Movies Like ‘Ebenezer’ for Viewers Who Want a Darker Christmas Carol
‘Ebenezer’ reaches theaters on November 13, and Ti West directs it from a screenplay by Nathaniel Halpern. Johnny Depp plays the miserly Scrooge in a take that weaves comedy and horror together.
Anyone looking for movies like ‘Ebenezer’ has plenty of choices, since the Dickens story has furnished more than forty film adaptations. The titles below range from faithful retellings to stop motion fantasies and holiday horror, and each is a useful companion to a film described as a Gothic dark fantasy black comedy thriller.
‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’
Henry Selick directed this stop motion animated musical fantasy. It grew out of a poem Tim Burton wrote in 1982 while working as an animator at Disney.
Danny Elfman wrote the songs and score and also supplied the singing voice of Jack. The result is a holiday story that treats its macabre side as a selling point.
The film cost an estimated eighteen million dollars and premiered at the New York Film Festival in October of 1993. It went on to earn about 109 million dollars.
‘Coraline’
Henry Selick wrote and directed this stop motion dark fantasy horror film, based on Neil Gaiman’s 2002 novella. It suits viewers who want atmosphere and unease more than jump scares.
A parent’s guide to ‘Ebenezer’ points to it directly. The guide says viewers who liked ‘Coraline’ or ‘Krampus’ are the target audience for the new film.
Several theatrical returns lifted its box office total to 188 million dollars, making it the third highest grossing stop motion film of all time.
‘Corpse Bride’
Mike Johnson and Tim Burton directed this stop motion musical fantasy. It unfolds in a fictional Victorian era village in Europe, with Johnny Depp voicing Victor and Helena Bonham Carter voicing the title bride.
Depp fans have another reason to look at it. It was the first animated film in which he worked as a voice actor.
The movie earned a nomination for Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards. The animators shot it with digital cameras rather than the 35mm film used on ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’.
‘Krampus’
Michael Dougherty directed this Christmas comedy horror film, which draws on the Krampus figure from Germanic folklore. A dysfunctional family squabble costs a young boy his festive spirit and unleashes the horned beast.
Screen Daily noted that it nods to crueller seasonal stories of the past, including the Dickens tale. That lineage makes it a natural pairing for a Scrooge story with horror in its bones.
One reviewer credited Weta Workshop for the creature work. The film grossed 61.5 million dollars.
‘The Muppet Christmas Carol’
Brian Henson directed it as his feature debut, with Michael Caine as Scrooge. Despite the Muppet touches, it otherwise follows the original story closely.
Caine told Henson before filming that he intended to play the part completely straight. That commitment is a big reason the film works as both comedy and drama.
Henson dedicated the film to his father Jim Henson. Walt Disney Pictures released it on December 11, 1992.
‘Scrooge’
Ronald Neame directed this musical, which starred Albert Finney as Scrooge and was filmed in London in 1970. Alec Guinness plays Jacob Marley.
It was the first musical version on the big screen and the first in color. That makes it an early example of the story being reshaped for a new style.
Finney won a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy, and the film received four Academy Award nominations.
‘A Christmas Carol’
This 1984 made for television film was directed by Clive Donner and stars George C. Scott as Scrooge. It first aired on CBS on December 17, 1984.
Production took place in Shrewsbury in Shropshire. The medieval setting suits a story built around ghosts and winter gloom.
One reviewer noted that it is less spooky than the 1970 musical. That makes it a calmer, more faithful companion to a darker new take.
‘Scrooge: A Christmas Carol’
This Netflix animated musical features Luke Evans as the voice of Scrooge. Stephen Donnelly directed it.
The songs come from the late composer Leslie Bricusse, who also helped write the screenplay. The voice cast includes Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley and Jonathan Pryce.
It reached Netflix worldwide in December of 2022 after a limited cinema run that began in November.
‘Victorian Psycho’
This gothic horror thriller opens on November 13, the same day as ‘Ebenezer’. That makes it an obvious second feature for the opening weekend.
Maika Monroe plays Winifred Notty, a governess who arrives at a remote gothic manor to work for the Pounds family. Strange things begin to happen, and she is not what she appears to be.
Bleecker Street is releasing it. Anyone planning a double feature with ‘Ebenezer’ on opening weekend is welcome to say in the comments which of these films they would pair with Johnny Depp’s Scrooge.
