These Christmas trees suck

From Gremlins to Elf to Doctor Who, a look at some well-known trees that flat-out stink

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These Christmas trees suck
The Simpsons, Gremlins, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Home Alone 2 Screenshot: 20th Century Studios, Warner Bros. Apple TV+

Every year, as the days grow cold and the nights grow long, we’re encouraged to give every pine tree a gold star simply for existing. Well, listen up, bucko, that’s not cutting it this year. This Christmas, we expect our trees to be merry and bright, so we’re not settling for mediocrity. Instead of bottling up our seasonal sour grape punch, we’re unleashing our inner Scrooge on some unsuspecting plants. So pour yourself a mug of hot cocoa and grab a bowl of warm chestnuts and prepare to spit them out because these trees suck.

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Gremlins (4/6) Movie CLIP - A Tree With Teeth (1984) HD

The beauty of Joe Dante’s Christmas nightmare, , is how dreamlike it begins. As the opening chorus to Darlene Love’s “Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)” blares over the soundtrack, we’re treated to the picturesque town of Kingston Falls, which is when Dante begins foreshadowing the shitty tree to come. One of the first firs we approach is a Trojan Horse, hiding none other than Corey Feldman. If a snot-nose kid is in the first tree, who knows what horrors await us? Later in the film, we see the tree Feldman sold Billy’s family. Yet, for all the festive shimmer of baubles and tinsel, true horror waits between the branches of the Peltzer’s idyllic tree: Fucking gremlins. Billy’s mom (Francis Lee McCain) leaves her cookie-baking paradise covered in blood. Is there anything worse to find in your holiday tree? It’s by design: but this tree sucks. [Matt Schimkowitz]

3 Comments

  • bcfred2-av says:

    “A” for slideshow creativity, but were you all drunk when you wrote these??

  • between-3-and-63-characters-av says:

    > Yet, for all the festive shimmer of baubles and tinsel, true horror waits between the branches of the Peltzer’s idyllic tree: Fucking gremlins.I must have seen the edited cut of Gremlins. Lots of violence, but nothing in the way of Gremlin sex. Does anyone know where I can see this version?

  • brianjwright-av says:

    Now the Treevenge trees…those trees rule 

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