A bizarre little film called “Santa Claus Conquers The Martians”
A song a day keeps the coronavirus blues away:
In 1964 Saturday and Sunday morning matinees became littered with a bizarre little film called “Santa Claus Conquers The Martians”. One of the most notorious bad films ever made, it is a strange movie, but one thing it never is is boring.
Martians kidnap Santa Claus so that he can give presents to the children of mars. It’s a dopey idea, but it could work in a fanciful way. Unfortunately the filmmakers spent about $5 on the film, and in the long run it all comes off like a local theater or grammar school play, acted with that kind of unbelievably amateurish performances.
I’d heard of the film for decades and never cared to even see anything of it, knowing its quality was none existent. Around 2002 I saw they were playing it on American Movie Classics late on one Friday night, and happened to catch it. Right from the opening I was shocked that the opening song was REALLY melodic, and quite enjoyable.
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