies every month, it often gets hard to keep track of what's on offer, and there's no guarantee a movie in the library last December will still be there by the time the decorations go up the next. The good news is that every year, Amazon Prime Video has great Christmas movies for the entire family.

Best Christmas Horror Movies On Amazon Prime Video

Jack Frost (1997)

Christmas horror movies often rely on silly premises and have to lean into that tone rather than take itself too seriously. Such is the case with 1997's Jack Frost, a ridiculous and vulgar horror movie about a murderer who is brought back as a vengeful snowman who sets out to kill those who wronged him. This Christmas horror movie on Amazon Prime Video will likely be too much for some viewers, and it is certainly not a deep or cerebral story, but it has become something of a cult favorite thanks to its absurdity and the so-bad-its-good quality.

Better Watch Out (2016)

Better Watch Out is an underrated entry in the Christmas horror movie genre that more fans of these niche movies should seek out. This Christmas movie on Amazon Prime Video follows a young boy and his babysitter spending the night alone during the holiday season when masked assailants attempt to break in. As the heroic babysitter attempts to protect the boy, she discovers that not everything is as it seems. While Better Watch Out has a lot of humor and intensity, to begin with, the early twist sets it off in a much more exciting direction that will keep viewers on the edge of their seats.

Best Animated Christmas Movies On Amazon Prime Video

Arthur Christmas (2011)

Arthur Christmas is an animated adventure that has quickly emerged as a new Christmas favorite. James McAvoy provides the voice of Arthur, the youngest son of Santa Claus whose excitement for the holiday never ceases despite his older brother being next in line for the top job. However, when one child's present is lost and his brother and father cannot agree on how to handle it, Arthur sets out to save the young child's Christmas morning. The animated Christmas movie on Amazon Prime Video is filled with hilarious moments and characters as various generations of Santa clash while Arthur himself makes for an endearing hero with a big heart.

Eight Crazy Nights (2002)

The first-ever Adam Sandler animated movie delivered a rare mainstream movie for those celebrating Hanukkah while also being a funny holiday adventure in general. Sandler provides the voice of Davey, a washed-up young man whose tragic past has turned him into a destructive nuisance during the holidays until he is given a chance at redemption by helping out an overlooked local citizen. Despite being animated, the movie still has the signature immature and gross-out humor of many Sandler comedies. However, it also manages to tug at the heartstrings with some very emotional moments as well.

Merry Little Batman (2023)

One of the best animated Christmas movies on Amazon Prime Video is also a unique and highly stylized Batman adventure — 2023's Merry Little Batman. Before Bruce Wayne's son Damien Wayne makes his big-screen debut in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, he steps into the spotlight in this cartoon. After his father is called away on a Christmas mission, Damien is left to take on the role of Batman when Joker and other villains begin wreaking havoc. Seeing Batman in a father role is always interesting, and the humorous take makes it an ideal family-friendly option for Amazon Prime Video subscribers.

Best Christmas Dramas On Amazon Prime Video

The Christmas Candle (2013)

The Christmas Candle is a very British holiday movie, featuring singer Susan Boyle in the lead role. It's based in the Isle of Man, and it follows a minister attempting to modernize the village. Ironically, though it's about trying to bring a village into the modern-day, A Christmas Candle was dated on arrival and is very set in its ways according to some critics, though this hasn't deterred many viewers from making the 2013 film part of their Christmas movie list. There's a lot of Christmas spirit in the movie and the 1800s setting feels warm and lived in, making it perfect for the holiday season.

The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017)

There are countless versions of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol available to watch, with many on Amazon Prime Video too. However, those looking for a different approach to the classic Christmas story can enjoy The Man Who Invented Christmas which is a period piece about Dickens's creation of the original book. The characters like Scrooge and Tiny Tim come alive out of the mind of Dickens, with Dan Stevens doing a great job stepping into the role of the acclaimed writer. It makes for a unique and somewhat magic biopic with a Christmas twist.

Best Christmas Rom-Coms On Amazon Prime Video

This Is Christmas (2022)

This Is Christmas is a charming holiday rom-com on Amazon Prime Video about reaching out and getting to know strangers during the Christmas season. The 2022 movie follows Adam and Emma, two people who keep meeting on their morning train commute. As the holidays approach, they decide to get to know the other strangers they share the train with every day. The sweet premise and the likable cast make this a fantastic modern Christmas rom-com for Amazon Prime Video subscribers.

Your Christmas Or Mine? (2022)

Your Christmas Or Mine? mixes the story of young love during the holidays and the misadventures of Christmas travel. The movie follows a young couple, James and Hayley, who are splitting up to go spend the holidays with their respective families. Unfortunately, they both have the same last-minute impulse to switch plans and go surprise their partners at their parents' homes. It is a clever premise that sees these two spending the holidays with their partner's family without having their partner there. It sets up a lot of laughs and heart with a great cast.

Same Time, Next Christmas (2019)

Same Time, Next Christmas doesn't have a warm wintery feeling, as it takes place in Hawaii. Instead of green trees and red tinsel, there are beige beaches and blue seas. The story follows Jeff (Charles Michael Davis) and Olivia (Lea Michele), who have met once a year on vacation in Hawaii ever since they were children. However, this time, their romance is interfered with by a big-city boyfriend. The movie plays by the rules of most romantic comedies, but for Amazon Prime Video subscribers who are looking for an uplifting, easy-to-watch festive romcom that's full of positive vibes, Same Time Next Christmas fits the bill.

Christmas In Mississippi (2017)

Christmas movies might always use the same tropes over and over, but many manage to take these tropes and use them in fresh ways. In Christmas In Mississippi, the holiday movie features all the typical tropes, but they're used in the best possible moments, and they land perfectly. The movie is about Jana (Holly Logan), a photographer who returns home to Mississippi for the holidays, and she reunites with her high school sweetheart. What follows is a wonderfully joyful Christmas movie where the two get to know each other all over again. Viewers might not it a year from now, but it's one of the better Hallmark-style Christmas movies.

A Christmas Wish (2011)

While Netflix is seemingly beating Hallmark at its own game with the sudden abundance of overly sentimental Christmas movies, Amazon Prime Video isn't totally free of them either. A Christmas Wish follows Martha (Kristy Swanson), who is abandoned by her husband, left without a dime, and forced to move into a hotel. Things quickly pick up for her, as is typical of festive romantic comedies. While it's nothing innovative, the movie delivers everything it promises and is a textbook feel-good holiday season tale. A Christmas Wish is another Christmas movie with a Hallmark feel to it, but it's easygoing and entertaining, offering a familiar Christmas cheer to Amazon Prime Video Subscribers.

Last Christmas (2019)

Last Christmas was a holiday movie from 2019 that shared a title with a popular Wham! song and, subsequently, filled its soundtrack with a lot of George Michael music. The song seems to tell the story of a person with a broken heart promising to find someone new next Christmas. However, the movie Last Christmas gets a little darker and heartbreakingly reinterprets the lyrics.

Emilia Clarke plays Kate in this Christmas movie on Amazon Prime Video, a woman employed as an elf at a department store. She meets a man named Tom (Henry Golding) and falls in love with him, and he helps her grow day by day. This movie has a twist ending that is both sad and uplifting in equal measure, a very different holiday outing.

No Sleep 'Til Christmas (2018)

When it comes to concepts in Christmas movies, a lot of them tend to get creative, but No Sleep 'Til Christmas has one of the most bizarre. It seems like the narrative is built around the title. The movie follows a man and a woman, both engaged to other people, who realize they are unable to fall asleep unless they're next to each other. It's a strange movie but one that's full of Christmas magic. Odette Annable and Dave Annable share such great chemistry, that it makes this movie an easy and fun watch for Amazon Prime Video subscribers over the holiday season.

Best Christmas Comedies On Amazon Prime Video

Christmas With The Kranks (2004)

Christmas with the Kranks is one of many Christmas movies that didn't do well critically but has still become a staple seasonal viewing for many. The story is about a couple (Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis) who decide they want to take a cruise for Christmas. This creates a problem in their Christmas-obsessed community, and when the two decide to ignore the holidays and focus on their vacation, their neighbors make their lives a living hell. Allen and Curtis have great chemistry, and they are both on target with their humor. Dan Aykroyd is also fantastic in the movie as one of their obsessive neighbors.

Scrooged (1988)

There have been so many adaptations of A Christmas Carol that it should have gotten tiresome, but all the iterations are so different from one another. From A Muppets Christmas Carol to the motion-capture animated 2009 version, they all offer something unique. However, Scrooged is more mature, darker, and funnier than most. It essentially tells the same story of Ebenezer Scrooge, only instead of Scrooge, the main character is an unscrupulous network TV executive. The movie is full of SNL alumni, and it has surprisingly impressive practical effects, putting it more on the same spiritual plane as Beetlejuice than A Christmas Carol.

Candy Cane Lane (2023)

One of the best Christmas movies to be released in 2023 is an Amazon Prime Original. stars Eddie Murphy as a man recently fired from his job who attempts to win the annual Christmas decoration contest by using a seemingly magical lighting device. However, he soon finds that he has accidentally unleashed a destructive version of the traditional song "The 12 Days of Christmas", which begins causing mayhem. Murphy remains one of the most exciting comedic actors of all time and seeing him leading a family-friendly adventure like this is a real treat for the season.

Violent Night (2022)

Close

Violent Night

Cast

See All

• 
  David Harbour
• 
  John Leguizamo
• 
  Beverly D'Angelo
• 
  Cam Gigandet

Release Date

December 2, 2022

Runtime

101 minutes

Director

Tommy Wirkola

Powered by

Expand Collapse

There have been a lot of wild versions of Santa Claus over the years, but David Harbour's take on the character is one of the most memorable in recent memory. Violent Night is an action-comedy that stars Harbour as a disillusioned and hard-drinking Santa who stumbles upon a hostage situation while delivering presents to a wealthy family and is forced to save the day. Along with its clear Die Hard inspiration, Violent Night is filled with wonderful Easter eggs to countless Christmas movies while anchored by Harbour's hilarious, energetic, and fun performance in the lead role.

Best Classic Christmas Movies On Amazon Prime Video

Holiday Inn (1942)

holiday inn

Release Date

September 4, 1942

Runtime

1h 40m

Director

Mark Sandrich

Cast

See All

• 
  Bing Crosby
• 
  Fred Astaire
• 
  Marjorie Reynolds

• 
• 
• 

Where to watch

Close

WHERE TO WATCH

RENT

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

BUY

• 
• 
• 
• 

Holiday Inn, directed by Mark Sandrich, follows a love triangle involving Jim Hardy, a singer, and Ted Hanover, a dancer, both vying for the affections of Linda Mason. Set at Jim's Holiday Inn, the film showcases their romantic pursuits amid lively music and dance performances.

Powered by

Expand Collapse

For those who love Christmas and musicals, the 1942 holiday classic Holiday Inn is one of the best movies available for the holiday season on Amazon Prime Video. The movie stars Big Crosby and Fred Astaire, two of a popular dance act in New York City. When the third member, whom Jim planned to marry, leaves him on Christmas Eve for another man, Jim quits and retires to live on a farm.

Jim decides to turn his farm into an entertainment venue open on the holidays and that is when he meets Linda (Marjorie Reynolds) and performs the hit Christmas song, "White Christmas." While it takes place on various holidays, Christmas is the main one. The movie won two Oscars, including one for Best Song ("White Christmas').

Miracle On 34th Street (1947)

Miracle on 34th Street

Not Rated

Cast

See All

• 
  Edmund Gwenn
• 
  John Payne
• 
  Natalie Wood
• 
  Maureen O'Hara

Release Date

June 11, 1947

Runtime

96 minutes

Director

George Seaton

Powered by

Expand Collapse

Miracle on 34th Street is a long-standing Christmas classic, and while it has received a later remake, the original remains one of the best classic Christmas movies on Amazon Prime Video. Edmund Gwenn plays Kris Kringle, a man hired to work as a Macy's department store Santa in New York City. When he claims he is the real Santa, it all leads to a giant court case where the state tries to have him committed. The movie won Gwenn the Oscar for Best ing Actor as well as awards for Best Writing. It also got a Best Picture nomination.

It's A Wonderful Life (1946)

Close

It's a Wonderful Life

PG

Cast

See All

• 
  James Stewart
• 
  Thomas Mitchell
• 
  Lionel Barrymore
• 
  Donna Reed

Release Date

January 7, 1947

Runtime

130 minutes

Director

Frank Capra

Powered by

Expand Collapse

It's A Wonderful Life isn't just the most popular Christmas movie available on Amazon Prime Video, but it's among the best Christmas movies of all time. The 1946 classic laid the blueprint for almost every holiday film that followed. Though Christmas films are full of clichés and overused tropes, those clichés and tropes didn't exist when It's A Wonderful Life was released, and it was wholly original back then. Between learning about the true meaning of Christmas and the schmaltzy romance, It's A Wonderful Life was one of the first to do it, and no other Christmas movie has improved on the formula in the decades since.