Die Hard named the most stressful Christmas film of all time

26 December 2021, 12:00

Which movies should you avoid watching this holiday season if you want to enjoy Peace On Earth? And which festive films are ideal for chilling out?

Christmas is a time for kicking back and watching great movies - and there's nothing better than throwing on a festive favourite.

But some new research from Honcho claims that some Christmas movies can cause more stress than others, while there are definitely some "relaxing" seasonal screenplays.

In fact, the researchers warn that watching Bruce Willis in the 1988 action movie Die Hard will cause you nothing but festive stress.

Home Alone also features in the top five, as it does depict every parent's worst nightmare.

Die Hard | 30th Anniversary Trailer | 20th Century FOX

The Top 10 most stressful Christmas films

1. Die Hard
2. How The Grinch Stole Christmas
3. A Christmas Story
4. The Shop Around The Corner
5. Home Alone
6. A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas
7. Better Watch Out
8. Bad Santa
9. A Christmas Horror Story
10. Tokyo Godfathers

Data supplied by Honcho

THE MAN WHO INVENTED CHRISTMAS | Official Trailer

On the other hand, sticking on the Charles Dickens biopic The Man Who Invented Christmas, or the evergreen Muppets Christmas Carol will ensure a tension-free festive period.

The Top 10 most relaxing Christmas films

1. The Man Who Invented Christmas
2. The Muppet Christmas Carol
3. The Night Before
4. The Holiday
5. A Christmas Story
6. White Christmas
7. A Muppet Family Christmas
8. Better Watch Out
9. Edward Scissorhands
10. Carol

Data supplied by Honcho

The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) Original Trailer

The data was created by using film review site Rotten Tomatoes' list of the "Ultimate Christmas Films".

The researchers then sourced PDF Scripts of each film and ran them through a tool called "Tensile Strength" which can decide whether the language in a script is deemed stressful or relaxing.