Every weekday of December (except for December 25, that is), Phillyist will be counting down to 2008 with our highlights from the past year and our predictions for the next. If you have a list you'd like to submit, let us know!

With apologies to those readers who don't celebrate Christmas, I'm going to indulge myself a bit here. I love just about everything about Christmas. I actually enjoy Christmas shopping, stressful though it may be. (Which reminds me of the one thing I really don't love about Christmas: my January credit card bill.) I love all kinds of Christmas music, classical, the Bing Crosby standards, and Christmas rock. I also love Christmas movies and specials. There are a number of movies I have to see every Christmas: A Charlie Brown Christmas (Amazon), How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (Amazon)... I even have a soft spot for Love Actually (Amazon). And of course there are the classics, like It's a Wonderful Life (Amazon) and my personal favorite of the oldies, Miracle on 34th Street (Amazon).

But I'm also a kind of twisted person, and I like some twisted Christmas movies too. So here are my ten favorite twisted Christmas movies. Some of these I watch every year, and some only when the mood strikes me. They each have a wonderful way of letting you feel in the holiday spirit, but not really. Enjoy.

10. Silent Night, Deadly Night (Amazon): I can't help but laugh every time I think about this movie. It is just... so... awful. The premise is ridiculous: Little Billy's grandfather emerges from a coma to tell him that Santa Claus brings presents to good children but punishes bad people, then sees his parents killed by a thief wearing a Santa Claus outfit. Years pass, Little Billy is called upon to be the Santa at the toy store he works at, he realizes that as Santa he now has the power to punish naughty people, he snaps, hilarity bloodshed ensues. Silent Night, Deadly Night is so bad it gets a rating of 29% from Rotten Tomatoes. But at least it's awesomely bad.

9. Bad Santa (Amazon): I guess if Silent Night, Deadly Night were to be remade as a comedy intentionally funny, it would be something like Bad Santa. The first time I saw this movie, I thought it was absolutely horrendous. But it kind of grows on you with each viewing. And even if it's not great, there are three or four moments where I just about fall off the couch laughing, which is three or four parts more than many comedies deliver.

8. Gremlins (Amazon): The first twisted Christmas movie I developed an affinity for. It's like a primer for kids to get themselves ready for slasher movies because it's got some horror elements but wasn't too scary, even for when I was five years old. I loved Gizmo and actually had a Gizmo doll, but sometimes I couldn't help but root for the Gremlins to overrun the town, the country, and then, the world! Where was I? Oh, right... when I watch Gremlins now, I realize it's a pretty funny black comedy that answers the age-old question, "What does happen when you shove a demon-spawn into a microwave and turn it on?"

7. Scrooged (Amazon): How could I not include a movie featuring a cameo by the late, great Robert Goulet? Scrooged is one of my favorite retellings of A Christmas Carol, and one of the ones that actually resonates with me, perhaps because of how modern it is. Though, it's tough to use the word "modern" to describe a film in which they talk about a VCR as a great gift. But I digress. The ever-fabulous Carol Kane really makes the movie with her turn as the Ghost of Christmas Present.

6. Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas (Amazon): It's Halloween and Christmas – two holidays for the price of one! I don't need to tell you why Nightmare is awesome. You've all seen it, you all love it, and if you don't, then [redacted].

5. Night Shift (Amazon): America, meet Michael Keaton. Keaton's entrance in this movie is one of the single greatest movie entrances of all time. Watching Night Shift, you get the impression that Ron Howard didn't actually give Keaton a script, but rather just let him improvise most of his dialogue. And Henry Winkler, who was really supposed to be the star of the movie, stood back and let Keaton steal the film. Only a small piece of the film takes place at Christmas, but the part that does is hysterical, and I always watch it around the holidays, so it gets a spot on the list.

4. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (Amazon): I watch Christmas Vacation every couple of years, because I don't know if it would continue to be funny if I watched it on a regular basis. But every time I do see it, I think, "I forgot how damn funny this movie is." From Chevy Chase's verbal blunders with the attractive counter girl at the department store (played by Nicolette Scorsese, who, according to IMDB, went on to play such noteworthy characters as Busty Barmaid #2 in "NYPD Blue") to Randy Quaid kidnapping Chase's bonus-stiffing boss, there are some real comedy gems in here. The crown jewel of comedy in Christmas Vacation is, of course, the cat chewing through the electric light wiring. And this is coming from a person who loves cats.

3. Trading Places (Amazon): Trading Places is, quite simply, one of the funniest movies ever made. Its omission from the AFI 100 Years... 100 Laughs list is a travesty. You want comic genius? I give you Dan Aykroyd, drunk in a Santa costume, biting into a big hunk of salmon. I give you Eddie Murphy expounding on creating a jacuzzi by farting in the tub. Plus, it's one of those real social commentary comedies that actually has some bit of truth about race and class relations. And not only is it a great comedy, but it also takes place mainly in our fine city... bonus points!

2. The Ref (Amazon): The Ref is one of the most quotable movies I've ever seen, and numerous lines have made it into my everyday vernacular. Kind of like with Michael Keaton in Night Shift, I get the impression that Denis Leary was not given a script when they shot the movie. And it's tough to go wrong with a cast that includes Kevin Spacey, Judy Davis, J.K. Simmons, and the fabulous Christine Baranski. I could seriously sit here and recite quotes ad nauseum, but that wouldn't make for very good reading, so I'll leave it at this: if you have not seen The Ref, cancel your plans for the night, go to the nearest video rental store, and get it. Open a beer, put it on, and try to contain yourself. (And I just realized it is another movie where there is comedy to be found in a drunk guy wearing a Santa costume... That makes three such movies on this list, and four if you count Silent Night, Deadly Night, cause Santa was clearly on something in that movie. Note to self: Next Christmas, get bombed, put on a Santa costume, and videotape the hilarity.)

1. Die Hard (Amazon): Every Christmas season, usually just a few days before Christmas, I go to my father's house for our annual Die Hard viewing. It's one of my favorite Christmas traditions, and Die Hard is my favorite Christmas movie, bar none. And it is a Christmas movie. It takes place on Christmas Eve, and it's about a guy trying to get to his family to spend the holiday with them. It's just that there are some well-funded high-end thieves with machine guns in the way. Any discussion of the best action movies ever made has to include Die Hard, and I suspect it tops many people's lists. Alan Rickman is brilliant as usual, William Atherton is despicable as usual, and Bruce Willis's John McClain is one of those rare action heroes: the kind who gets injured, bleeds, and is afraid he's going to get killed throughout the ordeal. The dialogue is clever, the heist at the center of the plot is remarkably believable, and the whole film has a smartness to it that no other action movie has matched. If I could watch only one Christmas movie—traditional or twisted—it would be Die Hard.

Image via Wikipedia.