Santa Claus (1960)

What makes it different from others?

Boring, over-political, tech fuzed mess

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

This is a movie made by maniacs who have nothing less than the goal of decimating your sanity. View this movie at your own peril.This movie has so many insane ideas, it's difficult to summarize them. From learning that demons primarily eat hot coals to the fact that every child that works for Santa must wear a racist costume that denotes their country of origin (all Japanese children wear kimonos, all Americans are cowboys), this is a movie brimming with barely concealed menace.But here's what's really weird - even though Santa has made all of his children codified by country, none of them know anything about he countries they come from. What is happening?This is a movie that explains how Santa can be everywhere at once: he is from the Fifth Dimension and as we all know from reading Grant Morrison comics, that is the dimension of imagiantion. Therefore, as a Fifth Dimension being, Santa is able to transcend the reality of our dimension and do things that would break our minds were we to contemplate them too long - just like I am doing when I write this. I am putting your brain in danger right now by forcing you to reason with the fact that the physical properties that ground us in the Third Dimension can be pushed beyond the infinte. Merry Christmas.Santa Claus can also feel physical pain when his mechanical manifestations are hit with rocks. This makes even less sense. Why, in a world where Lucifer constantly is trying to murder him, would Santa put himself in such mortal peril?This is a movie that raises more questions than it does answers. You ask, "Where does Santa come from," knowing that he comes from the North Pole and are shocked to learn that everything you know - including the very way our universe and its laws are governed - is a lie. This is a movie made to keep children occupied, whether on TV or in the movie houses where it ranyearly for three decades, while parents try to get a merciful break. But a central point of the film is for parents to stop ignoring their children, so any child ignored in such a way will have to feel lost in the maelstrom of emotional pain that this movie wields like a scapel.

Where to begin with this one? Others have already brought up so many points, so I'll stick with the nightmare imagery. For instance, early on we see Santa's observatory, that he uses to watch children while they sleep. This would not be so bad, Santa is noted for watching all the children of the world, if it wasn't for the huge bizarre-looking face sticking out of the wall, or the ear stuck to a colander to listen to people on Earth.Next, there are Santa's reindeer. At first, this looks like it will be a slightly more modern take on the reindeer, especially given the release date of 1959, by having them as mechanical reindeer powering his sleigh. Then he starts them up, and their eyes open and start to move around. I was expecting them to all start screaming, having been awoken once more to the clockwork nightmare of their existence, trapped in nearly immobile metal bodies perpetually bound to a sleigh. Arguably what actually happens is worse, when one of them stares directly into the camera for several seconds emitting a terrifying laughing sound.There are other moments as well, such as Santa using a dangerous weapon he was delivering to a 'good' little boy to fight Pitch, but there isn't sufficient time to go into them all. This film has to be seen to be believed. You may have heard about Santa living with Merlin in outer space, or the racially insensitive multi-cultural slave children Santa has instead of elves, but nothing can quite prepare you for this film.

Well this is unlike any other Christmas movie you're likely to see. It's a Mexican movie (dubbed in English) about Santa Claus fighting a demon called Pitch. The demon was sent by Lucifer to corrupt kids before Christmas. Anyway, Santa lives in outer space where he plays organ music to celebrate the different kids of all the different nations. If you make it through this opening ten minutes or so of Santa playing the organ, you're made of tough stuff. While Pitch is busy trying to get little kids to do bad stuff to tick Santa off, Merlin (yes, that Merlin) gives Santa some magic dreaming powder and a flower (!) to help him complete his Christmas rounds. This is pretty crazy stuff and I have barely scratched the surface. Wait until you see all the gadgets Santa uses to spy on us or the scene where a dog chases Santa up a tree.It's all very cheesy and stupid but also weird fun. Yes, most of that fun comes from laughing at it, but the movie was made for a few pesos so I'm sure it will take what it can get. Plus, it was clearly made for little kids so I try to cut it some slack. It was featured on a popular episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000, which is where I first saw it many years ago. I saw it in its entirety later and again just this past week on TCM. I would encourage you to see the movie itself and not just watch the MST3K version. The movie is so weird and funny, even without the MST3K commentary. There's nothing else quite like it.

After watching Santa Claus conquer the Martians, this film is a classic. By today's standards, this film looks cheesy but good cheese. The story of Santa Claus who must the devil who really isn't that evil but a nuisance. This Mexican film is quite a treat to watch with its colorful art direction and costumes. The beginning shows children of all cultures in celebrating the Christmas holiday. My film version was dubbed in English with an English narrator. It's the story of good versus bad. The devil here is known as pitch who must answer to Lucifer in hell. Pitch isn't necessarily an evil but funny looking in appearance and mostly causes trouble for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. This film shouldn't scare children too. This film was included in a Christmas DVD collection.