‘Die Hard’ is a Holiday Movie …

... And that holiday is Halloween.

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(Image created in Midjourney.)

It’s late one night. Cold outside. Dark. A group of friends has crashed a holiday party, only to find that the building they’re in has something hiding in the shadows. Something that leaves behind a trail of blood and taunting messages as it takes out everyone in this group one by one in violent death after violent death. I need not name the famous Halloween horror classic I am describing. I refer, of course, to Die Hard.

The 1988 Bruce Willis classic’s status as a Halloween movie is still contentious despite the overwhelming evidence found in the work itself. For all the debating and thinkpieces and Twitter “discourse,” the facts are simple: There is gore aplenty, John McClane is basically a 1980s Phantom of the Opera, and there are even hints of cannibalism. How could Die Hard not be a Halloween film?

There are those who suggest that the time of year ought to be the deciding factor. Die Hard is not, to their point, set on or around Halloween. But—to point out a fly in the ointment, a monkey in the wrench—neither is Beetlejuice, The Shining, A Nightmare on Elm Street, or a host of other films widely considered Halloween classics. There is even some precedent for Halloween movies set at Christmas. Take The Nightmare Before Christmas, with its twisted dissection of Christmas and Halloween culture, or Elf, with its creepy tale of a psychologically broken stalker who wreaks havoc on the life of a publishing executive. These tales’ Christmas trappings haven’t prevented them from entering the Halloween canon, because what makes a Halloween film isn’t the time of year that it is set but its seasonal themes. On the obverse, E.T. is set around Halloween, and the holiday even features in the plot in a significant way, yet you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who thinks the heartwarming tale of an alien coming to Earth is a Halloween movie. Halloween is prominent in Meet Me in St. Louis, though that’s universally considered a Christmas movie. Just because a movie isn’t set at Halloween doesn’t mean it isn’t a Halloween movie, and just because a movie is set at Halloween doesn’t mean it is a Halloween movie.

When one thinks of holidays, one thinks of the qualities and ideas associated with it. Take the most popular holiday for films as an example: Christmas has the birth of Christ, the gathering of family, the exchanging of gifts. It’s a time for togetherness and nostalgia and looking to the start of a new year. A Christmas movie must, necessarily, incorporate at least one of these concepts not just as window dressing but as its central, motivating idea. Without such an idea at the center, a movie cannot truly be described as a Christmas movie. 

Halloween brings to mind death, disguising one’s identity, the gruesome, and fear of the unknown. All are not just present in Die Hard, but integral to the story. The entire point of this movie is to watch John McClane hunt down and kill the Gruber gang while remaining hidden. Nakatomi Plaza is a haunted house and he is its demon, bathed in blood and laughing villainously. With 10 lives ended at his hand in Die Hard, McClane’s death count in the film exceeds that of Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, and Jason Voorhees in their respective film debuts.

With the facts considered, it’s time to put the debate over Die Hard as a holiday movie to rest. It is, and that holiday is Halloween. And now, because I have nothing more to say and it feels obligatory in an article about Die Hard: “Yippee-ki-yay, ***********.”

(We’re a family publication.)

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Comments (32)
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  1. Avatar photo
    Show Jay Janney the 🚪!

    I regret not buying the Hans Gruber advent calendar, where each day he falls another floor, closer to death.

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  2. Belisarius.Aves

    Many great movies have the Halloween side. Do I need to point out that despite having a loving family, loyal friends, a heroic brother and a ravishingly beautiful wife George Bailey is going to commit suicide because of bas business deals??

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    AndreaLeane75

    I am completely on board with Elf being a horror movie. It's the film equivalent to the horrible Christmas Shoes song.

    As to the Die Hard as horror argument, I concede you have a nice, trollish point but you'll never convince most fans.

    However, if Die Hard is a Christmas film, then isn't Lethal Weapon? It's set at Christmas, Christmas decorations are present, some of the themes involve family and finding family, Christmas music is being played, and I believe presents are even exchanged at one point. Been a hot minutes since I've watched it though, so I might be wrong about that last point.

    Anyway, Riggs and Murtaugh definitely deserve seats at this holiday table.

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  4. Avatar photo
    Michael Falciani

    I’m as mad as hell and can’t take any more discussion about whether Die Hard is a Christmas movie…or I guess now Halloween, 4th of July, National corn dog day or the commemoration of the day Cheese Whiz was invented.

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  5. David B.

    Diehard as a Christmas movie reminds me of that fake movie that Bill Murray played to his disgusted executives at the beginning of Scrooged. "The Night the Reindeer Died," lol.

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  6. Avatar photo
    Richard Maxton

    That's gonna be a hard pass from me, Alec.

    Nice try though.

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  7. Avatar photo
    Rdpulfer

    I watch my holiday movies on a sliding scale. I start on December 1st with the dark ones - Black Christmas, Silent Night, Santa's Slay . . . and then gradually end on the more traditional ones by Christmas Eve, like National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, White Christmas, and of course, It's a Wonderful Life. I put Die Hard in the upper middle of the scale. It's not as dark as some and not as cheerful as others. Normally, I watch it the week after Thanksgiving, because in spite of everything, there just aren't that many Christmas trappings to it.

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  8. Avatar photo
    Ethan Cordray

    There's a tabletop role-playing game (like D&D) called "Slasher Flick," in which you play out the story of a slasher movie like Halloween or Friday the 13th. After playing through a few games of it, my friends realized that the exact same structure can be used to emulate an action movie like Die Hard. The only difference is who you're supposed to be cheering for.

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  9. Nicco

    Die Hard has gathering of family. Boom. At least one “Christmas” theme integral to the plot. Christmas movie.
    The Elf example, while humorous, is even more of a stretch. It has family togetherness and nostalgia written in bold letters all over it. Not to mention the Hallmark shout out to a busy NYC exec learning the true value of family after a brush with his/her childhood/past.
    I had fun reading this article, and I’m sure you had fun writing it, Alec. But I will forever maintain that Die Hard is a Christmas classic.

    Edit: Also, there are any number of “X saves Christmas” movies. Isn’t that what John McLain does?

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  10. Avatar photo
    Dustin Anglin

    Come out to the coast, we’ll trick or treat, have a few laughs…

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