5. Christmas Vacation (1989)
“It’s good… it’s good…”
The third in National Lampoon’s Vacation series, Christmas Vacation is the first to bring the Griswolds back in their family home as Clark wants to celebrate the holidays with the people he loves. Only, the people he loves are nightmares and everything just gets worse and worse for poor ol’ Clark.
So, hilarity ensues.
Funny from the word “go”, Christmas Vacation is a riot as one laugh-out-loud mishap leads to another with perfect comedic timing from all involved. Chevy Chase is one of the forgotten comedy kings of the 1980s (thanks to his recent outbursts and antics) and he is on fine form as Clark Griswold, culminating in an all-time awesome rant (see below). Beverly D’Angelo, Juliette Lewis and Big Bang Theory‘s Jonathan Galecki support well, but the show is nearly stolen by an on-top-of-his-game Randy Quaid (also forgotten thanks to recent outings) as cousin Eddie.
But seriously, this Clark rant is insanely funny.
Hallelujah! Holy shit!
You can listen to the Flickering Myth Podcast’s thoughts on the Top 10 Christmas movies using the player below:
Originally published December 24, 2014. Updated July 3, 2023.
