TEARS IN THE SNOW - Two From The Darker Side Of Xmas Movies

WHO KILLED SANTA CLAUS? aka'Assassinat du père Noël
A kindly globe maker, Gaspard Cornusse, is getting ready to take on the role of Santa Claus for the children in his snowy mountain village. His daughter Catherine, a doll seamstress, carrying on the toy making tradition of her father, fantasizes about breaking the bounds of living in such a small enclave, and of a prince who will sweep her off her feet. While high above their town, Baron Roland has returned to his castle, after mysteriously being away for an extended period.
Christian-Jaque adapts Pierre Very's novel for Continental Films, and creates one of the greatest Christmas themed films of all time. Largely unseen by American audiences, it's a gem highly worth seeking out. You can feel the claustrophobic yet somehow comfy blanket of sound damping snow, and the genre mashing of the Xmas spirit, crossed with a mystery, comes off wonderfully. The output Continental Films I have found, generally have a Hollywood flavor, and most English speaking viewers should find this French studios oeuvre to be very accessible and palatable.
You can order this one up HERE via moviedetective.net for a mere 12+ dollars. Trust me, it's completely worth it.

THE CHRISTMAS TREE
Barring a straight out Xmas horror slasher, this one has to be the darkest holiday film I've ever seen.

Another French production, and even more hard to get ahold of than the aforementioned film, THE CHRISTMAS TREE stars William Holden as Laurent, who along with his son Pascal, witnesses a plane go down while swimming in the Medditeranean Sea. In a tragic turn, we learn the plane had a nuclear device inside, and now young Pascal has terminal cancer. Along comes the beautiful Catherine, who Laurent quickly falls in love with. The trio then spend the next year making good use of terminally ill Pascal's short time left to live. Culminating in a bittersweet end, taking place on Christmas, this is one you are definitely going to want to keep your hanky nearby for. Boy, the French really know how to party for the Yuletide season!
From 1969, and directed by Terrence Young, better known for his work directing the 007 films DR. NO, FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE, and THUNDERBALL, his work on THE CHRISTMAS TREE shows a much more human, albeit dark side to his skills behind the camera.
You can find VHS copies of this soul-crushing should-be-classic-film on Amazon for relatively cheap. So hit the local Goodwill if you must, and pick up an old VHS player and get busy crying into that egg nog!

~Sean Smithson