Review of Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964) by Spencer S — 31 Dec 2014

A cult Christmas classic, "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians" concerns Martians and their selfish, perturbed children who have no fun and hope that Santa's goodwill will come to their planet.

The Martians come to Earth, kidnap some kids, then Santa, and take them back to their planet. Some of the Martians dislike the idea of letting Santa on their planet, and plot to kill him and the children, but are thwarted time and again.

The film isn't inherently bad: it has a logical plot, the performances aren't all that bad, and it's message of letting kids have fun is inspiring. The reason it's so ridiculous is the premise itself.

That and the costuming is horrible, like, ridiculously bad. The Martians are all in green-face, the elves are all dwarves, and the Martian children look and sound like practiced wind-up dolls. While this isn't the best bad movie it's rather entertaining and fun for the entire family, even with its constant plot device of children killing alien life forms.