When I was a little kid, I was in the habit of seeing every movie I could get my hands on. I don't remember how, but somehow I ended up with a VHS copy of this movie, and thought it the most bizarre thing I'd seen in all of my six years. Back then, I had no taste for strangeness, so I found it boring and put it aside and didn't think of it again for many years.
Flash forward twenty years. I'm a big fan of MST3K, and a lover of many so-called "bad movies". Cinematic weirdness is my way of life. So I decided to give this one a shot again. It's strange how I can see how I've evolved, in comparing my reactions during the two periods in which I was familiar with this film.
All of the highlights of the film involve the demon Pitch, sent to Earth to...seemingly do little more than frustrate Santa Claus slightly. Or at least that's what he's competent enough to do in the film. You'd think Satan would have more reliable deputies. He manages to turn three little boys against Santa, and plays some strange pranks on him, all while prancing around the sets to goofball music in a way that was probably meant to be mildly funny for children, but turns out to be unintentionally hilarious for adult bad movie buffs like me.
This is really only a "bad" movie if you choose to take it seriously. There is a strange ridiculousness to it that is unlike anything I've ever seen in a movie that will leave "normal" audiences in the 21st century befuddled, while leaving those of us with a taste for the bizarre in hysterics. So if you go into it looking for a typical, moralistic children's Christmas movie, you will likely be scratching your head and saying "huh?", but if you like your Christmas movies with a side order of weird, you won't be disappointed.
Flash forward twenty years. I'm a big fan of MST3K, and a lover of many so-called "bad movies". Cinematic weirdness is my way of life. So I decided to give this one a shot again. It's strange how I can see how I've evolved, in comparing my reactions during the two periods in which I was familiar with this film.
All of the highlights of the film involve the demon Pitch, sent to Earth to...seemingly do little more than frustrate Santa Claus slightly. Or at least that's what he's competent enough to do in the film. You'd think Satan would have more reliable deputies. He manages to turn three little boys against Santa, and plays some strange pranks on him, all while prancing around the sets to goofball music in a way that was probably meant to be mildly funny for children, but turns out to be unintentionally hilarious for adult bad movie buffs like me.
This is really only a "bad" movie if you choose to take it seriously. There is a strange ridiculousness to it that is unlike anything I've ever seen in a movie that will leave "normal" audiences in the 21st century befuddled, while leaving those of us with a taste for the bizarre in hysterics. So if you go into it looking for a typical, moralistic children's Christmas movie, you will likely be scratching your head and saying "huh?", but if you like your Christmas movies with a side order of weird, you won't be disappointed.