It’s Christmas – time for a nice, comforting movie, right? Maybe not. If you actually watch most famous Yuletide films you’ll find that while they do have happy endings – this is Christmas, after all – there is lots of anxiety and even fear before the holiday is finally saved and celebrated in traditional style.

It all goes back to novelist Charles Dickens – and you can see his tale of a tight-fisted rich man terrified into generosity A Christmas Carol filmed as either the excellently spooky Scrooge or the more colourful A Muppet Christmas Carol.

Maybe the most famous Christmas film of all – director Frank Capra’s much-loved It’s A Wonderful Life – is almost a reverse version of the same story, this time about a good man who doesn’t realise how good he is.

Meanwhile, the whole magical day goes missing in two animated classics: How The Grinch Stole Christmas and The Nightmare Before Christmas . But there are many ways that Christmas can be at risk – in Miracle on 34th Street, a department store Santa Claus who claims to be the real thing goes on trial, while in We’re No Angels a trio of dangerous escaped criminals turn up at the home of a family gathering for the season, and in Home Alone a young boy is forgotten by his family as they head off for the holidays and has to defeat burglars.

Even scarier though is the frightening but very funny Gremlins – in which a unique Christmas present goes very wrong. And if you need a little seasonal comfort after that, we recommend trying Elf – with its hilarious story of a man who has grown up as one of Santa’s helpers tries to find his way in cynical New York City where the spirit of Christmas seems long lost. But of course, the great thing is that, however worrying it seems for a while, Christmas wins through every time.

And as it’s Christmas we’re talking about, rather than the customary FILMCLUB FIVE, here’s a Yuletide FILMCLUB TEN:

IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (U)

MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET (U)?¢‚Ǩ¬®

SCROOGE (U)

HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS (U)?¢‚Ǩ¬®

WE’RE NO ANGELS (U)

A MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL (U)

HOME ALONE (PG)

THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS (PG)

GREMLINS (15)

ELF (PG)