When it comes to Christmas movies, there are plenty with Santa Claus as one of the main characters. However, while everyone knows Santa Claus as the jolly man who delivers presents to children on Christmas Eve every year, he is also represented in some weird versions over the years as well. There are plenty of versions of Santa Claus that see him delivering presents, including those that are a little weird, such as Tim Allen’s role in The Santa Clause, and there are also lots of films about people who dress up like Santa Claus, but aren’t actually Saint Nick, like in Bad Santa.
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From one of the most beloved Christmas films ever made to some genuinely disturbing horror releases, here are the weirdest versions of Santa Claus in movies.
7) Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale
If there is a weird version of Santa Claus that isn’t like anything else in movies, it came in Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale. This is a Finnish fantasy dark horror R-rated Christmas comedy about a group of people who hunt down and capture wild Santas. Yes, this movie has a lot of wild wolves who are Santas and torrunes bad children rather than giving them gifts. These are not the fat, jolly versions of Santa Claus, but skinny and rabid versions who will kill anyone who gets close to them. The best part of the movie is that these evil Santas are caught and tamed before being sent to work as mall Santas.
6) Rise of the Guardians
Released in 2012, Rise of the Guardians remains one of the most underrated DreamWorks Animated movies. Released in 2012, the Guardians in the movie are all holiday mythical figures, including Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and Sandman. They need to bring in a new member, Jack Frost, to battle the evil Pitch Black, who wants to take happiness out of the world. Alec Baldwin voices Santa Claus, who here is a mighty warrior who leads these Guardians into action. It is fun seeing Santa as a warrior, and this is an animated movie that deserves more love than it received.
5) The Christmas Chronicles
Released in 2018 as a Netflix exclusive holiday movie, The Christmas Chronicles stars Kurt Russell as Santa Claus. That right there is where this version of Santa is different from other versions. Russell isn’t the jolly, happy Saint Nick. He is cool and a little rebellious, admitting at one point that he’s not fat. He manipulates his elves and even admits he is naughty in his own little way. There is even a plot point here that shows Santa planned the entire movie’s plot to help two kids, showing he is deceitful as well. There are also car chases and a futuristic North Pole that is not like anything else in Santa Claus movies.
4) Arthur Christmas
Another animated movie that shows Santa Claus in a very weird, abnormal manner is Arthur Christmas. Santa isn’t even the central star of the movie, as this is about his younger son, Arthur, and the young man being forced into action to save Christmas. What makes this version of Santa so weird is that this isn’t about Santa delivering his presents to kids all over the world in one night. Instead, Santa has a high-tech setup in place to deliver the presents under the leadership of his older son, Steve. Arthur proves to be the one who cares most about the reason for Christmas, and this also shows that Santa is a title passed down through generations, and not one man.
3) Santa’s Slay
Santa’s Slay is a Christmas-themed horror movie that stars no less than Bill Goldberg as Santa. However, this movie explains that Santa wasn’t always a good man delivering presents to kids on Christmas Eve. Instead, he is a demon who was forced to deliver presents to kids after losing a bet with an angel. However, the bet ended after a millennium, and Santa reverts to his former demonic self and decides to trade in gifts for terror. Goldberg was surprisingly fun in the role, with a tongue-in-cheek performance as the evil killer Santa Claus.
2) Violent Night
Santa’s Slay isn’t the only Santa Claus movie where Santa is a killer, but in Violent Night, Santa is fighting on the side of good. David Harbour (Stranger Things) stars as Santa in this movie, a man who knows kids are getting naughtier as the years go on and spends a lot of time drinking rather than spreading holiday cheer. Here, Santa comes to help a young girl whose life is in danger when some mercenaries invade her home. Santa knows these mercenaries are on his naughty list. Harbour was fantastic in his role, and the film was such a success that a sequel is coming in 2026.
1) Miracle on 34th Street
When it comes to weird depictions of Santa Claus, everyone loves Kris Kringle from Miracle on 34th Street. What makes this depiction of Santa so weird is that there is a chance he isn’t the real Santa at all, but it is what people believe about him that matters. Edmund Gwenn won an Oscar for his performance as Kris Kringle in this film, where he ends up on trial to determine his competency. If he loses, he will end up institutionalized, and he has to prove he is the real Santa Claus, or at least that people believe in him. In the end, he is returned to a retirement home, making it seem he was just a kind old man, but then there is one last scene with a little girl’s dream home and Santa’s cane that makes it seem like there was a little Christmas magic after all.
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