Gremlins (Cert 12, 106 mins, Warner Home Video). Starring Zach Galligan

Joe Dante’s delicious black comedy is newly reissued on Blu-ray, promising laughs and a few shocks as a young boy fails to take proper care of his Christmas present, a Mogwai called Gizmo, and unwittingly unleashes an army of diabolical creatures on his picture postcard community. Vicious spinster Mrs Deagle suffers most grievously after an ill-fated ride on her stairlift.

A Christmas Carol (Cert PG, 95 mins, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment). Starring Jim Carrey

Jim Carrey sucks on his ‘bah humbug’ as penny-pinching curmudgeon Ebenezer Scrooge in Robert Zemeckis’s groundbreaking adaptation of the festive novella by Charles Dickens. Certain sequences are a tad scary for very young viewers, so parents may need to provide a reassuring cuddle.

Irving Berlin’s White Christmas (Special Edition) (Cert U, 115 mins, Paramount Home Entertainment). Starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera Ellen

Recently issued on Blu-ray, Michael Curtiz’s 1954 festive favourite stars Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye as song-and-dance men who join forces to help their old army general out of dire financial straits with a song and a smile.

The Snowman (Special Edition) (Cert U, 26 mins, Universal Pictures UK)

Yet another reissue of the classic animated version of the beloved Raymond Briggs story, focussing on a boy called James who wakes at midnight to discover that the icy figure in the garden has come to life.

Holiday Inn (Cert U, 100 mins, Universal Pictures Video). Starring Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire and Virginia Dale

Irving Berlin’s wintry musical features the classic song White Christmas and stars Bing Crosby as performer Jim Hardy, who is left broken-hearted when his fiancee leaves him for best friend Fred Astaire. This two-disc set includes colourised and black-and-white versions of the film set in the eponymous rural retreat, where dreams sometimes come true.