Santa Claus aka Santa Claus vs the Devil (Dir: Rene Cardona, 1959).
Unraveling like one of my better fever dreams, the weird and wonderful Santa Claus is a 1959 Mexican production, re-cut and dubbed into English by schlock movie producer K Gordon Murray and released in the US for Christmas in 1960.
José Elías Moreno stars as Santa as he is pitted against devil minion Pitch, portrayed by dancer José Luis Aguirre, in a bid to save the festive season from the clutches of Lucifer.
Seemingly made with an eye on the international market, Cardona’s film is a mishmash of Mexican, US and British cultural references (who knew Merlin the Magician was an ally of Santa?). Santa’s workshop (which is in space by the way) is filled with some frankly freaky gadgets. Everyone knows that “he sees you when you’re sleeping” but who ever thought it was through a re-purposed vacuum cleaner hose with a human eye on the end? Or that he listens to us by way of what looks like a severed human ear attached to a fan? All of this is relayed to Santa via a bulky bit of machinery complete with a massive pair of human lips!
It is true that much in this children’s film could terrify those of a sensitive disposition and no one would argue that it is a good film. In fact many would argue that it is a very bad film. It is certainly camp and kitschy and little of it makes much sense, but it does features some weirdly attractive mid-century modern style sets and it means well; I have to admit that part of me enjoyed it un-ironically.
With its copyright having long-ago lapsed, Santa Claus is easily to find on-line in varying states of decay. If you are inclined to watch it (and you really should be!) I suggest you find a decent print and settle yourself down for 95 minutes of incredulous festive fun!
No comments:
Post a Comment