Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964)

Director:

Nicholas Webster

Writers:

Glenville Mareth (screenplay)
Paul L. Jacobson (based on a story by)

Release Date:

14 November 1964 (USA)

Genre:

Family | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Blast off for Mars... with Santa and a pair of Earth kids! Blast off for Mars... with Santa and a pair of Earth kids! Science-Fun-Fiction at its height!

Plot:

The Martians kidnap Santa because there is nobody on Mars to give their children presents.

Plot Keywords:

Martian | Children | Mars | Christmas | Santa Claus

Cast

John Call	...	Santa Claus
Leonard Hicks	...	Kimar
Vincent Beck	...	Voldar
Bill McCutcheon	...	Dropo
Victor Stiles	...	Billy
Donna Conforti	...	Betty
Chris Month	...	Bomar
Pia Zadora	...	Girmar
Leila Martin	...	Momar
Charles Renn	...	Hargo
James Cahill	...	Rigna
Ned Wertimer	...	Andy Henderson
Doris Rich	...	Mrs. Claus
Carl Don	...	Chochem / Von Green
Ivor Bodin	...	Winky

Also Known As:

Santa Claus Defeats the Aliens (video title)

Runtime:

81 min | USA:86 min (DVD)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Pathécolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Canada:G (Manitoba/Quebec) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Canada:PG (Nova Scotia) (2002) | UK:U (video rating) | USA:Unrated (2005 DVD release) | Australia:PG | USA:Not Rated

Filming Locations:

Roosevelt Field, Garden City, Long Island, New York, USA

Company:

Jalor Productions

Trivia:

When Santa starts making toys, one of the Martians is fascinated by a toy that's "a coiled spring that walks down stairs." The year this film was released (1964) was a huge year for Slinky, which had a resurgence in the early 1960s.

Goofs:

Factual errors: In the beginning credits, instead of costume designer, it says "custume designer".

Quotes:

Rigna: Chochem is eight hundred years old, you can't dismiss the wisdom of centuries.
Voldar: I can.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 50 Worst Movies Ever Made (2004) (V)

Soundtrack:

Horray For Santa Claus

Pretty not good.

Don't let the title of this movie mislead to into believing that this is some sort of B-horror, it isn't. It's a children's movie... a very bad children's movie. I've sat through movies that have put me in more pain than this (mostly sequels) but there really isn't anything good about this. First off the title of the movie is enough to pull in nearly any B-horror fan before they realize that Santa isn't up in the sky blasting away at the Martians. Rather he is kidnapped and ends up going pretty quietly. The problem with Mars is that there is no joy to be had for the children on Mars. Drawing this from the sad looks on his children's faces, the Martian leader decides it'd be a great idea to kidnap Santa and force him to spread Christmas joy on their planet. Again, Santa has no problem with this and goes quietly. However, the evil Voldar sees weakness in joy and decides that Santa must be destroyed before all of Mars becomes a happy place. So does Santa actually conquer anything? No. Is there anything in this movie that's worth seeing? Unless your extremely forgiving when it comes down to children's movies, no. Another thing that should be noted is that I do believe the soundtrack for this movie was recorded in the 7th layer of Hell. It's that bad. Not even worth the $5.50 bin at Wal-Mart. If you want a Christmas movie I suggest revisiting Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas.