Feature Film Showcase - Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964)

Saturday, 19 December 2009

"Movies... For Free!", showcasing classic movies that have fallen out of copyright and are available freely from the public domain (with streaming video!)...

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, 1964.

Directed by Nicholas Webster.
Starring John Call, Leonard Hicks, Vincent Beck and Bill McCutcheon.

With the residents of Mars concerned by their childrens' exposure to Earth television, they consult an ancient and wise Martian who suggests the younger generations are suffering from the rigid Martian society and a lack of freedom and fun. To solve this dilema they decide to kidnap Santa Claus (Call) - along with two Earth children - who then builds a factory to create toys for the young Martians (including Golden Globe winning actress and singer Pia Zadora). However, warmongering villain Voldar (Beck) is firmly against the idea and soon sets out to sabotage the factory and kill Santa.

Regularly appearing on lists of the worst movies ever produced (and currently standing at #77 on the IMDB Bottom 100), Santa Claus Conquers the Martians is a laughably poor entry into the cinematic Christmas canon. It gained further notoriety and exposure when it featured as the basis for a 1991 episode of the comedy series Mystery Science Theater 3000 (along with MST3K live off-shoot Cinematic Titanic in November 2008), while also spawning a handful of musical adaptations and a long-rumoured remake from Airplane! director David Zucker, which currently sits in Development Hell.


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