Theme: Christmas Films

Christmas takes places annually on December 25th and is observed as a holiday (or holiday season) in most countries around the world. The origins of Christmas are not certain but it was celebrated for many centuries as a Christian tradition and as the birth date of Jesus Christ. In recent years, Christmas has become much more secular in nature and drops all Christian reference.

Christmas season is a traditional time of celebration, family gathering, sending Christmas cards, decorating a Christmas tree, covering the outside of houses in festive lights, holding a dinner on Christmas Day and of Christmas morning where wrapped presents are left under the Christmas tree for family members.

Overseeing Christmas is the mythic figure of Santa Claus or Father Christmas who is traditionally believed to live at the North Pole with a retinue of Elves that make the toys that are left under the tree. On Christmas Eve, Santa flies around the world by reindeer-drawn sleigh to place the gifts under the Christmas tree, descending down chimneys to do so.

There are numerous films about Santa, his wife, his brother, his children, others inheriting the role, or about the elves and even about the reindeer. These are almost always light-hearted and upbeat in nature, frequently comedic, and designed for release at the Christmas season. Christmas TV Movies are so plentiful and nauseatingly treacly in their upbeat family sentiments that this site no longer makes the effort to cover them.

One of the most popular Christmas stories is Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol (1843) wherein a miser is visited by three spirits, the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future, on Christmas Eve taking him on a journey through time in an effort to redeem him. This has undergone a substantial number of film adaptations and retellings.

At contrast, there is a body of films that hold much darker sentiments, showing a less than wholesome sentiment or delighting in trashing Christmas spirit. There is also a growing body of Christmas horror films – of slasher films featuring psychopathic Santas or people going on killing sprees at Christmas-time. More recent years have brought an interest in the Germanic folklore figure of Krampus who punishes the naughty at Christmas.