The worst Christmas movie sequels of all time

published 28 December 2024

When a movie is a hit, the urge to make a follow-up is strong. At least from the folks with the money, anyway.

What doesn't always come along for the ride is the talented folks that made the original in the first place. And even if they do, not every story needs a part 2. Sour sequels are common as anything, and Christmas magic curdles when your starting point is a Christmas classic.

But, let's be honest, if we were offered the chance to make a movie, we'd take it, right? Below you'll find 11 top examples of when this devil's bargain came off for the worst.

Vote for the bad Christmas movie you love to hate the most.

Worst Christmas movie sequels

This is Home Alone in name only - and even then the movie gets it all wrong. Despite the fact it stars Darnell from My Name Is Earl (oh how we miss you Darnell), Holiday Heist is almost certainly the worst iteration yet.Why? Probably because, you know, the kid isn’t actually home alone – which is the very least you should expect from a movie called Home Alone. We much prefer Macaulay Culkin's version and would even prefer to watch Home Sweet Home Alone, the recent but still pretty poor sequel. It's that bad.

The first two Look Who’s Talking movies were given a tepid reception by the critics but raked it in at the box office. This sequel finally killed the series, moving the “action” on from talking babies to talking dogs.Kirstie Alley’s Mollie loses her job at Christmas time, but there’s no festive joy in this one. The third film stretches the one joke until it snaps. Not even a cast including John Travolta, Danny DeVito and Diane Keaton can save this one.

To be fair, Arnold Schwarzenegger was never very believable in his small-town-suburban-dad roles. Walking around town in XXXXL plaid shirts, picking up office phones as if the receiver wouldn’t immediately crumble apart in his microwave-sized hands. So it’s understandable the producers of Jingle All The Way 2 would opt to downgrade for this sequel. Downgrade they did. Way down. Deep-beneath-the-Earth’s-crust down, until they happened upon Larry The Cable Guy.

A perfect combination of schmaltzy yuletide cheer and slapstick laughs made the original an immediate Christmas family favourite upon its release in 1989.But did you know there was a sequel? Starring Randy Quaid? With a plot that involves him and his family being shipwrecked on an island, after he finds out a chimp is better at his job than him? And that it was the worst thing that’s ever existed?So bad, this film, that there are barely any clips of it on the internet. It’s too bad for the internet. Think about that for a second. Why? Well, a lowlight of the movie has Randy Quaid stabbing a pig in the head. Hilarious!

Okay okay, the original wasn’t actually a Christmas movie – but this is a Christmas sequel, so we’re allowed to hate it as much as any other film on this list, alright? Alright.Released in 1997, in the midst of Disney’s better-left-forgotten era of endless straight-to-VHS sequels, Beauty and the Beast: Enchanted Christmas is actually set in the middle of the first film. Confusing, right? What do you even call that? That’s not a new film. That’s a deleted scene.

The original centred on a town of adults who refused to believe in Santa Clause, despite the fact that Christmas presents magically appeared under their trees every year. It was stupid.But you know what’s even more stupid? Santa Clause 3, where St. Nick gets in a fight with Martin Short because who even cares anymore?Well, it turns out Disney did as some 16 years after this drivel, it decided to make the TV show The Santa Clauses which re-ignited the whole Festive franchise.

Bad Moms was a surprise hit in 2016. Keen to cash in, a sequel was snappily put into motion and hit cinemas less than 18 months later. Impressive.Kunis, Bell and Hahn return, their characters now having to deal with not just Christmas but visits from their respective mothers. Truly heinous. But even turns from Christine Baranski, Susan Sarandon and Cheryl Hines (as those moms) can’t make this turkey sing. We will say this isn't the worst movie on the list, though, so go ahead if you're gagging for some trashy comedy.

Prefer the good stuff? Check out our best Christmas movies shortlist