Most re-watched Christmas films - including Home Alone

The most re-watched Christmas films of all time are Home Alone, The Snowman and Love Actually.

A study of 2,000 adults who watch festive movies revealed the titles they go back to every year, with the top 40 list also featuring Elf, Die Hard and The Polar Express.

A Christmas Carol, Miracle on 34th Street and It’s a Wonderful Life also made the list, with 44 per cent believing the ‘classics’ are better than anything modern.

Film fans predict they’ve typically watched their favourite flick eight times, and a quarter believe it’s officially Christmas once they’ve done so.

Reasons for re-watching films included simply enjoying it (52 per cent), feeling nostalgic (40 per cent) and it becoming a tradition (31 per cent).

The research was commissioned by The National Lottery which is thanking its players by giving away 50,000 free tickets, including drinks and snacks, to screenings of Love Actually - the third most rewatched festive movie - in cinemas across the UK.

A spokesperson said: “Christmas films bring people together and create a thrill of excitement ahead of the big day and rewatching favourites has clearly become a tradition for many who can quote what’s coming next.

“It’s great to see how much people love Christmas films, “there is something warming and nostalgic about watching festive movies as the nights draw in and decorations are up.

“But films are made for the big screen and it's great to see Love Actually is the number one British film viewers re-watch."

Must-watch movies include Home Alone

The research also found the typical holiday season sees people watch seven Christmas films, with December 24th the most popular day to do so (63 per cent).

But while 46 per cent wait until December, 23 per cent tend to watch their first festive movie as early as November.

More than half (53 per cent) claimed watching Christmas movies with family and friends is part of their yearly traditions and 41 per cent like to watch nostalgic titles from their childhood.

People are most likely to watch a Christmas movie with their partner (59 per cent) as well as their children (43 per cent) and parents (28 per cent).

While comedies are the preferred genre of festive films to watch (41 per cent), followed by rom-coms (28 per cent) and action titles (23 per cent).

Those polled, via OnePoll, have watched Love Actually an average of four times, with the most popular scene being the Prime Minister, played by Hugh Grant, dancing (17 per cent).

Other memorable moments were Mark confessing his love for Juliet with messages on boards outside her house (15 per cent) and the Prime Minister and Natalie getting caught kissing at the school nativity (14 per cent).

Most re-watched Christmas films

1. Home Alone
2. The Snowman
3. Love Actually
4. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
5. Elf
6. Die Hard
7. A Christmas Carol
8. The Nightmare Before Christmas
9. Miracle on 34th Street
10. It’s a Wonderful Life
11. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
12. Gremlins
13. The Polar Express
14. The Muppet Christmas Carol
15. White Christmas
16. The Holiday
17. The Grinch (2018)
18. How The Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
19. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
20. The Santa Clause
21. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
22. Scrooged
23. Lethal Weapon
24. Trading Places
25. Jingle All The Way
26. Nativity
27. Arthur Christmas
28. Bad Santa
29. Jack Frost
30. Deck the Halls
31. Christmas with the Kranks
32. Last Christmas
33. A Christmas Story
34. Fred Claus
35. Meet Me in St Louis
36. The Christmas Chronicles
37. Mickey’s Christmas Carol
38. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
39. Four Christmases
40. A Charlie Brown Christmas