Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.

Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

TheMegaCritic2000 . i'd never heard of this movie until this Christmas (2015). I decided to sit and watch it when I came across it in the TV schedules and it was a pleasant surprise to find a pretty good Christmas movie with a real heart.I've been a Harry Dean Stanton fan for many years and he turns in a great performance as the angel Gideon in this movie. Far from the conventional angel, he looks almost creepy, in his black hat and long back coat. But when he smiles, he lights up the screen.The rest of the cast do a very good job, too. Jan Rubes play an great Santa Claus and the kids play their parts very well.It's well worth a watch if you see it on the TV schedule!

Jessica Salmans Let me begin by saying I love Mary Steenbergen. That being said, when I saw that she was in this, I thought "how bad could it be?"Um, BAD. This is the darkest, weirdest, most uncomfortable movie I've seen in a while and calling it a Christmas movie only works in terms of the fact that it is set during Christmas. There is no joy, magic, or cheer to be found in this...ahem...holiday classic.Three quarters of the way in, we were all baffled and uncomfortable but were too invested to turn it off. I seriously cannot comprehend that there are people who like this movie.Even knowing that this movie was made in 1985, I can't find a logical excuse for any of what I'm watching right now. Yes, I'm currently still watching it, but it is SO BAD that I pulled up IMDb in the midst of viewing to write this warning to others. SKIP IT. OR watch it as a drinking game. But don't think you're getting a joyful Christmas Classic here. You aren't. Noooooo you are not.

Philly88 (Spoilers ahead)........When this movie came out from Disney we went to see it. How could we go wrong? It was from Disney and it had a sweet title. Boy, were we duped!! How on earth did the murder, drownings, depression, and other adult themes pass the ratings board?? Geez.The movie is stark, dark and unrelentingly depressing. Until the surprise ending, which, by the way.....we know nothing about during the movie.Mary Steenbergen is a good actress, but it is her personality to talk slowly and usually look like she's drugged. In this movie it was dwelled on and she's given a highly depressed role to play....she does it to the hilt. She's a mother with lots of problems and she's also contemplating suicide.While watching this movie, I was thinking of every sad event in my life and it had me wanting to do the same......Until we walked into the daylight.I'm so happy we didn't have children at the time.Yes, we always want our kids to know that bad things exist. They see it in the news and hear about it. BUT I won't pay to have my children exposed to adult themes which came posed as a heartwarming" and "Magic Christmas." I'd rather get a root canal.

monologuer I'm really picky about my Christmas movies and this has to be right up there in my top five with Rudolph, Charlie Brown, It's A Wonderful Life, and White Christmas.I still have the same VHS copy my mom recorded in the 1980s off the Disney Channel. We watch it several times every year, so often that I have the entire movie (including every fuzzy sound dropout and warble and 1980s commercial) memorized- and believe me, I'm not the type of person to do that! Not your typical saccharine Disney movie, it's real life and gets fairly serious/dark at times (although I never noticed that as a seven-year-old kid, interestingly). I see no reason not to let children watch it, with a caring adult around to talk to about the more complex themes. I'd rather have my kids watch this than the inane cartoons out these days. The music is subtle and appropriate, the photography is gorgeous and sticks in your head long after viewing. The acting is top-notch, heartfelt, and true. I can't imagine Christmas without it.