Forget your shopping list and arranging the extra chairs; there’s nothing more important at this time of year than making sure you make the right Christmas movie choices. It’s all about establishing the right vibe for the right audience, whether you’re catering for grown-ups only or if the festive season is more for the kids in your house.
Assuming the latter is the case, parents can buy themselves a couple of hours of peace and quiet around this busy period if they stick the right film on. However, while getting your child the wrong present is bad enough, pressing play on the wrong movie could ruin the Christmas celebrations entirely.
Well, that’s exactly what happened to a load of parents back in the 1990s, when a random slasher movie sneaked its way onto screens and frightened unwitting kids across the world.
The Jack Frost Movie Mix-Up That Plagued The '90s
We all know and love the iconic 1998 Christmas movie Jack Frost, right? Michael Keaton stars as the absent father who breaks one promise too many. As he ventures out on yet another music tour instead of spending Christmas at home, he’s killed in a road accident, but returns a year later in the form of a snowman to finally spend some quality time with his son.
It’s quite a weird film, when you think about it, but it’s a lovely one, too. There’s a good balance of humour and heart, and families have been watching Jack Frost year after year ever since.
However, just one year before the release of that Keaton cult classic in 1997, there was another Jack Frost – and this one is an 18-rated, brutally violent comedy horror. With the two films sharing the same title and coming out around the same time, you can imagine a fair few mistakes were made when families were renting Christmas movies in 1998. The funny thing is, this grievous error still occurs to this day. When will people learn?
The Jack Frost Horror Movie Is Anything But Family-Friendly
In recent years, we’ve seen a spate of beloved children’s stories turned into horror movies. Releases such as Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, Bambi: The Reckoning, and Popeye the Slayer Man have all seen the light of day thanks to copyright licensing expiring on the characters at the heart of those tales.
While the titles give away the more sinister tone of those films, the whole Jack Frost fiasco is, admittedly, an easy mistake to make. The horror movie isn’t just full to the brim with terrible acting, unconvincing special effects, and a diabolical script, though. It’s actually incredibly bleak and very, very inappropriate for kids.
It’s not necessarily scary, but the violence is next level. There’s even a sexual assault scene that will live long in the memory. More than anything, though, the Jack Frost horror movie is just bizarre, and it’s no wonder it traumatised so many children who watched it by mistake.
Which Jack Frost Movie Is Right For You?
But hey, courses for horses, and all that, there will be some of you reading this and thinking the horror version of Jack Frost sounds like your kind of film. So, should you give it a chance? For a start, it’s under 90 minutes, which is always a bonus, so if you’re looking for something trashy and quick to watch as a dark alternative to the usual Christmas viewing, this could be the one for you.
Fans of Christmas horrors like The Gingerdead Man and Silent Night Deadly Night, or less festive flicks like Leprechaun and Terrifier, will be well on board with this one. You can rent it on Apple TV for just 99p, or catch it for free on Tubi.
However, if you’ve got kids around at Christmas, then definitely go for the 1998 Jack Frost. It’ll make you all warm and fuzzy inside, plus the younger viewers will naturally think that a talking snowman is pretty cool.
If you’re into Christmas movies like Elf and The Santa Clause, or the likes of Mrs Doubtfire and The Parent Trap, you’ll love Jack Frost. You will have to pay £3.49 to rent it, but it’s well worth the time and money.
