Review of Santa Claus (1959) by Tim S — 24 Dec 2014

I will give this film credit for being absolutely weird with its concepts. Santa Claus was a modest hit in Mexico, where it was filmed and aimed for a release. It was more of a children's movie, and it shows, despite the nightmare imagery it has in some parts of it.

In the movie, Santa lives in a castle in the clouds, can only come to Earth on Christmas, has a personal war going with Satan & his fellow devils, and has magic items that give him powers. The way I understand it, in Mexico, Santa isn't a big thing.

It's all about Jesus there, so the filmmakers took some license with Santa, and despite how horrible it is, it's quite charming. Don't get me wrong though. I didn't say I thoroughly enjoyed it, but I think I admired it because the people behind it were really trying for something, and they were successful in the end, so good for them.

The movie itself isn't successful; it's a complete mess that never really makes much sense, but being that it's a kid's movie, I'll give it a bit of a pass. The best way to watch the movie is, of course, with the crew of Mystery Science Theater 3000, and the more recent live show with Rifftrax.